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A consulting program run by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute is helping local municipalities navigate digital equity planning
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The program pairs towns and cities with consultants to develop strategic plans for digital equity within their communities
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Once they've got their game plan, there are a bunch of other programs ready to help them take action
Digital equity advocates got good news last week when the NTIA announced a mighty $811 million in grants to go toward state-run programs. As that nationwide initiative grabs headlines, it's worth noting another smaller-scale effort quietly making an impact.
Enter Massachusetts, where a consulting program is helping local municipalities navigate digital equity planning.
There is no flow of money to municipalities under said program. Instead, the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program, spearheaded by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), pairs towns and cities with consultants to develop strategic plans for digital equity within their communities. Among other things, the program is meant to inform a municipality of provider market conditions, challenges/barriers to internet adoption analysis and the strategies a municipality can take to increase adoption of broadband.
Michael Baldino, director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, said municipalities are well positioned to understand and address the needs of their residents, take local ownership of digital inclusion activities and encourage stakeholder buy-in of strategies to address those needs. By offering technical assistance to local governments, he said MBI is closing “a critical data and documentation gap.”
“Very few municipalities have a coordinated approach to address digital equity issues,” Baldino told Fierce Telecom.
"MBI is supporting a digital equity planning process that provides an accessible and approachable forum for local leaders to engage directly with community members, including community-based organizations and residents impacted by the digital divide."
In order to apply, municipalities are required to designate a staff member to oversee their participation in the planning activities. MBI will accept applications to the program through April 12, 2024.
Funded by ARPA State Fiscal Recovery Funds, the planning program is only available to municipalities that can demonstrate “a significant presence of economically disadvantaged or COVID pandemic-affected populations” as defined under U.S. Treasury Guidance related to ARPA. Specifically, MBI evaluates applications for the presence of impacted (300% poverty) or disproportionately impacted (185%) populations.
The institute has qualified and contracted 12 consultants to participate in the program, which comes with two options for municipalities to choose from:
- The Digital Equity Charrette: This is like a rapid brainstorming session for towns that might be short on time, expertise or resources. Over the course of a day or two, municipal officials, community groups and stakeholders gather to discuss the digital needs of residents. At the end, they receive a concise report with actionable recommendations to kickstart their digital equity efforts.
- The Digital Equity Planning Process: This option is for municipalities looking for a deeper dive into digital equity planning. It involves extensive data collection, stakeholder engagement and strategic analysis to develop more comprehensive plans tailored to the community's unique needs. These plans include detailed recommendations and potential funding opportunities for future digital equity initiatives.
- Bonus option! Municipalities can also decide to run through both programs to explore their digital equity needs more thoroughly.
Notably, the program does not cover infrastructure planning, such as technical engineering or municipal network design. However, it identifies connectivity gaps and suggests other MBI programs, like the Gap Networks Infrastructure Grant and upcoming BEAD projects, for infrastructure support.
Bringing plans to action
On its website MBI stresses that this program isn't just about spotting problems; it's about getting ready for what comes next. Once they've got their game plan there are a bunch of programs to help municipalities take real action.
MBI has a separate program, the Municipal Digital Equity Implementation Program, intended to help municipalities transition from the planning phase to the implementation phase. All municipalities participating in the planning program are automatically eligible to apply for up to $100,000 in direct grant funding to implement the strategies they came up with during the planning program.
According to Baldino, the institute hasn’t received any full grant applications for the implementation program. Over 85 municipalities are participating in the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program, and as of now, seven cities and towns have fully completed the planning process (plans are available on MBI’s website).
Outside of MBI’s Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program, the cities of Chelsea and Revere have implemented some of the recommendations in their Digital Equity Plan developed by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), including the deployment of free Wi-Fi in affordable housing developments via MAPC’s Apartment Wi-Fi Program.
MBI also has the Massachusetts Digital Equity Partnerships Program which builds connections between partner organizations and municipalities to implement digital equity projects.
These localized programs, greased by MBI, are meant to be complimentary with regional and statewide digital equity activities, Baldino said. MBI will reflect the recommendations from municipal or regional digital equity plans into the Massachusetts Statewide Digital Equity Plan to ensure that the NTIA's Digital Equity Act Capacity Grant program is aligned with community needs.
The NTIA has not yet announced formal allocations for each state's share of the $811 million in Capacity Grant funds, but Massachusetts is estimated to get around $14.1 million from the program to see out its digital equity plan.
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