Author: Alana O'Brien

Access to high-performance broadband is a civil rights issue according to Broadband for America Now, a report from the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. An initial 2019 report, Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s, was scheduled to be updated this month to reflect […]

A group of broadband enthusiasts on Friday urged a new national broadband plan and that the nation act on addressing issues of digital equity.  “The time for action is now,” said Sunne Wright McPeak, CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund, which co-hosted the virtual forum […]

“We are grateful to Frontier Communications and the California Emerging Technology Fund for the generous donation of 100 Chromebooks,” said Deborah Padilla, director of Secondary Education and Curriculum. “Providing online access to all students in the community has been a challenge; yet the generosity of […]

It would take the president of the United States saying, “we need to get everyone online” in order for the nation – and for California – to reach its digital inclusion goals.  The was the message that Sunne Wright McPeak, president and CEO of the California […]

The California Department of Education has worked closely with technology companies to make available more than 500,000 more computing devices for California students in need, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced.  “We cannot stop until we know we have leveled the playing field for every […]

We have all seen the images and heard stories:  students without Internet access sitting in parks, parking lots, or fast food restaurants to use public Wi-Fi to do homework.  COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders illuminated how essential it is to be connected to the Internet for education, […]

A 2019 study by the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) showed that lack of access affected 16 percent of Los Angeles residents and 12 percent of San Franciscans, higher than the 9 percent mark of rural areas like the Inland Empire and the Central Valley. […]

Sixth-graders at Crescent Elk Middle School will receive their very own Chromebook as they and their parents navigate academics in the time of COVID-19. Del Norte County Unified School District will distribute 200 devices to Crescent Elk’s youngest student class on Sept. 11 courtesy of […]

Imagine the imbalances that could be addressed in meaningful ways by achieving digital equity once and for all, giving everyone a chance to thrive. Californians need not live with this shame any longer. Solutions are within reach, but swift action is needed before the Legislature […]