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Institute for Emerging Issues

Digital Inclusion Resource Hub

Digital Inclusion Planning Resources

Planning Guides

BAND-NC Digital Inclusion Planning Guide

NC DIT’s Digital Inclusion Template & Guide

NDIA Digital Inclusion Coalition Guidebook

Completed North Carolina Plans

North Carolina Digital Equity Plan – Released April 2024

Literature Review of NC Digital Inclusion Plans – Last updated August 2023

Active Surveys

View the survey. Designed to gather information on locations (households and businesses) in the state without adequate internet access and speeds.

  • For Homes & Businesses with Internet Service: take the survey online 
  • For Homes & Businesses without Internet Service, take the survey by phone:
    • Text “internet” to 919-750-0553
    • OR call 919-750-0553

For organizations, businesses, and groups, this survey collects information about all organizations offering services that help people get online across the state. Initially created to inform NC’s Digital Inclusion Plan and will remain open to continue to compile assets and add them to a database.

View the online survey.

For individuals, this survey collects information on the accessibility and affordability of digital devices and the internet as well as people’s digital skills. Initially created to inform NC’s Digital Inclusion Plan. This survey will remain open for the remainder of 2024 to support regional digital inclusion planning efforts.

Paper surveys to print:

Mail paper surveys directly to: 
The Friday Institute
Attn: Erin Huggins
1890 Main Campus Dr, Raleigh, NC 27606

Data Sources

NC One Map: Includes maps on broadband funding and grants, broadband adoption and availability index, NC Broadband Survey, and more. All data is available to download.

NC Asset Inventory: Current list of organizations offering services that help people get online across the state. This spreadsheet will be turned into a searchable database in summer 2024.

Digital Equity Survey Dashboard: Results from the statewide Digital Equity Survey, sortable by county, demographics, and more. If you need a particular dataset from this survey, contact Erin Huggins with the Friday Institute at eshuggin@ncsu.edu. 

Digital Equity Dashboard: View at the county level access to devices based on data from the US Census American Community Survey.

County and Regional Digital Inclusion Profiles: These profiles were created by Roberto Gallardo, Ph.D. using 2017-2021 Census Five-Year American Community Survey data and Ookla speed test data as a measure of broadband availability. The profiles are formatted in PowerPoint by County or Council of Government region. 

This comprehensive analysis of digital literacy and equity resources, articles, and data sets provides an important overview for creating a digital inclusion plan.

Statewide Listening Session Policy Briefs: Important listening sessions were conducted across the state in order to inform NC’s digital equity plan. Careful attention was paid to make sure the sessions were hosted in geographically diverse areas, with residents representing one or more of NC’s priority populations.

FCC National Broadband Map: Search for Broadband availability by address or provider. Download broadband data and make challenges to the map.

“Covered populations” are specific groups defined by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as having specific digital equity needs and barriers per the Digital Equity Act.

Covered population groups: Aging individuals, Incarcerated individuals or those in re-entry, Individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group, Individuals who live in low-income households, Individuals who primarily reside in a rural area, Individuals with a language barrier, including individuals who are English learners, Individuals with low levels of literacy, Individuals with disabilities, Veterans as well as Individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+ and Students/Youth.

BAND-NC Webinars and Workshops

Broadband and Digital Inclusion Funding Programs

Digital Equity Grant – State Government Entities

  • East Carolina University, College of Health and Human Performance: Training community health workers across the 29-county eastern NC subregion to provide digital literacy and skills training sessions and partner with libraries to deploy computing devices, hotspots and rugged internet hubs.
  • NC Business Committee for Education, Inc. & NC Hometown Strong: Expanding technology teams to provide free training and paid experience to high school students who can provide technical training for adults and peers and help desk support to their schools and communities. 
  • NC Community College System: Promoting digital inclusion to ensure economic mobility and civic participation for students at NC community colleges affected by the digital divide by deploying trained digital navigators at 20 community colleges serving Tier 1 and 2 counties.
  • NC Cooperative Extension: Agents will be trained to incorporate digital literacy and skills education into their current programming. These digital equity workers will be equipped with a mobile training computer classroom.
  • NC Department of Adult Correction, Education Services: Upfitting classrooms in prison facilities with computer labs and devices and increasing digital literacy amongst incarcerated individuals enrolled in education services.
  • NC Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Aging and Adult Services: Training and supporting digital navigators to serve the digital needs of older adults in all 100 counties.
  • NC Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Rural Health: Implementing a train-the-trainer digital skills and health language program for rural communities across the state, providing technical and capacity-building support for organizations, and increasing access to affordable internet in migrant housing.
  • NC Department of Transportation, Office of Civil Rights: Providing job-specific digital skills training and devices for individuals enrolled in NC Dept. of Transportation workforce trainings.
  • NC Division of Historic Sites and Properties: Increasing the availability of online content and continuing to provide visitors with reliable high-speed internet service.
  • State Library of NC: Providing digital navigation services at libraries by hiring regional Digital Inclusion Facilitators and a Digital Inclusion Coordinator to assist participating public and tribal libraries statewide with Digital Navigation.

Digital Champion Grant (Awarded June 2024)

Connecting Minority Communities Program (CMC) Grant: Funds Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to purchase broadband internet access service and eligible equipment or to hire and train information technology personnel.

Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant: Funds the deployment of broadband within unserved areas of economically distressed counties.

Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program: Federal funds from National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for expanding broadband access across North Carolina homes and businesses.

  • Summer 2024: subgrantee selection process for ISPs
  • Fall 2024: challenge process for which locations are eligible for funding

Broadband Pole Replacement Program: Program to quickly facilitate the deployment of broadband service to households, businesses, agricultural operations and community anchor institutions in areas unserved with broadband.

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.

Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) Program: Provides an opportunity for individual NC counties to partner with NCDIT to fund broadband deployment projects in unserved areas of each county.

Current active CAB proposals

Stop-Gap Solutions: Program requirements are currently under development.

Timeline of NC DIT Broadband Funding

QUICK LINKS

BAND-NC

As part of the Institute for Emerging Issues at NC State University, the BAND-NC team is proud to support IEI’s vision of a North Carolina where people connect and collaborate to build a vibrant and prosperous future for all. We do this through developing connections with regions and local communities across North Carolina to provide resources, training and thought partnership to address the digital divide.

Learn more 

NC DIT

To use information technology to make government more efficient, effective and user-friendly for the public, the N.C. Department of Information Technology was established in 2015 as a single source of accountability and authority for IT budgeting, personnel and oversight of information technology for many state agencies. Led by the state chief information officer, the department is the leading provider of IT services to state agencies, local governments and educational institutions across North Carolina.

Learn more 

NC Digital Equity Plan

The Office of Digital Equity and Literacy is working to ensure that all North Carolinians can afford a high-speed internet subscription and have the devices and skills necessary to participate in the digital economy. We are creating a comprehensive North Carolina Digital Equity Plan with significant feedback from individuals, organizations, and communities across the state that have been excluded from digital opportunity. The five-year plan identifies digital equity needs and recommends solutions. 

Learn more 

National Digital Inclusion Alliance

National Digital Inclusion Alliance advances digital equity by supporting community programs and equipping policymakers to act. NDIA combines grassroots community engagement with technical knowledge, research, and coalition building to advocate on behalf of people working in their communities for digital equity.

Learn more 

What’s Missing?

Contact Jess Epsten with resources to add:

JE
Jess Epsten

Digital Inclusion Initiative Lead

919-513-0805