Home Posts tagged Massachusetts Broadband Institute

Tech Foundry Awarded Laptops Through the Connected and Online Program

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Tech Foundry, a regional leader in IT workforce development and training, recently received a donation of 30 laptops to its Tech Hub programs through the Connected and Online Program, overseen by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech).

The Connected and Online Program is designed to increase access to education, workforce development, and healthcare services with a particular focus on Gateway Cities and rural communities. The donated laptops will be used for Tech Hub’s digital literacy community workshops hosted throughout Western Mass.

MBI is working to extend high-speed internet access and availability across the state. To achieve this, MBI uses state and federal funding to launch infrastructure expansion programs that target areas of the state that lack high- speed internet access as well as digital equity programs that tackle barriers to internet adoption and increase availability, addressing critical issues around affordability, enhanced public Wi-Fi, the need for internet-enabled devices, and digital literacy training. For more information, visit broadband.masstech.org.

State Announces Distribution of 27,000 Internet-enabled Devices Across Massachusetts

By
Daily News

BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll administration and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s (MassTech) Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) announced the distribution of nearly 27,000 internet-enabled devices through the Connected and Online Program to improve quality of life for Massachusetts residents by providing access to essential services and resources online.

Funded through the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund, the Connected and Online Program is a $28.5 million initiative that will provide Massachusetts-based organizations with 26,368 devices, including laptops, tablets, and desktop computers. In addition, more than 20,000 pieces of supporting equipment, including monitors, assistive technology, and remote patient monitoring tools, will be made accessible to more than 200 of these organizations statewide, including nonprofits, hospitals, libraries, and elder and youth aid organizations. Devices will be used in public spaces such as schools, libraries, and learning centers, or incorporated into free-to-borrow lending programs.

“Massachusetts residents rely on the internet every day to find work, take classes, access healthcare, and build stronger community ties,” Gov. Maura Healey said. “The Connected and Online Program helps residents improve their lives by equipping them with the capacity to directly access services and opportunities.”

The Connected and Online Program is designed to increase access to education, workforce development, and healthcare services with a particular focus on Gateway Cities and rural communities. Devices will be offered through lending programs or at locations accessible to the public. Organizations will conduct public outreach to notify people of opportunities to borrow and use devices.

The complete award breakdown by organization can be found at broadband.masstech.org/connected-online. The deadline for applicants interested in applying to be part of the next round of the Connected and Online Program is Sunday, April 5. Click here for more information and to apply.

Massachusetts Broadband Institute Awards $5.1 Million to Baystate Health for Digital Equity

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) awarded $5.1 million to Baystate Health on behalf of the Alliance for Digital Equity in Western Massachusetts.

“Baystate Heath, along with the Alliance and MBI, share the purpose and primary goal of the Digital Equity Partnerships Program to ensure that low-income communities and households in the Western Massachusetts region, including those in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire counties, have access to a wide range of digital equity support and services,” said Frank Robinson, vice president of Public Health at Baystate Health.

The mission of the Alliance is to assure digital equity for all people, including access to the skills, computer equipment, and reliable high-speed internet needed to operate in the digital world. The Alliance believes that digital equity is necessary for people to fully participate in modern society. It plays a vital role as part of overall personal and community equity because all major parts of life — including health, housing, food, education, employment, childcare, banking, transportation, and civic engagement — have gone online.

A network of collaborating organizations (NCOs), all of which are sub-award grant recipients to Baystate, the primary grant recipient, will implement digital-equity solutions. NCOs include the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Tech Foundry, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Holyoke Community College, Way Finders, the Springfield Housing Authority, the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Community Action Pioneer Valley, Springfield Partners for Community Action, Viability, the New North Citizens Council, the Center for New Americans, Stavros, the Greenfield Housing Authority, Common Capital, and Western New England University. These organizations will establish and administer projects in one or more of the following four program areas:

• Digital Literacy Initiative: $2,299,235 for NCOs to establish digital-literacy training programs to ensure that target populations have the requisite skills to use devices, online resources, and digital tools;

• Connectivity Initiative for Economic Hardship: $689,313 for broadband connectivity to vulnerable populations through the provision of Wi-Fi cellular hot spots, such as jetpacks, to individuals lacking stable housing and are unable to have a fixed broadband internet subscription;

• Public Space Internet Modernization Initiative: $813,221 for NCOs to make improvements to inadequate broadband infrastructure and digital use in public spaces and increase daily use and services; and

• Outreach and Enrollment: $1,347,693 for breaking down barriers to broadband adoption, which involves increasing the number of Western Mass. residents participating in the Digital Equity Partnership Initiative programs and the Federal Communication Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program.

NCOs will work with target populations to ensure that effective outreach, education, and adoption assistance is available in concert with other project initiatives to ensure their maximum impact. This outreach will involve in-person workshops, call-center phone banking, door-to-door outreach, online or printed communications, public-service announcements, and other media activities as deemed necessary.

Initiatives are intended to provide services and support for residents of the Commonwealth who cannot afford broadband service and/or internet-connected devices or lack the digital-literacy skills needed to utilize the internet.

Legislators, Planning Agencies to Host Final Funding Information Session on Dec. 13

By
Daily News

WESTERN MASS. — State legislators, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission will conclude a five-part series of virtual information sessions on available state and federal funding on Tuesday, Dec. 13 from 3 to 4 p.m., with a briefing by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute about funding available to municipalities for closing the digital divide. Sessions are geared toward municipal leaders.

Through these workshops, organizers have sought to increase capacity and local understanding of grant-funding opportunities available from the state and federal governments and to increase the number of successful grant applications on a range of issues from economic development to the arts to climate resilience — and beyond.

“The intent of this grant series is to provide small and rural municipal staff and officials with information about state grant sources and, importantly, give our communities the opportunity to ask questions directly of funders,” said Linda Dunlavy, executive director of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.

State Sen. Jo Comerford added that “we are delighted that this workshop series has helped break down barriers so that Western Mass. municipal leaders have as much support as possible to access critical and well-deserved state funding. We will absolutely return in the next session to build on and expand this work.”

State Rep. Natalie Blais noted that “workshops like this, offered with the partnership and support of our state partners, provide communities with the information necessary to identify funding streams and increase their likelihood of success.”

These sessions have been co-planned by the offices of Blais, Comerford, and state Sens. Anne Gobi, Adam Gomez, Adam Hinds, Eric Lesser, and John Velis, and co-hosted by the Western Mass. state legislative delegation.

The final workshop on Dec. 13 will feature the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), which will discuss the conditions that exacerbate the digital divide, new digital equity programs recently launched by MBI, and the federal funding landscape for broadband and digital-equity investments in the Commonwealth. Workshop attendees will hear about the importance of municipal digital-equity plans and the opportunity for towns and cities to access digital-equity planning support through MBI’s Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program.

Starting this past April, the group of regional planning agencies and legislators organized four previous workshops focused on the Community One Stop for Growth grant program, federal and state transportation grant opportunities , energy and environmental grant opportunities, and cultural, historical, and technological grant opportunities. More than 175 municipal leaders from the four western counties registered for the workshop series, with approximately 70 people joining each workshop and more than 100 people viewing each workshop recording.

The group is looking to host another grant series in the new year, which will again aim to bring together municipal leaders and state funders while also including additional opportunities available to nonprofits and available federal funds.

All municipal officials and municipal committee members are welcome to register for the final session by clicking here. All sessions are also recorded.