California Emerging Technology Fund

School2Home is an innovative statewide initiative to close both the Achievement Gap and Digital Divide at low-performing middle schools by integrating the use of Internet-enabled computing devices into teaching and learning coupled with significant parent engagement. It is anchored in research and best practices for improving academic performance and effectively using technology. School2Home employs a compendium of mutually-reinforcing interventions that transform school culture to improve student outcomes on a range of measures.

Telehealth-Telemedicine is the ability to promote healthy behavior and provide medical care remotely using broadband connectivity between facilities, thus expanding access to vital services and improving the quality of care by linking critical expertise to medically-underserved communities.

Residents in low-income neighborhoods face an interrelated set of factors that constitute a “wall of poverty” and a major barrier to broadband adoption. CETF launched Neighborhood Transformation Initiatives in pacesetter communities to align county, city, and school resources to support community leaders and to achieve better outcomes for students and their families, and join forces to tackle poverty.

CETF works statewide with a network of community-based organizations (CBOs) and public agencies to increase Digital Literacy. Since 2008 CETF grantees and partners have provided Digital Literacy Training to almost 1M people, including: delivering stand-alone training courses in community facilities; assisting unconnected households become sufficiently digitally-proficient to sign up for an affordable home Internet service and acquire a computing device as part of achieving adoptions; and training parents of students participating in School2Home.

Smart Housing refers to the policy to ensure publicly-subsidized housing has affordable high- speed Internet connectivity in all units to help residents get out of poverty and transform their lives. There are about 300,000 publicly-subsidized multi-family housing units in California, but most residents are not online. CETF has been a leading voice nationally to advance Smart Housing.

Smart Communities refers to a policy commitment and focused effort by local governments and civic leaders to optimize broadband deployment as a community grows or redevelops, incorporating it into major public buildings, transportation facilities, and other infrastructure projects. It also means optimizing the use of broadband and other information technologies to deliver public services and integrating it into solutions to major problems to increase efficiency and enhance quality of life. CETF has published several reports that are considered significant reference materials for policymakers and continues to facilitate public policy forums.

Internet For All Now (IFAN) and Get Connected! are initiatives of California Emerging Technology Fund, a non-profit organization providing statewide and national leadership to achieve Digital Equity by accelerating broadband deployment and adoption for unserved and underserved communities through public policy and community investments. Today, Internet For All Now (IFAN) and Get Connected! serve as a catalyst for closing the Digital Divide with the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) providing a consumer-focused platform with information and resources for obtaining affordable home Internet access and digital skills. The IFAN website provides information on affordable high-speed home Internet in multiple languages, Digital Literacy classes and events, Digital Equity advocacy, and tools for community leaders to conduct outreach and increase awareness in digitally-disadvantaged communities.

The California Emerging Technology Fund calls Digital Equity a 21st Century Civil Right. Rural and low-income residents stuck on the wrong side of the Digital Divide are being left behind at an accelerating pace—unable to apply for jobs, keep up in school, or access information about public services. Today 22% of California households are digitally-disadvantaged—12% are Unconnected (not online at home) and 10% are Underconnected (have only a smartphone). Getting residents connected at home to the Internet is called Adoption. Given the depth of economic insecurity among digitally-disadvantaged populations, CETF set an aggressive target of 500,000 Adoptions in 5 years (2018–2022) to achieve a net 90% Adoption statewide. While availability and access to broadband infrastructure is It takes targeted strategies and intense outreach in-language and in-culture by “trusted messengers” to overcome 3 primary barriers for low-income households: (a) cost; (b) relevance; and (c) digital literacy.

CETF sponsored the Internet For All Now Act of 2017 to add $330 million to the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), which is administered by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and set the official State Deployment Goal so that at least 98% of all residential households in each region have access to high-speed Internet infrastructure by 2022. Building broadband infrastructure is referred to as Deployment. Since the Legislature and CPUC established CASF in 2008 with $100 million, CETF has sponsored all subsequent legislation related to CASF, adding $545 million with dedicated funding for Regional Consortia, Public Housing, and Adoption. CETF has taken an active role in CASF rulemaking and continues to recommend streamlined procedures to accelerate broadband Deployment.