Low-income and limited-English households in the New York City tend to adopt broadband at less than half the rate of their counterparts in moderate and higher income households. The City of New York’s Connected Communities project proposes to upgrade and expand public computer centers in libraries, public housing facilities, recreation centers, senior centers, and community support organizations across the city, focusing on high-poverty areas such as Harlem and the South Bronx. The project plans to serve vulnerable populations in these areas by establishing programs for digital literacy and multimedia training, providing public access to new and upgraded computers and assistive technology, creating after school programs, and providing test preparation and workforce education.
New York
| Grantee | Total Award | Type |
|---|---|---|
| City of New York | $13,917,562 | Public Computer Centers |
| City of New York SBA | $5,962,124 | Sustainable Adoption |
| Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. | $14,988,657 | Sustainable Adoption |
| ION Hold Co., LLC transferred to ION NewCo Corp. | $38,938,988 | Infrastructure |
| New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications | $22,162,825 | Sustainable Adoption |
| New York Department of Labor | $536,737 | Public Computer Centers |
| New York State Education Department | $9,521,150 | Public Computer Centers |
| NY State Office of Cyber Security & Critical Infrastructure | $8,923,532 | Broadband Data & Development |
| One Economy Corporation | $28,519,482 | Sustainable Adoption |
| Portland State University | $3,318,031 | Sustainable Adoption |
| Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe | $641,750 | Public Computer Centers |
| University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development | $62,540,162 | Infrastructure |
| Vermont Telephone Company | $12,256,492 | Infrastructure |
| Wildwood Programs, Inc. | $845,363 | Sustainable Adoption |
New York City’s transfer school students—students between the ages of 16-21 who have disengaged from high school and are not on track to graduate—face a significantly greater risk of poverty, crime, unemployment, and other challenges in life. As part of an effort to help these students develop skills necessary for graduation and a successful transition to college or a career, the City of New York’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) proposes an aggressive outreach program to serve students and their families at 43 transfer high schools through computer training, refurbished computer equipment, and Internet access subsidies. Students would receive computers and broadband access in the home after completing a 57-hour broadband training course, along with a 3-hour program for family members.
Broadband’s ability to expand educational and employment opportunities is especially meaningful for Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing, a community that faces unique challenges in education and that suffers from a rate of unemployment much higher than the national average. Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. (CSD) intends to expand broadband adoption among people who are deaf and hard of hearing and provide them with online tools to more fully participate in the digital economy. The project proposes to employ a combination of discounted broadband service and specialized computers, technology training from an online state-of-the art support center customized to the community’s needs, public access to videophones at anchor institutions from coast to coast, and a nationwide outreach initiative. Thousands will gain online access to all the Internet has to offer, including sign language interpreters, captioned video services, and other content and functionalities designed especially to advance their educational, employment, and healthcare interests.
The ION Upstate New York Rural Broadband Initiative proposes to build 10 new segments of fiber-optic, middle mile broadband infrastructure, serving more than 70 rural communities in upstate New York and parts of Pennsylvania and Vermont. The ION project plans to construct a 1,308-mile network to offer broadband speeds of one to 10 Gbps to serve more than 300 anchor institutions and immediately connect more than 100, including libraries, state and community colleges, state and county agencies, and health clinics. ION plans to extend its relationship with the New York State Office for Mental Health, along with the Basset Hospital and Healthcare System, to expand many of its telemedicine practices.
The NYC Connected Learning project plans to provide computer training, desktop computers, educational software, and free broadband access for one year to more than 18,000 low-income sixth-graders and their families (approximately 40,000 residents total) in 100 high-need public middle schools in New York City. Of these households, the applicant anticipates that more than 12,000 will subscribe to broadband beyond the free year-long subscription period. The not-for-profit organization Computers for Youth plans to conduct computer training for parents and students in English, Spanish, and other languages as needed. Project outreach will target the larger middle-school community and their families using multilingual newsletters and flyers, phone calls, public informational meetings, and school websites. The awareness campaign is expected to reach all of the sixth to eighth-graders in the schools, totaling roughly 46,000 households or 100,000 residents.
The New York Department of Labor proposes to use Interactive Video Presence technology to connect 20 of the state's existing public workforce investment One Stop Career Centers to occupational skills training and career planning services from three state organizations, expanding these services to low-income areas where the training is not available locally. The One-Stop BEAM project will partner with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, New York’s Training and Education Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing and Alternative and Renewable Technologies (TEC-SMART), and the Department of Labor’s Central Office to leverage their extensive investment in equipment, software, and training materials.
In addition, the project will augment the training offerings of the Department of Labor’s existing One Stop network of career centers, which provide employment resources and workforce information to job seekers, students, businesses, and workforce professionals in order to foster talent development in the global economy.
The New York State Computer Centers project plans to provide approximately 860 computers in 30 libraries and five mobile training centers across 41 economically distressed Upstate New York counties. The project is designed to address unemployment, a lack of affordable broadband services, education, training, and technical support, and to increase access to essential e-government and other online resources necessary to facilitate work, health care, education, and citizenship. At every site, the project expects to implement comprehensive workforce development and skills-orientated adult education software, which will include certificate and language courses. This grant will allow the State Library to extend library hours, provide 24/7 access to job search resources, and serve an estimated 50,000 additional users per week system-wide.
Project Components
State Broadband Capacity Building:
This funding will support the New York State Broadband Program Office. This office has the responsibility of leading broadband policy within New York State as well as identifying and securing federal funds for their stated purpose that “every New Yorker has access to affordable, high-speed broadband.”
Technical Assistance:
This project is a partnership between the New York State Office of Cyber Security and the New York Library Association to disseminate curricula created by the New York State Broadband Development and Deployment Council that meet the state’s digital literacy standards. By training 1,440 librarians across 755 public libraries in New York, this project will facilitate the formal adoption of state-based curriculum into the compulsory continuing education state certification process.
Data Collection, Integration, and Validation:
This project was originally funded for broadband planning activities and two years of data collection. In September of 2010, this project was amended to extend data collection activities for an additional three years and to identify and implement best practices.
Address File Development:
OCS will conduct as innovative and cost-effective system to establish mapping coordinates for the remaining four million address points in New York.
The 21st Century Information and Support Ecosystem project proposes to implement a comprehensive program of computer training, wireless Internet access, broadband awareness marketing, and online content and applications to residents of 159 affordable and public housing developments and low-income communities in 50 cities and towns across 31 states and the District of Columbia. The project plans to implement four principal programs: training 2,500 youth to become “Digital Connectors” who will then provide digital literacy training to others in their communities; deploying localized broadband networks in public housing developments; developing online content and applications aimed at low-income, low-literacy audiences.
Partnering with adult literacy and basic education organizations with long histories in their respective states, Portland State University proposes to lead the Learner Web Partnership project to increase broadband use among low-income, minorities, and other vulnerable populations by teaching digital literacy along with English literacy, educating participants to become informed consumers, and providing access to career paths in the digital economy. Project partners will deploy the existing Learner Web software, which has been cited by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education as a noteworthy adult education program, for more than 20,000 residents. Instructional materials will address topics including use of broadband for job searches, education and health information, and smart consumer practices. The project proposes a distinctive focus on the needs of adult learners using an approach that combines self-paced learning with live tutorial support.
The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe is proposing to upgrade public computer centers and add training and certification courses to the services it provides to economically vulnerable residents in Franklin County, New York, which is along the Canadian border. Many Mohawks suffered job losses in auto manufacturing and aluminum production during the recent economic downturn, and the project aims to provide the broadband access and training in digital literacy, workforce skills, and business development needed for the Tribe’s economic recovery. The project proposes to utilize distance learning and videoconferencing for inter-governmental and public safety applications, as well as distance-enabled teaching screens, or smart boards, to enable collaboration among educational institutions. The Tribe plans to partner with the National Education Foundation to offer a three-stage online digital literacy course consisting of basic computing, computer applications, and Internet applications. The National Education Foundation also plans to donate over 17,000 online course units for use in the computer centers, including certification courses in information technology, business skills, and project management.
As part of a longstanding project to connect essential community anchor institutions across the country, and facilitate closer collaboration and long-term benefits for education, research, healthcare, public safety, and government services, the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID) proposes a comprehensive 50-state network benefitting approximately 121,000 community anchors. The project proposes a large-scale, public-private partnership to interconnect more than 30 existing research and education networks, creating a dedicated 100-200 Gbps nationwide fiber backbone with 3.2 terabits per second (TBps) total capacity that would enable advanced networking features such as IPv6 and video multicasting. The project plans to connect community anchors across all disciplines into virtual communities with shared goals and objectives, including colleges, universities, libraries, major veterans and other health care facilities, and public safety entities, with additional benefits to tribes, vulnerable populations, and government entities.
The VT BELL project is VTEL’s plan to address a bandwidth and transport capacity shortage in the state’s existing middle mile infrastructure in areas including Essex, Stowe, New Haven, and Berlin. Because this shortage has slowed the deployment of crucial resources necessary to promote long term educational and economic initiatives, such as distance learning networks, access to Internet2, and remote access to large databases and libraries, VT BELL proposes expanding VTel's existing fiber network to deliver up to 10 Gbps Ethernet broadband to more than 200 high schools; hospitals; colleges; universities; community colleges; rural, independent and large telephone companies; and public safety entities, including police barracks, statewide. The project also proposes to build the high speed network to Vermont's three highest peaks to enhance the Department of Public Safety's statewide microwave network for improved emergency communications in mountainous areas.
Wildwood Programs is proposing a sustainable broadband adoption program to deploy videoconferencing and other broadband capabilities to 75 human services facilities in upstate New York to increase institutional broadband subscribership among organizations that serve people with disabilities in the region.
In light of a recent New York State finding that people with disabilities access broadband services and its attendant economic and social benefits much less frequently than the population at large, the project plans to make videoconferencing available to clients through a number of mediums, including from their home computers. Also, because many agencies providing service to people with disabilities have been slow to adopt high-speed services, the project intends to focus on remote staff training and coordination and act as a model and case study for the agencies as they incorporate broadband services into their client interactions.