The digital divide is shrinking, but ‘there’s still a long way to go’

Over the last few years, states have been tasked with deploying an unprecedented level of federal broadband funding, through programs like the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. Funding for deployments is ample, but states still face challenges. Jake Varn, associate manager with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ broadband access initiative, said the digital divide is as small as it’s ever been, but that “there’s still a long way to go.” There are still, he said, “plenty of communities that do not have adequate service or can not afford the service that’s available to them.” Jeff Lopez, director of the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, said that with resources available from BEAD and other programs, “We’ll get to 100%.”

This week’s top stories:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed John Ohanian, a longtime health and human services data official, as the state’s new chief data officer. Ohanian formerly served as senior policy adviser for data exchange at the state’s Department of Health Care Services and chief data officer for the California Health and Human Services Agency’s Center for Data Insights and Innovation.

Some of the first internet connections funded through the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program have gone live, in Louisiana and Nebraska, signaling a shift from the program’s tenuous planning phase to deployment. One federal official called Nebraska’s new connections an “impressive accomplishment.”

The Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office has unveiled a website centered around an AI-powered chatbot that can answer questions about rules, licenses and permits for a variety of professions and industries. The chatbot, named SAM, or State Administration Manager, can clone itself “an infinite amount of times” when formulating responses to complex queries, one state official claimed.

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