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Digital Download
Digital Equity Monthly Newsletter
June 2024
The Digital Download is your place for monthly updates from the Colorado Digital Equity team.
Colorado’s Digital Equity Team is a partnership between Colorado’s Office of the Future of Work, the Office of eHealth Innovation, and the Colorado Broadband Office. Staff members from the three offices are working together to advance digital equity across Colorado.
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 Colorado Economic Development Regions
Digital Access Plan Updates
Digital Equity Act Funding
The Digital Equity Team submitted Colorado’s Digital Access Plan to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on May 29th. Once the Digital Equity Act funding is approved, the Digital Equity Team will will use the funding to implement elements of the Digital Access Plan, including:
- Publishing a Request for Applications (RFA) for fiscal sponsors who will manage funding for local, cross-sector digital inclusion coalitions;
- Working with selected fiscal sponsors to co-write an RFA for regional digital inclusion coalitions (one for each of the Colorado economic development regions)
Preparing for Funding Opportunities
The Digital Equity Team anticipates several opportunities for communities to apply for funding in early 2025.
- Funding for fiscal sponsors who will serve as a 501c3 for regional digital inclusion coalitions. We encourage organization to pass along the request for applications once it becomes available with their networks.
- The Digital Equity Team will co-write a request for applications, from no more than one digital inclusion coalition per region, with the selected fiscal sponsors. While the RFA is not anticipated until early 2025, regions should begin preparing by bringing digital inclusion stakeholders together.
Receive Announcements About Digital Equity Funding
Sign- up to receive notice of funding opportunities from the state’s Digital Equity Team. Local businesses, nonprofits, governments, and individuals impacted by the digital divide are also encouraged to participate in convening regional coalitions.
Two additional opportunities for mini-grants will also be available in 2025.
- Funding to support digital inclusion projects for New Americans in the Denver Metro area; and
- Funding to support digital inclusion pilots via the Office of the Future of Work’s newly created Innovation Lab.
More information will be included in future newsletters and on the Office of the Future of Work’s Digital Equity, Literacy, and Inclusion website.
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Ali Waldrupe of NDIA speaking at Digital Navigator Summit
Digital Navigator Corner
The First Colorado Digital Navigator Summit
Nearly 30 digital navigators and 30 other staff with government agencies, libraries, and non-profit organizations across Colorado attended the inaugural Colorado Digital Navigator Summit on June 10-11, 2024. The Summit was held at Front Range Community College in Westminster. We were honored to have keynote speaker, Abi Waldrupe, Digital Navigator Program Manager with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), speak about the history and evolution of digital navigation services. Abi also shared about the ways NDIA convenes digital inclusion practitioners.
Another important aspect of the Summit was recognizing the training and support the Denver Public Library Digital Navigator Program provided as the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment (CDLE) designed and implemented the Digital Navigator Pilot Program.
Digital Navigator Pilot Program Update
In 2022, the Colorado legislature passed SB 22-140, Expansion of Experiential Learning Opportunities, including $1.7 million to implement a Digital Navigator Pilot Program. CDLE partnered with Serve Colorado, our state’s AmeriCorps agency, to expand the impact of the program. Serve Colorado leveraged their partnership with Comcast, who provided funding to the grantees and for video production to promote the services. Through this funding, hundreds of Coloradans have had access to digital navigation services and provided valuable insights so the funds can be used even more effectively.
Serve Colorado awarded funding to The Learning Source and the City of Loveland/ Loveland Public Library. In the 2023-24 program year, there were a total of 26 AmeriCorps member digital navigators (DNs).
Apply to Become a Digital Navigator
- Contact Flannery Lier if you know someone interested in becoming a Digital Navigator in northern Colorado including Berthoud, Estes Park, Ft Collins, Loveland, Red Feather Lakes, or Wellington.
- Contact Branzell Porchia with questions about opportunities to serve as a Digital Navigator with The Learning Source in the front range area, Pueblo, Chaffee, and Lake counties.
To learn more about digital navigation, visit our website under the Digital Navigator Program section.
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Digital Equity Events
Colorado Digital Equity Stakeholder Meetings
Every other month, Colorado’s Digital Equity Team hosts stakeholder meetings on Zoom. Anyone interested in Colorado’s digital inclusion work is welcome to join! The next Digital Equity Stakeholder meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 23, from 11 AM to 12:30 PM on Zoom.
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Other Digital Equity News |
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Read Colorado's Digital Access Plan
Have you read Colorado’s Digital Access Plan yet? With the passage of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, every state is required to develop a Digital Equity State Plan (known as the Digital Access Plan) which explores access to affordable broadband and digital devices as well as digital skill levels and cybersecurity practices for eight covered populations. The Digital Access Plan was created with the input of over 15,000 Coloradans and defines measurable objectives that would address the digital divide for the covered populations.
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Colorado Broadband Office (CBO) Roadshow
The CBO is hitting the road, traveling around the state to host a Summer Roadshow, meeting with broadband decision-makers and partners in every region. Roadshow topics include the Capital Projects Fund (CPF), Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD), and other federal funding programs, mapping, and other broadband-related topics. A member of the Digital Equity Team will present at each roadshow stop, as well.
Local government officials, public safety officials, school districts, healthcare facilities, community anchor institutions, and anyone invested in the state’s broadband expansion and improvement are encouraged to attend.
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Contact Us
Digital Equity
Colorado Department of Labor & Employment
633 17th Street, Suite 201
Denver, CO 80218
digitalequity@state.co.us
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