Digital Equity Online Survey; Make Your Voice Heard – Help Your Community Get Online; Monterey County’s Goal is at least 250 Survey Responses by June 30!

 

The internet is a critical part of everyday life. Yet 1 in 5 Californians, including many

in Monterey County, do not have access to affordable, reliable broadband service,

devices, and the skills to use them. Going without a reliable broadband connection can

affect the ability to land a better job, provide a better education to the next generation or

fully access medical care. The gap between those with broadband connection and

those without is known as the “digital divide.”

Over the next few months, the California Department of Technology will be leveraging a

federal planning grant to develop a state Digital Equity Plan. When completed, the plan

will deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to California and ensure that

residents have affordable, high-speed internet access, as well as the skills and tools

needed to participate in the digital economy.

Here is where you can help. To create a Digital Equity Plan that works for everyone,

input is needed, and that input is being gathered by a statewide survey. Please take the

survey and encourage others to as well by June 30, 2023. The goal is to have 250

responses from Monterey County residents to best gauge needs and input from community

service providers and residents, but the more who respond give them a clear picture of

what is needed.

Feedback collected from this survey will help form a plan to fund programs that provide

reliable internet, computers, and the skills to use them.

The state of California needs to hear especially from those who struggle most with accessing the

internet. This includes English language learners, veterans, immigrants, adults over 60

years old, people who live in rural areas, individuals with disabilities, minorities and

those living at or below the federal poverty level.

Drafting the plan will be a major milestone toward enabling better digital access for

those in Monterey County so it is crucial that as many community members as possible

participate in this planning process while there is still time.

Click here to take the California Digital Equity Online Survey:

bit.ly/CADigitalEquitySurvey