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95K
residents in San José lack internet access at home
55%
of low-income residents are unconnected
$24M
in grant funding to close the digital divide in San José over 10 years
What is the Digital Divide?
Broadband internet is no longer a luxury, but an essential onramp to education, jobs, and access to essential services. Over 20 million Americans lack broadband today. Yet, nearly all homework requires online access and students with internet access at home are 6-8% more likely to graduate from high school.
Despite being the largest city in Silicon Valley, San José has a persistent digital divide that excludes many residents from the opportunities offered by technologies developed in our backyard. In fact, 95,000 San José residents lack access to broadband, including 36% of Latinx families and 47% of African American families, according to a study conducted by the City of San José along with the Stanford School of Education and Community Connect Labs.
Closing the digital divide in San José is imperative to building an inclusive city where technology benefits all of our residents.
What is the Digital Inclusion Partnership?
San JOsé’S APPROACH TO CLOSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
San José is the first city in the country to pledge to close the Digital Divide by establishing the Digital Inclusion Partnership, a $18 million cross-sector fund that will be distributed in grant awards over a ten-year period. It is the city’s largest philanthropic effort in recent history.
The Digital Inclusion Partnership aims to:
Connect 50,000 San José households with universal device access and universal connectivity at speeds of at least 25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload over the next 10 years.
Ensure 50,000 San José households achieve and sustain the appropriate digital skills proficiency level to stay ahead of technology and increase quality of life outcomes in education, workforce, healthcare and more.
The $18 million fund will be raised through a combination of public and private efforts. $8 million in funding will come from innovative public-private partnerships with telecommunication companies. San José has earmarked infrastructure fees from 5G small cell deployments toward digital equity programming. In addition to this commitment from the City of San José, we will raise another $10 million from private and public philanthropic donors to bring the total available for community grants to $18 million over 10 years. Every dollar given is already matched by City funding.
The City of San José, in partnership with the City of San José Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation, has engaged the California Emerging Technology Fund to work with community organizations and administer grant making. CETF is a non-profit organization that provides state-wide leadership in accelerating the deployment and adoption of broadband to unserved and underserved communities and populations in California.
The Digital Inclusion Partnership will disburse approximately $500K - 1M each year to organizations in San José who are closing the Digital Divide through expanding Internet connectivity, device access and digital literacy skills.
SJDIP Round 1 Digital Inclusion Grants Impact Report
The Partnership will target three key components of Digital Inclusion.
Access Programs
PROVIDING INTERNET CONNECTIVITY TO RESIDENTS
Device Programs
ENSURING EVERY RESIDENT HAS A WORKING DEVICE
Digital Literacy
ENHANCING DIGITAL SKILLS TO ACCESS JOBS, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, & CRITICAL SERVICES
Contact Us
Questions? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with our Program Director, Charlene Tatis, at info@sjdigitalinclusion.org.