Building a Community of Practice to Advance Digital Equity

To increase the capacity of anchor institutions and their communities and advance digital equity, OMBI is building a community of practice among OMBI stakeholders. As stated in the CAA 2021, OMBI stakeholders include all Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and their anchor communities as well as other partners such as nonprofits, industry groups, and minority business enterprises.

OMBI conducts active outreach to inform stakeholders about events and resources related to the Internet for All initiative, including promoting the Federal Broadband Funding Guide, and connecting to Internet for All state broadband and digital equity planning meetings. OMBI provides technical assistance to empower stakeholders to effectively navigate federal programs, including grants and funding opportunities, dealing with broadband Internet and accelerate the adoption of broadband Internet access. OMBI created a Regional Representatives model that plays a key role in leading anchor institution stakeholders, including unfunded applicants to the CMC Pilot Program, toward other funding opportunities such as BEAD, DE and TBC programs.

In an effort to reach the wider community of anchor institutions, their partners, industry, and broadband equity advocates, the OMBI Centers of Excellence webinar series provides an opportunity for stakeholders across the digital equity landscape to gather and learn about important topics. In FY23, OMBI hosted webinars in this series on topics including “Closing the Digital Divide: What Higher Education Leaders Need to Know.” The May 2023 session, “Digital Skills in the Workforce,” explored ways to promote digital literacy skills by highlighting how HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs are working to help students build in-demand skills and connect to longterm career pathways.