The Enterprise Center s Geoff Millener Wins National Digital Equity Award Thursday, May 27, 2021 Geoff Millener has been named a 2021 Charles Benton Digital Equity Champion, a recognition of leadership and dedication in advancing digital equity. Geoff, who is the senior program and operations officer at The Enterprise Center, was selected by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society for his work expanding access to technology across Hamilton County, and beyond. Two winners are selected each year, and Mr. Millener is being honored with the Emerging Leader Award, alongside Washington State University’s Monica Babine. The announcement was made at NDIA’s Net Inclusion webinar on Wednesday.
Digital Equity: The Softer Side of the Biden Infrastructure Plan
Digital equity advocates, state broadband offices and local government staffers are encouraged by the president’s emphasis on their work, but what do they need at the federal level to fully solve this challenge?
May 22, 2021 •
Shutterstock/archna nautiyal President Biden’s recently announced infrastructure proposal calls for a massive, unprecedented investment aimed at connecting all Americans to the Internet, one that has led to some digital equity experts calling it a potential game changer for their work.
Dubbed the American Jobs Plan, White House verbiage for the proposal lists high-speed broadband alongside essential utilities, noting some of its top priorities as delivering “clean drinking water, a renewed electric grid, and high-speed broadband to all Americans.” Essentially, electricity and water have long been considered vital utilities; now, the country’s
Guest column: Broadband needs to be part of the city’s infrastructure
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Infrastructure projects are immensely popular with the American people. In March, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law with $343 million earmarked for Jacksonville/Duval infrastructure projects. And a substantially larger federal infrastructure-targeted bill is making its way through Congress now.
So why are our City leaders considering a $1 billion 30-year gas tax bill for infrastructure when the federal money is already starting to flow to Jacksonville, signaling that we have entered a new FDR-like era?
And why didn’t the $343 million in federal money available to Jacksonville show up on the City Council radar long before last week?
The Daily Yonder Analysis: We Got the Broadband Benefit We Asked For; Now What? A new federal benefit provides up to $50 for some families to get broadband at home. The program will challenge the capacity of the government to get the money spent quickly.
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A technician works on a line used to provide broadband internet service in a rural area in Stowe, Vermont. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)
In 2009, the last time federal agencies gave away billions of dollars for broadband, there were two agencies tasked with dispensing roughly $3.5 billion each. They had a year and a half to do what was then considered miracle work pushing that that much money out the door that quickly. Sometimes it wasn’t pretty, but they got it done.