Category Archives: Digital Divide

A glimpse at the job of an American Connection Corps Digital Navigator

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The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society features an article today from an American Connection Corps Digital Navigator. I thought some readers might relate closely to the story and others might benefit from learning about some of the resources…

In our current age, we are all constantly learning, growing, and navigating a rapidly changing digital landscape. This reality has created a growing need for support systems that help people build confidence in the digital world. Ensuring that everyone can participate fully in that landscape requires intentional, community-based resources.

Programs like the American Connection Corps (ACC), an AmeriCorps program of Lead For America, support efforts to expand digital inclusion and bridge the digital divide by activating members to serve in their own communities alongside local organizations. Through this work, they help build the digital connectivity needed to expand opportunity and economic mobility. ACC members collaborate with these organizations to address the digital divide while gaining hands-on professional experience.

During my time as an ACC member, I served as a digital navigator at the Blasco Memorial Library in Erie (PA). We had many regulars who participated in our programs, and one in particular who stands out is Margaret.

How does you MN County rank for broadband adoption?

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Earlier today I wrote about BroadbandClusters.org, it tracks broadband adoption by state, zip and county. Actually, it tracks a number of socioeconomic factors as well, which is helpful but looking at their drivers for broadband adoption, I found that there were two factors that were more technology based:

  • No access to a device
  • Percentage of large screen device

So, I have tracked three things from the research – to make for easy ranking and to help counties figure out what they might be able to change:

  • Weighted broadband Adoption
  • Weighted Large Screen Availability
  • Weighted without Computer/Device

Below the ranking is based on broadband adoption, but I’ve kept the other factors as well. (You can access the spreadsheet.) It’s worth nothing that this is different than broadband access, which I track at the end of the year. These numbers look at how many subscribe to the service.

county rank of broadband adoption Weighted BB Adoption weighted Large Screen Availability Weighted without compute Device
Dakota 1 83.6 92.8 2.6
Washington 2 83.2 93.3 2.3
Anoka 3 83.1 90.8 3.03
Cook 4 83.1 91 1.8
Hennepin 5 82.1 91.4 3.1
Scott 6 81.3 93.2 2.5
Carver 7 81 93.9 2.2
Sherburne 8 79.9 92.4 2.4
Olmsted 9 79.6 91.6 3.4
Winona 10 79 87.6 4.5
Ramsey 11 78.5 88.5 3.7
Big Stone 12 78.3 85.3 6.5
Rock 13 78.1 87.4 4
Beltrami 14 78 85 5.7
Grant 15 77.3 83.9 6.5
Benton 16 77 88.5 4.1
Itasca 17 77 83.5 5.7
Jackson 18 77 81.7 7.4
McLeod 19 77 84.8 6.8
Murray 20 77 88.5 4.1
Nobles 21 77 81.1 6.4
Pennington 22 77 81.8 6
Renville 23 77 80.4 8.7
Stevens 24 75.6 87.5 3
Houston 25 74.5 83.3 6.8
Clay 26 74.2 86.4 4.3
Kittson 27 74.2 82.4 7.9
Crow Wing 28 74.1 87.1 3.6
Norman 29 73.7 81.1 7.5
Lyon 30 73.6 86.5 5.2
Chisago 31 73.5 87.3 4.5
Rice 32 73.5 86.6 4.8
Blue Earth 33 73.4 89.9 3.3
Polk 34 73.4 82.8 5.6
Isanti 35 73.2 85.8 4.5
Lincoln 36 73.2 84 6.3
Red Lake 37 73.2 81.4 9.1
Wright 38 72.9 89.4 3.7
Clearwater 39 72.6 79.4 11.1
Faribault 40 72.5 81.8 7.4
Hubbard 41 72.4 84.3 6.1
Nicollet 42 72.2 86.7 7.1
Stearns 43 72.1 84.7 4.8
Brown 44 71.6 83.6 7.9
Dodge 45 71.5 87.2 5.1
Koochiching 46 71.5 80.8 6.6
Douglas 47 71.4 84.7 4.9
Roseau 48 71.2 79.3 5.8
Pope 49 70.6 85.9 5.7
Steele 50 70.4 84.6 6.7
Goodhue 51 69.6 86.2 5.6
Lac qui Parle 52 69.6 81.3 10
Otter Tail 53 69.5 83.8 6.5
Marshall 54 69.3 79.9 7.8
Cottonwood 55 69.2 81.1 7.2
Fillmore 56 69.2 82.9 9.4
St. Louis 57 69.1 83.7 5.8
Chippewa 58 68.9 79.6 6.6
Lake 59 68.7 84 8.6
Swift 60 68.7 82.2 8.2
Cass 61 68.1 83.4 5.8
Lake of the Woods 62 68 80.1 9.7
Waseca 63 67.3 86.1 6.9
Wilkin 64 67.3 81.5 8.9
Mower 65 67.1 82.6 5.5
Pipestone 66 67.1 83.1 5.8
Yellow Medicine 67 66.9 82.8 7.1
Becker 68 66.8 82 5.3
Wadena 69 66.6 75.7 7.4
Freeborn 70 66.5 81.4 8.1
Mille Lacs 71 66.4 81.8 5.8
Wabasha 72 66.2 82.7 7.4
Kandiyohi 73 65.9 83.7 4.5
Le Sueur 74 65.6 84 5.5
Meeker 75 65.6 82.7 6.7
Morrison 76 64.7 80.9 8.6
Redwood 77 64 82.8 6.8
Traverse 78 63.6 74.3 12.2
Martin 79 62.9 81.3 7.1
Sibley 80 61.4 80.3 6.6
Mahnomen 81 61.1 75.9 8.7
Watonwan 82 60.7 76.2 8.6
Aitkin 83 59.9 80.5 6.4
Carlton 84 58.6 80.9 5.4
Todd 85 53.6 73.7 10.1
Pine 86 52.8 78.8 8.1
Kanabec 87 52.3 78 9.3

 

Broadband Clusters looks at broadband adoption by state, zip and county

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I learned about BroadbandClusters.org from the NDIA listerv. I’m going to follow up (very soon) with a look at the data by county – because I know we all want to know how we are doing locally. But for now, just the overview. Here’s the explanation shared there…

BroadbandClusters, a tool now covering 500+ metros and all 50 states that helps identify which ZIP codes have device and internet adoption gaps.

I wanted to share a few recent updates that I think will be useful to this community:

State-level explorer

I’ve heard from many in the NDIA community asking for better visibility into how rural communities and villages are affected by adoption gaps. The new State Explorer addresses this directly. You can now filter ZIP codes by concentration of seniors, Indigenous residents, veterans, children, race, and more. Set your threshold and only those communities surface, making it easy to compare how they perform against the statewide average.

Here’s the map and information for Minnesota…

I like the last graph and how is shows the correlation between various factors and broadband adoption. Many of the factors are beyond the scope of technology but the top and bottom aren’t. That seems like an area where folks could concentrate if they want to improve broadband adoption.

Continue reading →

New report on impact of broadband access on modern life

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Public Knowledge has released a new study on the impact of digital inclusion and modern life…

This paper by Public Knowledge Broadband Policy Director Alisa Valentin, Ph.D., and UnidosUS Senior Civil Rights Policy Advisor Claudia Ruiz, reveals that affordable, reliable high-speed internet is a foundational prerequisite for participation in modern-day life. Unfortunately, millions remain on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Here are the key findings…

  • Consumers possess a sophisticated understanding of solutions needed to bridge the digital divide, but they face systemic barriers due to policies that prioritize concentrated wealth over community needs. False narratives and associated policies rooted in scarcity have diverted resources away from those who need them most.
  • The digital divide compounds every other challenge struggling households already face. Communities do not face barriers to broadband access and adoption in isolation. Instead, these obstacles intersect with challenges with housing stability, healthcare, employment, and education, which makes it imperative that these issues are addressed in concert with the closing of the digital divide.
  • Past policy approaches to closing the digital divide have failed to center community wisdom. Effective solutions meet people where they are so they are empowered to strengthen grassroots solutions, such as by embedding digital resources in frequently visited places or integrating digital navigation programs in existing areas of community support to meet their needs.
  • The Universal Service Fund must be urgently reformed to provide a robust broadband affordability benefit of approximately $40 (or more if someone is in a high-cost area or living on Tribal lands) that reflects the market costs and the reality of competing costs of household expenses.
  • Network resiliency must be strengthened by shifting high-cost program support toward operational expenses and network hardening.
  • Broadband adoption must be prioritized through sustained federal investment in digital skills, device access, and culturally responsive training and digital navigation programs.

Student works with seniors to create online world that merges current and historical look of neighborhood

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I used to write a lot more about “seniors getting seniors online” and other tools to maximize use of broadband. So when I saw this project happening near my neighborhood in St Paul I had to share. I can see the application in every neighborhood or small town as a way to bring seniors (or in this case, sophomores) and seniors together and maybe create a unique tourism tool.

MinnPost reports…

“Do you know you can go on your phone and there’s this game where you can see the old Rondo and the new Rondo?”

It’s called the “Rondo-verse” – a video game aiming to give a sense not only of historic Rondo, but also its present-day vibrancy.

As co-creator Benny Roberts said, “It’s important for me that the community that I come from and was raised in isn’t defined by the thing that happened to it.”

The project is a collaboration between Jolie Davis, a sophomore biology major at Macalester College and Roberts, the executive director of Rondo’s Hallie Q. Brown Community Center.

Using funding from the center’s historical archive program, Roberts was able to hire Davis for 10 weeks and figure out how to showcase Rondo in a unique way.

Davis suggested using Roblox – a platform where users can create their own video games and experiences. Roberts initially pitched The Sims, but acknowledged that Roblox was the right call given its wild popularity with kids and teenagers.

“The Sims feels like my generation,” he said, laughing.

To help create a vision of Rondo’s history, they worked with a group of about 15 community elders – people who knew what it was like to live, work and grow up in Rondo first hand.

 

Senators Luján and Matsui Introduce legislation to expand Digital Opportunity, Inclusion, and Literacy

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Senator Ben Ray Luján’s website reports…

Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, and U.S. Representative Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) introduced the bicameral Digital Opportunity Foundation Act of 2026. This legislation would establish a nonprofit foundation that would leverage public and private investments to expand digital opportunity nationwide, ensuring that people can access, adopt, and effectively use modern digital tools, broadband, and other emerging technologies. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).

The Foundation for Digital Opportunity will supplement the work of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to award grants, support research, provide training and education, engage with stakeholders, collect data, and promote policies that improve digital opportunities. The Foundation will be governed by a Board of experts specializing in digital opportunity, technology, and telecommunications, representing diverse communities across the United States.

What is the digital last inch? And how does it impact counties?

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digitalLIFT is a nonprofit in San Francisco that focuses on digital inclusion. They have an interesting article that adds the last inch onto the analogy of first mile, middle mile, last mile…

We talk about miles, but digital equity is measured in inches. We use the term final inch to describe the moment when broadband moves beyond infrastructure and becomes meaningful for a person. The final inch is the small but critical distance between the network and the moment someone touches a device and successfully uses it, for example:

  • A resident taps a screen to schedule a telehealth appointment
  • A parent logs into a school portal
  • A job seeker submits an online application
  • A small business owner processes a digital payment

From a technical perspective, broadband may already be available. The fiber may pass the home. The drop may be installed. Wi-Fi may be active inside the building. But until the connection reaches a person’s hands, and they can use it confidently, the promise of broadband isn’t fulfilled.

The final inch is where infrastructure becomes opportunity. It’s the moment when a network connection turns into access to services, economic mobility, education, healthcare, or civic participation. In other words, the final inch is the human connection.

And why this matters to counties…

County governments are positioned at the intersection of:

  • Infrastructure deployment
  • Workforce development
  • Public health
  • Economic development
  • Aging services
  • Libraries
  • Schools
  • Social services

When counties focus only on the last mile, they risk leaving impact on the table. But when counties plan for the final inch, they multiply their return on investment.

That means pairing infrastructure funding with:

  • Digital literacy training
  • Device access programs
  • Digital navigators
  • Multilingual outreach
  • Enrollment assistance
  • In-home technical support

Broadband is not just a utility. It is now the delivery system for government services. If residents cannot use it, counties cannot fully serve them.

Six Reasons Americans Should Care About the Privacy and Security of Their Personal Data Held by the Government

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The Center for Technology and Democracy has published a flier on Six Reasons Americans Should Care About the Privacy and Security of Their Personal Data Held by the Government.

The privacy and security of government data can seem abstract and disconnected from our everyday lives. But Center for Democracy & Technology polling results reveal that these issues resonate deeply for millions of Americans and cut across partisan, racial, and regional divides — 74 percent of Americans worry about the personal data that the government has about them. Protecting the privacy and security of personal data held by the government:

Here’s an abridged list of their six reasons:

  1. Limits government surveillance and discrimination by enforcing strong privacy protections. Government agencies are unique in both the extent and sensitivity of the personal data they collect and the power they could wield by using this information. As a result, the United States has several long-standing privacy protections that are aimed at limiting the federal government’s ability to collect, share, and consolidate personal data.
  2. Supports rightful access to public benefits and services by preserving trust in government. A core function of many government agencies is to deliver services and benefits to the American public, part of which entails identifying and removing barriers to accessing these services and benefits. Failing to protect personal data or using it for purposes beyond program administration can result in fewer people accessing benefits and services to which they are legally entitled, resulting in an American public that is more sick, less educated, unhoused, and undernourished, among other negative societal outcomes.
  3. Prevents identity theft and saves taxpayer money by minimizing risks of potential data breaches and other misuses of data.
  4. Enables trust in government agencies to safely use and handle personal data.
  5. Limits government power by safeguarding information from federal overreach.
  6. Maintains individual autonomy by preserving people’s control over their own information. The U.S. Constitution emphasizes the importance of privacy from government intrusion, demonstrating that this country was founded on the basis of protecting individuals from undue government encroachment.

EVENT Mar 19: Where the Digital Divide Is Densest: Why Universal Internet Access Runs Through Apartment Buildings

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From the Institute for Local Self Reliance…

The American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative are continunig the year with another one of their increasingly popular and informative webinars.

Slated for March 19th from 12 to 1:00 pm ET, the livestream event – “High-Density, High Impact: Connecting Apartment Buildings, Public Housing and Multi-Dwelling Units” – will be live on YouTube and feature an eye-opening conversation on Multi-Dwelling Units (MDUs) and the real challenges/opportunities on connecting a significant portion of the population.

The webinar will feature guest appearances by DigitalC CEO Joshua Edmonds, Principal with HR&A Advisors Anna Read, and REVInternet CEO and Founder Brendan Kelly.

Register to attend for free above.

The webinar is open to community leaders, policymakers, broadband practitioners, and advocates nationwide

EVENT April 7: Webinar on Telehealth Access Points and Digital Navigation

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For a niche crowd, but sounds like a great resource…

Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center April 7, 2026 webinar session Digital Navigation and TAPs: Tools and Partnerships for Increasing Healthcare Access. Join us from 1PM-2PM (EST) as they host myself, Jaleen Johnson with the Northwest Regional TRC, and Abi Waldrupe of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance as they share about Digital Health Navigation.  Highlighting tools and relationships that will benefit your organization as you seek to increase access to healthcare within your communities. 1 (one) Category I CEU will be made eligible for this session for Ohio and Indiana partners who attend.

Register here, if you are interested in attending.

Worth sharing: That text or email about your “tax refund” is a scam

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I suspect that most readers are savvy about how technology can be used to scam folks, but a reminder never hurt and we all might know someone who could also use a reminder – or lesson. Here’s help from the FTC…

Tax season is approaching, and if you’re getting a refund, scammers are looking to steal it before you’ve had a chance to claim it. So, before you respond to a text or email about a “tax refund” — especially one that asks you to click a link — know that this could be a scam designed to get your personal information and steal your tax refund.

These scams often start with a text or email that looks like it’s from the IRS or a state tax office saying they’ve “processed” or “approved” your tax refund claim. (Note: that’s not how you find out about a real tax refund.) To “verify your identity” and “send you money,” they ask you to click a link to enter details like your Social Security and bank account numbers — but it’s a phishing scam. If you click and share your info, the scammer might steal your personal information to get your tax refund or even steal your identity to open other accounts.

If you get a message like this:

  • Know that the real IRS and state tax offices won’t reach out by text, email, or on social media to get your information. Only scammers will.
  • Don’t respond or click any links. To check the status of a pending tax refund, never use the link from the message. Instead, visit USA.gov to learn how to find out if you’re really getting a federal or state tax refund.
  • Report and delete the message. Use your phone’s “report junk” option or forward unwanted texts to 7726 (SPAM) and mark unwanted emails as spam or junk. Once you’ve checked it out and reported it, delete the message.

Visit IdentityTheft.gov/steps to learn how to protect yourself before identity theft happens. And if you spot a scam, tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

MN Broadband Task Force meeting Feb 2026: Rural Health Research and Technologist Computers

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The Broadband Task Force met today. Their stated goal is to focus on education in the first few months of the year. Today they heard from folks at the Mayo on rural health research and from a Task Force member Ini Augustine who does digital equity work in Hennepin County through Technologist Computers. They also got an update from the Office of Broadband Development.

Meeting Agenda Continue reading →

OPPORTUNITY in the Twin Cities: Computer training and access to a free computer

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An opportunity from Project Nandi in the Twin Cities…

Neighbors Connect for Family and Individuals

This program distributes free laptops, and helps families and individuals get digital access. The orientation session will go over day to day digital skills like:

·    Understand how to power on computer

·    Connect to internet

·    Open browser

·    Check email

·    Join and access Google Meet

During the training we will go over how to access the Northstar digital literacy program. This will allow participants to further their digital knowledge. Once the participant completes their training they will be given a no-cost laptop.

Register online

EVENT Feb 18: Digital Equity Ecosystems with Colin Rhinesmith, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Unfortunately this is at the same time at the MN Broadband Task Force meeting but it looks interesting…

Digital Equity Ecosystems:
How Community Coalitions Reduce Inequality and Strengthen Democracy

a talk with Colin Rhinesmith, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Join us on February 18, 2026, from 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET for a stimulating talk!

Use the link here to register for the Zoom webinar: https://tinyurl.com/47ukftct

EVENT Feb 11: NTIA Listening Session on the Use of BEAD

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From the NTIA…

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will convene a virtual listening session on the use of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program funds saved thanks to the Trump Administration and Secretary Lutnick’s Benefit of the Bargain reforms. This session will gather input from stakeholders to inform NTIA’s future planning and policy development regarding the use of these “nondeployment” funds.

DATES:

The listening session will be held on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST.