New York
Public Engagements via Statewide Regional Listening Session
With the support of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) planning funding grants, NY ConnectAll Office (NY CAO), NTIA, and digital coalitions partnered together. This partnership included the following activities across New York:
- Hosted 10 Regional Internet and Digital Equity events across the state.
- Hosted listening sessions connecting with over 1,200 residents.
- In partnership with the regional digital coalitions, engaged with covered populations to identify barriers to the Internet, opportunities for success, and the critical needs related to accessing affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet.
- Conducted Internet and Digital Equity Listening Sessions in all five New York City boroughs: Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.
Focused Engagements with Emphasis on Leveraging Experts
NY CAO and NTIA’s strategic partnership led to successful identification of engagement with covered populations and helped amplify public awareness of Internet for All initiatives. Some of the achievements from this partnership were:
- Regional digital equity coalitions led over 40 focus groups across the state , which engaged with unserved and underserved populations including low-income households, veterans, aging individuals, formerly incarcerated individuals, people with disabilities, people with language barriers, racial and ethnic minorities, and rural residents.
- NY CAO regional partners helped to contributed to the development of a statewide needs assessment and asset inventory.
- A Virtual Stakeholder Forum Series convened stakeholders in an effort to educate more groups about the NY CAOs latest initiatives. This series also served as an opportunity to educate various stakeholders about how their organizations could participate in other NY broadband initiatives and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) and Digital Equity programs. Examples of stakeholder forums include the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Community Anchor Institutions forums, where NTIA provided briefings on the BEAD and Digital Equity programs and participated in question-and-answer sessions.
Connecting Higher Learning Institutions
NTIA, through the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives (OMBI) and its BEAD and Digital Equity teams, successfully worked in New York to provide resources to Connecting Minority Community (CMC) Pilot Program grant recipients, Mercy University and Dominican University New York. These institutions serve minority communities and student populations. This outreach allowed NTIA and the Universities to collaborate in the following ways:
- Mercy University hosted “Future of Opportunity: A Digital Inclusion Event,” which included a planning committee consisting of Mercy University, Bronx Community Foundation, and NTIA’s OMBI, BEAD, and Digital Equity teams. The event featured a day of inclusion for highschoolers as well as an evening session for adults exploring ways to break into technology, with a focus on breaking down barriers for people of color. Over 100 local residents participated in the event.
- OMBI worked with NY CAO to improve outreach to covered populations throughout New York by sharing their list of minority institutions and sending email blasts to encourage recipients to engage with NY CAO and its programs initiatives.
- NTIA worked with Dominican University New York to increase resources for the university, sharing opportunities in the state for Dominican University New York to engage with NY CAO. The OMBI, BEAD, and Digital Equity teams worked with NY CMC grantees to explore upskilling and workforce opportunities for the universities and New York.