- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Economic Development
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will leverage over $45 million in grant funding to help tribes distribute internet-enabled devices, provide classes and workshops on digital skill sets, and improve digital literacy.
The window for tribal funding under the Digital Equity Capacity & Planning Grant Program opened on Sept. 25 for applications from federally recognized American Indian tribes, Alaska Native corporations and Native Hawaiian communities. The program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, aims to build digital literacy and provide the connected devices necessary to function in an increasingly online world, per NTIA Digital Equity Director Angela Bennett.
“When discussing digital equity, I always compare it to a three-legged stool,” Bennett told Tribal Business News. “One is infrastructure, making high speed internet available in the home. The second is having internet-enabled devices - not just laptops or tablets, but all kinds of accessible devices. The third leg of the stool would be ensuring we have access to the skills and training so people can meaningfully use the internet because what good is access if you don’t know how to use it to improve your life?”
The $45 million of funding stems from tribal set-asides in both the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program ($42 million) and the State Digital Equity Planning program ($3.3 million).
The NTIA hopes the funding will allow Native communities to address issues outside of traditional infrastructure problems facing Indian Country connectivity, Bennett said. Those include the availability of connected devices, the skills to use those devices, cybersecurity awareness, and network maintenance.
The funding opportunity comes in the wake of unprecedented federal and state support for tribal broadband. While much of the money behind programs like the NTIA’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program has supported building out new high-speed internet infrastructure, digital literacy and adoption are equally important goals, said Dr. Mason Lee, researcher for Tulsa-based connectivity nonprofit Digital Frontier.
“Getting a house online is great, but they need a phone or laptop to actually use the internet,” Lee said. “It’s important to consider the whole solution when you’re talking about getting people online.”
Bennett went a step further: having the right equipment for the right job was important, too, she said.
“A cell phone is not the best tool for doing your math homework, for example,” Bennett said.
Lack of access to broadband infrastructure and high rates of poverty have also caused Native American communities to fall behind in technology education, careers, and support, per prior Tribal Business News reporting. A report by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the Kapor Foundation found in January 2023 that only 59% of Native students have access to computer science courses, for example.
Lagging technical literacy has subsequently impacted everything from Native representation in tech careers to slowed participation in an increasingly digital economy, the report found.
“You hear a lot about telehealth, and distance learning, as primary reasons Native communities want to get online,” Lee said. “But if someone has never had the chance to use something like Zoom, they could be completely lost. This money could help tribes provide their elders and students with equipment and then teach them how to use it.”
Applications for the Digital Equity Capacity & Planning Grant Program are open until Feb. 7, 2025.
