Last week, NDIA led the 8th annual Digital Inclusion Week (DIW) to raise awareness around digital inequities, amplify local expertise and voices, and celebrate our collective wins, and it was a resounding success! While communities face significant barriers to advancing digital equity, NDIA’s community of over 1900 affiliates continues to find bright spots and forge ahead.
More than 200 DIW 2024 events were held nationwide, with in-person gatherings in over half the states. From convenings to block parties, there were many DIW celebrations! Some cities and counties even made proclamations of commitment to digital equity:
- Pima County, AZ
- San Antonio, TX
- Bexar County, TX
- Henry County, OH
- Clayton County, GA
- Allegheny County, PA
- Durham City, NC
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- State of Hawaii
- City and County of Honolulu, HI
- County of Hawai’i, HI
- County of Kaua’i, HI
- County of Maui, HI
Some other highlights from across the country include:
- The Digital Connect Initiative, working to bridge the digital divide in Indian Country, celebrated DIW by hosting a raffle!
- The Clayton County Office of Digital Equity celebrated its 2nd annual Block Party and eDrive in Jonesboro, GA!
- The City of Boston’s Digital Equity Team hosted a convening with representatives from many of our community-based digital equity partners and many other events!
- JNET held an evening event uplifting digital equity and broadband access for the Pueblo of Jemez!
- The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) hosted its first-ever Digital Inclusion Awards!
- The Digital Equity Learning Network (DELN), serving King County in Seattle, hosted an amazing DIW gathering!
- The City of Dallas partnered with Get Connected Dallas, Office of Arts & Culture and Dallas Public Library and hosted their 2nd annual Digital Art Competition
- Free Geek rolled out their 12-month Digital Equity Action Plan for Multnomah County and kicked off the week with a 500-device distribution community event at Portland Community College!
- Center for Digital Equity partnered with the City of Charlotte and hosted a Cybersecurity Day and Laptop Repair Day!
- OATS from AARP presented two DIW proclamation signings with the City of San Antonio and Bexar County!
- Oak Hill Collaborative hosted 18 events across Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio! They kicked off the week with an OHC Bootcamp on Safety Resources and Scam Report.
- The Hawaii Broadband and Digital Equity Office partnered with the Broadband Hui, PICHTR, County of Kaua’i, County of Maui, County of Hawaii, the City and County of Honolulu and Community Access television hosted the first-ever Digital Equity Innovation Awards! The counties also
NDIA also held our own virtual events in celebration of DIW 2024 which you can watch here:
- #B4DE: Building for Digital Equity – Coalition Building for Success (hosted in partnership with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance)
- Digital Inclusion 101
- The Digital Inclusion Program Manual and How to Use It!
Thank you!
We want to thank everyone who helped make this year’s DIW a success and did their part to advance digital equity!
Thank you to our sponsors Comcast, Dell, Verizon, and G Fiber for their support of DIW!
Thank you to NDIA’s community of affiliates and allies!
Thank you to the DIW planning team: Aneta Lee Thomas of the University of Illinois Office of Broadband, Ilana Lowery of Common Sense Media, Jess Ross of Austin Free-Net, Lauren Cotter of Community Tech Network, Molly Sherman of Carroll Technology & Innovation Council, Oneisha Freeman of Georgia Technology Authority and Ricky Santiago of Louisville Metro Government.
There’s still plenty of work–and celebrating–ahead of us.
This year, more than ever, we’re reminded of the impact and importance of affordability in bringing everyone into the digital world. In May, 20 million households lost the crucial support needed to remain online when Congress discontinued the Affordable Connectivity Program. In the face of this epic blow to digital equity advancements, we continue our work and must continue advocating for affordable internet solutions for individuals and households. Check out some of the NDIA resources that will assist you in continuing this work: