PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Ensuring residents can use the Internet to conduct activities of daily life from finding a job to reaching their doctor or connecting with family is the focus of a new project the city is launching: The Pittsfield Digital Equity Plan.

 

Earlier this spring, the City of Pittsfield was selected to participate in the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program launched by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI). Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) is partnering with the city and is leading the planning work.

 

The goal of this program is to guide municipal decision-making and investments that will increase access, adoption and usage of the internet for the populations most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

"Accessible and affordable high-speed internet is essential in our 21st-century world," said Mayor Linda M. Tyer. "To ensure Pittsfield residents are equipped to be successful online with the knowledge, skills, and devices they need, we need everyone's voices contributing to Pittsfield's Digital Equity Plan."

 

The first phase of this project is to gather vital input from the community regarding how or whether residents can access the internet, the devices they use to connect, and the degree to which internet service is affordable to them. MBI recently launched a survey, available at https://made.civilspace.io/en/projects/ma-digital-equity/engagements/ma-sdep-public-survey/sections/1.

 

This survey is available in 9 languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, Russian, Arabic and Khmer.

 

Critical to the planning process, through focus group and community conversations, we will be hearing from those most impacted, among them seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities, English language learners, and people struggling with poverty.

 

"Having the knowledge and skills to navigate the internet is key to people's ability to participate in their communities," said Pittsfield's Chief Diversity Officer, Michael Obasohan. "That's why the city is committed to taking what we learn from this Digital Equity Plan to identify and dismantle barriers that historically have left some community members on the wrong side of the digital divide."

 

The strategic recommendations in Pittsfield's Digital Equity Plan, which the city aims to complete by early 2024, will also inform the State's Digital Equity Plan, directing how millions of Federal dollars from the Digital Equity Act and Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program are spent across the Commonwealth including increasing access to education, healthcare, civic engagement, economic and other opportunities.

 

Leaders of community-based organizations who serve the priority audiences will be critical to the plan's success. A Digital Equity Champions Coalition, consisting of community members and organizational leaders passionate about bridging the digital divide, will work in partnership with city leaders and BRPC to ensure the process is informed by real-world experiences.

 

A Berkshire County regional listening session is planned for this fall. 

 

To find additional resources and to stay up to date with this plan as it evolves, visit the city's Digital Equity page: https://www.cityofpittsfield.org/departments/digital_equity.php

 

To learn about how you or your organization can get involved, email Wylie Goodman at Berkshire Regional Planning Commission at wgoodman@berkshireplanning.org.