The year is 2022, and millions of American families still do not have access to broadband at home. According to PEW Research, the number equates to over 20% of US families. Twenty years ago, having home internet was considered to be a luxury. It wasn’t classified as a necessity. However, in today’s world, home internet access is needed to succeed in both work and school. As part of its commitment to help communities achieve digital equity, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) just released the latest edition of its Digital Inclusion Coalition Guidebook, which is a valuable resource created to help community leaders on their quest to erase the digital divide.
Created with the help of 23 coalition partners across the US, including Thrive Regional Partnership and are partners at Tech Goes Home Chattanooga, this guidebook features the tools community leaders and members need to form their own coalitions that will address the specific challenges regions face as they work to achieve digital equity. At Thrive, we understand that one of the hardest challenges of making a change is knowing where to start. That’s why we love that the NDIA included information in this resource about how to form a digital inclusion coalition, the role it plays, the structure it needs and how to adapt and sustain a coalition over time.
Focusing on the greater Chattanooga region as a whole, there are still areas where broadband access is not reliable or in some cases nonexistent. Our Regional Broadband Alliance is working to tackle these issues so that all of our communities can thrive. For other communities interested in doing the same thing, we highly encourage you to use this guide as a navigational tool to help you through the process. Together we can work to make broadband accessible to all members of our communities regardless of socioeconomic status.
Download your copy of the NDIA’s Digital Inclusion Coalition Guidebook by visiting the alliance’s website. We're excited to continue working with a great coalition in the greater Chattanooga region. Reach out to join Thrive's Regional Broadband Alliance!