Hawaii Implements Digital Navigators With Expected BEAD Funding
State officials boasted more than $400 million for new office of broadband
Sadie McClain
June 10, 2025 — Hawaii Acting Governor Sylvia Luke on Monday signed legislation launching a new digital navigator program to help residents access and use the internet, while also establishing a state Broadband Office to oversee more than $400 million in broadband-related funding and expansion efforts.
The legislation appropriated $800,000 – or “so much as may be necessary” – for fiscal year 2025–2026 to fund six digital navigator positions across the islands.
The legislation also established a new state Broadband Office, to be housed within the Department of Accounting and General Services, which will implement strategies to expand affordability and availability of broadband, promote trans-Pacific cable landings, and coordinate digital equity strategies.
The new office will be backed by $400 million in funding drawn from a mix of state appropriations, U.S. Treasury funds, and anticipated support from the federal Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
“This bill is so important because it helps to level the playing field [for underserved Hawaiians],” said House Speaker Nadine Nakamura (District 15, Kauai) at Monday’s signing.
“These are people who can help regular people figure out how to use the internet,” said Luke, who has served as Lt. Gov. since 2022. Many community members, especially seniors, struggle with new technologies. Navigators, available through the public library system, offer assistance to these individuals.
“Currently we [have zero navigators] because we are starting over from the pilot project,” said State Librarian Stacey Aldrich. “We hope to eventually have 51, we’ll start with a small cohort, but we’d like to make sure we have navigators in every branch across the state…we are looking forward to having these navigators available sometime in the fall.”
The funding for the digital navigator program comes out of $150 million in BEAD funding that Hawaii expects to receive, Luke said. BEAD recently underwent massive changes, forcing states and private enterprises to resubmit applications under revised rules. The Commerce Department was still finalizing guidance on how states can use BEAD funds for non-deployment purposes like digital literacy.
“I know there’s a lot of anxiety about what’s happening to a lot of the federal funds…there are different pockets of money when it comes to broadband [going to both state programs and] private providers,” said Luke.
The state is working “very closely” with individual funding agencies to ensure state officials understand BEAD’s new structure and that BEAD still aligns with Hawaii’s goals going forward, said Hawaii Chief Information Officer Garret Yoshimi.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated the funding amount for Hawaii’s digital navigator program. The previous version said that the state would utilize more than $400 million in federal funds: In fact, the $400 million figure refers to the state’s broader broadband fund, which is managed by the new Broadband Office and includes a mix of state, U.S. Treasury, and U.S. Commerce Department funds. As supplemented in the update article, the program for digital navigators received $800,000 for fiscal year 2025–2026.
