An effort which began during the COVID-19 pandemic to get students online “has grown into a citywide movement to advance digital equity, not only as an educational access issue but as an economic, health, civic and moral imperative for all Oaklanders,” said Patrick Messac, director of #OaklandUndivided, a nonprofit broadband advocacy group in Oakland dedicated to closing the digital divide.
“We are working in partnership toward a common cause,” Messac said during an Oct. 3 press event to call attention to several initiatives taking root in Oakland to not only improve broadband infrastructure for the Bay Area city, but ensure that students, the elderly, and lower income residents are not left on the digital sidelines.
For example, the Oakland Public Education Fund is investing $1 million into a Student Connectivity Fund for the Oakland Unified School District to ensure access to devices, Internet connections and “culturally responsive” tech support.
“We know that the digital divide is a really huge part of our kids being able to learn, grow and thrive and be part of the 21st century economy,” Alexandria Medina, executive director of the Oakland Public Education Fund, said during the event.
Other projects include $2.5 million allocated by the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) for the OHA Free Internet Initiative through at least 2027, according to city officials. OHA provides free high-speed Wi-Fi to people living in public housing.
“We’re going to have over 3,000 folks, funded through federal subsidy, with free Wi-Fi. So not just our young scholars, but our secondary young scholars, our elders,” said Patricia Wells, OHA executive director.
Perhaps one of the biggest steps being taken is by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which awarded a $15 million last-mile grant to the city for broadband infrastructure projects, connecting 14 community institutions, nine public safety buildings and numerous households.
“I think that speaks to not just the power and impact of the project, but all the work that’s gone before it that we’re talking about celebrating here. That this didn’t happen overnight,” said Tony Batalla, the city’s CIO and director of its Information Technology Department. The department was the lead applicant for the CPUC grant.
The project, Oakland Connect, will bring 27 OHA facilities and more than 2,500 units online with high-speed fiber, with the housing authority managing the Internet service.
“You have municipal government doing the infrastructure, and then the partners doing the service. And so, together that shows how a partnership can work, between infrastructure and service delivery,” Batalla said.
Digital equity “is really not a unique issue for cities across the nation,” Luisa Calumpong, Oakland broadband manager, said. “And this award is actually a unique award to go to an urban environment like Oakland.”
