The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) announced a July 31, 2022, deadline for Round 2 COVID-19 Telehealth Program (COVID-19 Program) funding recipients to purchase eligible devices and implement eligible services.

While state and local government agencies were working to deploy digital services and improve the delivery of constituent services before the pandemic, the urgency accelerated by ten-fold over the past two years as citizens in every state and jurisdiction needed government services delivered quickly and remotely. They needed and expected a holistic, digital experience with the same easy access, responsiveness, and transparency that they have in other aspects of their lives.

Bowdoin College in Maine announced the launch of its Digital Excellence Commitment (DExC), which will provide all current and future students with a suite of Apple technology products, as well as access to a range of course-specific software “designed to advance learning, inspire innovative teaching, and create digital equity across the student body in the use of tools essential for success in the twenty-first century.”

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is busy deciphering how to best distribute $48 billion of new broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which the head of the NTIA said is a “once in a generation opportunity” to close the digital divide.

Over the last year, the Federal government has allocated billions in funding to help close the digital divide nationwide. Multiple Federal entities, including the Treasury Department and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), have been tasked with overseeing the allocation of Federal funds.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is getting an early start on reminding Congress that the First Responder Network Authority – which oversees a contract under which AT&T is building out a nationwide broadband network for first responders – needs to be reauthorized by lawmakers by 2027.

The state of Montana has taken two major steps to help close the digital divide. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announced both that the state released a new statewide broadband service map, and has opened applications for its ConnectMT Program.

The General Services Administration (GSA) has committed to increasing the number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities with Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts in fiscal year (FY) 2022, which ends Sept. 30., according to a press release.

After years of wishing for an “Amazon-like” experience for citizens dealing with government services, the hard-won lessons of the coronavirus pandemic are spurring state and local governments toward necessary improvements in digital service delivery to get closer to that goal.

Tens of millions of viewers around the nation will flock to television screens and plates of buffalo chicken dip this weekend for the Super Bowl. Every year, the game also brings tens of thousands to the stands and hundreds of thousands to the host city’s bars and viewing establishments.