Leek has been serving as CIO since May 2022, when he cited digital equity as one of his primary priorities for Clark County, which includes more than 2.3 million residents and the city of Las Vegas.
Through the federal Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, the county received a $10.7 million grant to support capacity building, digital literacy training, device distribution and related activities. The money will support work outlined in the county’s broadband adoption and community engagement plan, which was developed with more than 20 community partners that will participate in the program as subgrantees.
Leek said the county took this approach to avoid duplication, recognizing these community-based organizations had already been doing digital inclusion work. With the additional funding investment from the county, the programming already being done can be expanded and scaled to support more community members.
“We felt that our role as the county government should be to help apply for that funding and then help coordinate the distribution of that funding into programs — many of which are already underway, which means it will make the programs bigger,” Leek said. “We’ll have more impact.”
He acknowledged that despite a multitude of investment efforts — such as the American Rescue Plan Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and local investments — there will still be areas in both urban and rural parts of the county that have yet to be addressed by these programs.
One of the next steps for the county is the issuance of a request for quotes (RFQ) — expected in the coming months — to address the needs to connect fiber to the premises. This, Leek said, will identify and qualify a list of providers with which the county can plan to fill connectivity gaps. This is not exclusive to fiber, but will enable various efforts to bring high-speed Internet access to areas with identified gaps.
Clark County is working with the state on its Middle Mile Network program, so there is access to clear information about what specific locations in the region are connected or are in the process of being connected, and to show them in layers on a map. Those locations that are not currently in the process of being addressed by various plans will be the target locations for the county’s last-mile efforts.
In a separate but related effort, under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, Nevada is expected to be one of the first states to break ground on broadband deployment after having its plan approved.
“The BEAD program is a great example of state and local coordination and planning and discussion,” Leek said. Officials are aware that the program is undergoing review, he said, but indicated he believes Nevada’s approach to the program may not be subject to this “same type of scrutiny” other states may face.
“In other words, while we have a preference for fiber — because fiber is the most stable and best connection for everyone’s connectivity — we acknowledge that with 8,000 square miles, you must have other alternatives,” Leek explained.
He said there are projects that are currently “shovel-ready” and the permitting process is underway for them.
Another project the county has undertaken is to increase connectivity speeds to affordable housing complexes, many of which were built with internal, twisted pair wiring. To bring modern, high-speed cabling into those buildings could be a significant construction project, with the potential for asbestos or lead abatement. To combat remodeling impacts, the county is working with an organization that will push Internet signals at broadband speeds across legacy wiring solutions.
This organization will essentially put one set of equipment in a building’s technology equipment room, which would be connected to all of the existing wiring in that affordable housing complex. This, in turn, could then be connected to fiber, allowing residents to choose between a high-speed connection or a lower-cost plan with lower speeds.
The pilot sites should be up and running in a couple of months, Leek said; they will then be evaluated and scaled. Many residents of these housing complexes are still using their cellphones as their primary Internet connection, he explained. “This program could result in choice and competition — and the possibility of connecting folks without all of the infrastructure costs on the part of the owner or the facilitator of that affordable housing unit.”
BEYOND BROADBAND
While Clark County is focused heavily on digital equity, officials are also investing in an improved government experience through two key initiatives.
One significant project is the county’s work to implement artificial intelligence-enabled translation services, allowing staff to communicate in person in real time with constituents whose primary language is not English. Leek noted that he expects to see this service running in a pilot phase within the next 90 days.
“This is the game-changer in terms of how we interact with the public,” he said.
The county is also replatforming its website to a new infrastructure, which Leek said will allow more agility in public communications through its website, and it is expected to make business transactions with the county easier. Notably, this move will also address accessibility requirements and offer an improved user experience for people accessing it from a mobile device. The goal is for this improved website to be in the testing phase this spring.
