The NTIA is kicking off its $1.25 billion Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program today, making $910 million available for community-led digital inclusion initiatives. Grant applications are due in September.
The NTIA today is kicking off the $1.25 billion Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, making an initial $910 million available. The move allows nonprofits, community anchor institutions and other local organizations to apply to the NTIA for funds for digital inclusion initiatives.
A link to NTIA's notice of funding opportunity for the Competitive Grant Program is available here.
The Competitive Grant Program is one aspect of the three-part $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act. Passed within the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Digital Equity Act, which is focused on breaking barriers to broadband adoption, was designed as a companion piece to the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which is focused on network deployment.
Thus far, the NTIA through the Digital Equity Act has awarded $60 million in planning funds, enabling states and territories to develop their digital equity plans. To implement those plans, the NTIA also launched the $1.44 billion Capacity Grant Program with an initial $811 million in March. That program, which funds state-led digital equity efforts, has so far awarded roughly $30 million for initiatives such as a digital navigator network in Michigan; a matching fund program for digital device distribution in Nevada, and more.
Today's notice of funding opportunity officially launches the third pillar of the Digital Equity Act – the Competitive Grant Program – to support community-led digital inclusion work.
'Beating heart' of digital divide work
On a press call on Tuesday, officials at the White House and NTIA discussed the importance of the Competitive Grant Program and Digital Equity Act to the Biden-Harris administration's broader goals.
"The digital equity funding opportunities we're announcing today are designed to lift up those locally tailored, innovative programs that have demonstrated track records in reaching underserved populations," said Lael Brainard, National Economic Advisor at the White House. "That might include training seniors on how to use the Internet, or providing tablets or other new computer devices during job training programs. We're taking our commitment seriously to reach every single American, and it's going to take creative solutions and a community-led approach."
Speaking to the Digital Equity Act programs, NTIA Chief Administrator Alan Davidson described them as the "beating heart of the Internet for All program" – shorthand for the administration's efforts to close the digital divide.
"I'll just say the work of digital equity has come a long way for us in the past year," said Davidson. "These digital equity programs are up and running, but this Competitive Grant Program is a different order of magnitude, and it's going to make funding available to nonprofits, to community anchor institutions, political subdivisions, tribal entities, local education agencies, workforce development organizations, who can all now apply for funds to develop and implement digital inclusion activities."
Of course, another part of the administration's digital divide efforts was the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which ran out of funding in June. On Tuesday's call, Davidson reiterated his hope for the program's eventual renewal in order to achieve the goal of broadband affordability.
In a press release about the Competitive Grant Program launching today, the NTIA said it "encourages proposals that demonstrate a broad partnership of entities with the ability to administer significant resources and address wide-ranging populations."
Applications for the Competitive Grant Program are due by September 23, 2024 (October 22nd for US territories), and the NTIA expects to start awarding applicants on a rolling basis this coming winter.
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