Internet from the moon: Varsity scholar nurtures his concept on inexpensive internet.

In an effort to address a lack of broadband access, Indigenous communities are working together, and with local organizations, to acquire funding to bring internet access to their communities and close the digital divide.

Black Churches 4 Digital Equity partners with local congregations and clergy members to connect people with internet access helping them get signed up with the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides discounted internet access and a one-time discount for laptop, desktop, or tablet purchases for those whose income is less than 200% of the federal poverty line. Through community outreach and events, local clergy have helped more than 230,000 households enroll in the program.

Arizona State University’s SolarSPELL project developed a waterproof device with a solar panel and other equipment that allows users to connect to “offline WiFi” networks and browse preloaded webpages. SD cards store open access educational content and national education ministries have the ability to add national textbooks and other culturally relevant content. About 25 users can connect without slowing browsing speeds and the ASU team provides training on how to use the device. While the device is primarily charged using the solar panel, it can also be charged using electricity during cloudy weather.

Cooperatives owned by the people they serve give communities control over local telecommunications infrastructure. The member-owned Kit Carson Electric Cooperative provides access to broadband Internet in a remote region of northern New Mexico not served by the large telecommunications companies. In addition to leveling the playing field for small, underserved localities, networks owned by coops allow users to retain decision-making power over their telecommunications infrastructure in the absence of net neutrality protections.

The Equitable Internet Initiative (EII) is transforming community organizers into “digital stewards” who are literally building out internet connection in their communities. In Detroit, where 40% of residents don’t have internet access, this service through the EII is invaluable. The program is also equipping youth of color with relevant technology skills and creating a stronger sense of place for the three Detroit neighborhoods it serves.

In Cuba, most access to internet is extremely limited. "The Weekly Package," solves this problem--carried by individuals who travel around on foot each week, it is a single, black market hard drive from which customers may download the content of their choice - telenovelas, news, movies, and more.

With no alternative, some community college students in Talihina, Oklahoma sit in the parking lot of the local hospital at night, logging on to the internet network to complete research papers, oftentimes on smartphones. With Obama-era broadband infrastructure improvement plans now uncertain, one nonprofit is getting "out of the government's umbrella" and working to ensure the goal of connecting 350,000 people nationwide by 2020 is still met. By both building infrastructure and making it more affordable, ConnectHome Nation seeks to answer, "What could they become ... if they just had an equal shot?"

Many families in rural New Mexico still do not have high speed internet access at home. In Farmington, the public school district, a local college, and nonprofits are working to close the gap in the digital divide for students by addressing access to technology and the internet.

The federal Affordable Connectivity Program helps people pay for high-speed internet access to address the digital divide, and New Mexico is outpacing the national average of participants with educational outreach meetings and advertisements.

SafiriSalama.com is a funeral-tech startup that provides people with a way to memorialize their loved ones online, as well as connect with professionals in the funeral industry. Since the website’s beta launch in November 2022, it has seen over 67,000 visitors and more than 478 tributes and 2,000 memorial pictures have been shared to the site.