“The exciting nature of it is that it opens up so many opportunities for state and local innovation around this issue,” said Amy Huffman, policy director for the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. Advocacy groups in the space, while elated, say this is all a beginning to what is hopefully a sustained public investment in digital inclusion and equity. Items that remain on the NDIA’s wishlist, for example, include funding specifically to help those in need get devices, as well as money for trusted community partners to do outreach in support of their digital inclusion work. “The way we’ve been thinking about it is that this is a really good down payment on what needs to happen, but if you think about what a down payment is, that’s not the full amount,” Huffman said. “There needs to be additional sustained investment in this work from the federal government, from states and from local communities.”
https://www.govtech.com/network/infrastructure-bill-promises-historic-boost-for-digital-equity
