Broadband Breakfast on July 6, 2022 – Preparing for IIJA’s Digital Equity Planning Grant Program

New questions arise on the Digital Equity Act following NTIA’s notice of funding released in May.

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Wednesday, July 6, 2022, 12 Noon ET – Preparing for IIJA’s Digital Equity Planning Grant Program

The Digital Equity Act in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes monumental efforts to help fund broadband access in unconnected communities. But with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s release of its notice of funding on the program, there are several new questions on how the program will be run. Is income based on poverty standards a true measure of broadband need per the NTIA, and is this an effective approach? How effective will be the agency’s efforts to target rural areas? How will the IIJA grant programs, and the planning grants under the Digital Equity Act, interact with other funding efforts, including the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and the USDA’s ReConnect program?

Panelists:

  • Amy Elbaor, Deputy Chief of Grants and Special Projects with BroadbandOhio.
  • Drew Clark (presenter and host), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Panelist resources:

Amy Elbaor is the Deputy Chief of Grants and Special Projects with BroadbandOhio. Amy has been with BroadbandOhio since June 2021 and oversees the state’s Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program. Prior to working at BroadbandOhio, Amy spent 5 years managing grant programs at the Ohio Commission on Minority Health.

Drew Clark is the Editor and Publisher of BroadbandBreakfast.com and a nationally-respected telecommunications attorney. Drew brings experts and practitioners together to advance the benefits provided by broadband. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, he served as head of a State Broadband Initiative, the Partnership for a Connected Illinois. He is also the President of the Rural Telecommunications Congress.

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