Digital Inclusion Week 2022: Celebrating Collaboration to Close the Digital Divide

It’s the first week of October, and that means it’s Digital Inclusion Week! All this week, organizations big and small nationwide are hosting events to promote digital equity in their local communities. Comcast is one of them, and we are proud to participate in and sponsor the National Digital Inclusion Alliance’s (NDIA) Digital Inclusion Week.  What a tremendous opportunity to help highlight the great work being done across the country to connect more people to the Internet for school, work, and for life in general.

For more than a decade we at Comcast have taken pride in supporting innovative ways to reach all individuals and communities with the information they need to excel in our increasingly digital world. Whether it’s by helping people access a fast and reliable network for the first time or by providing digital skills and technology training to use the Internet safely, efficiently, and effectively, we are laser-focused on digital inclusion.

We also know that the best path to achieving digital equity is through partnership. When government, private companies, and community organizations work together, we can reach more families with connectivity. The theme of this year’s Digital Inclusion Week is “Turning Our Moment into Movement,” which is perfect to describe where efforts stand today. With an unprecedented federal investment in broadband, there is no better time to do this vital work. And through Project UP, Comcast has committed $1 billion over 10 years to reach millions of people with the tools they need to achieve economic mobility and reach unlimited possibilities. We’re doing this in concert with thousands of partners, many of which we’ve supported for years.

As hundreds of people and organizations celebrate Digital Inclusion Week, we want to highlight some of our partners who join us in innovative digital equity programs:

• In Detroit, we are investing in innovative work with faith-based organizations and multiple community organizations to get unserved households connected to free home Internet through  the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
• In Chicago, we are partnering with the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago to realize a multipronged digital equity program to broaden the reach of digital navigators who dedicate themselves to helping families overcome barriers to adoption, such as digital literacy and access to technology.
• In Houston, we are working with Combined Arms and U.S. Vets to open two more Lift Zones to help our veterans and military community overcome digital equity challenges to participate easily in workforce development, telemedicine, and more.

Much of this work will be supercharged as funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law begin to roll out to state and local governments, who in turn will devise plans to bolster digital equity – plans that must include community groups. We’re excited to partner with government at all levels on these efforts, like our partnership with Baltimore County to connect hundreds of homes in rural parts of the county.

Over the past year, we have boosted our  support for digital navigators – trusted local experts who are helping folks with the digital basics many of us take for granted. Digital navigators can help people sign up for Internet service, including the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which effectively makes Internet at home free with a $30 per month benefit for those who qualify. They also serve as Internet guides, helping users, many of which are coming online for the first time, navigate the Internet.

Earlier this year, through Project UP we put in motion targeted resources to help broaden the scope of digital equity organizations across the country by training and deploying more digital navigators. Our shared experience with community-centered work informed this approach as it helps to remove adoption barriers and advance trust. 

For Digital Inclusion Week, we are continuing our work in partnership with local groups across the country to raise awareness around and participation in the ACP.

Join us in achieving our shared digital equity and inclusion goal — the more we work together, the sooner we can ensure the doors to the digital economy are open for everyone.

Scheduled Comcast Digital Inclusion Week Activities:

Monday, October 3

Portland, OR
Portland Office for Community Technology Digital Navigators Resource Fair
The Rosewood Initiative in East Multnomah County,
14127 SE Stark Street

Sacramento, CA
2022 Food ACCESS Conference
SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, 1400 J Street

Tuesday, October 4

Sacramento, CA
2022 Food ACCESS Conference
SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, 1400 J Street

Dekalb, IL
University Village MDU IE/ACP awareness and sign-up event
722 North Annie Glidden Road

Wednesday, October 5

Dundalk, MD
Baltimore County Department of Aging ACP Sign-Up Event
Fleming Senior Center, 641 Main St

Silver Spring, MD
ACP Sign-up event
McGee Library, 900 Wayne Ave

Thursday, October 6

Silver Spring, MD
ACP Sign-up event
Wheaton Library, 11701 Georgia Ave

Philadelphia, PA
Technology Learning Collaborative’s Annual Conference
Temple University, Howard Gittis Student Center 1755 North 13th Street South Entrance

Detroit, MI
Digital Inclusion Week’s Connected Communities Day
Ford Resource & Engagement Center, 15491 Maddelein St.

Friday, October 7, 2022

Germantown, MD
ACP Sign-up event
Upcounty Regional Service Center, 12900 Middlebrook Road

Rockford, IL
Rockford Housing Authority Community Resource Event
221 South Winnebago Street

Seat Pleasant, MD
Lift Zone Ribbon Cutting with The Training Source
The Training Source, 59 Yost Place

Saturday, October 8, 2022

Albuquerque, NM
City of Albuquerque Internet Resource Fair
International District Library (Community Room), 7601 Central Ave NE

Broderick Johnson is Executive Vice President, Public Policy and Executive Vice President, Digital Equity for Comcast Corporation.