Description: Farmers and ranchers use smart technologies to improve yields, reduce costs, increase efficiencies, and improve decision making. Join BroadbandUSA on September 16, 2020, to take a deep dive into the technologies being implemented to further these  precision agriculture techniques.

NTIA launched the Minority Broadband Initiative (MBI) in November 2019 in partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) to work on solving deployment challenges in vulnerable communities.

NTIA’s National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM) has added Indiana and Georgia to its growing roster of participants. These additions closely follow the incorporation of Wyoming and Washington State to the broadband platform earlier this month. To date, NBAM includes 22 states.   

NTIA’s National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM) reached a 20 state milestone with the addition of Wyoming and Washington State. 

Data is crucial to understanding where broadband connectivity gaps exist and what barriers there are to Internet adoption. It also helps to develop effective broadband policies and programs. June’s BroadbandUSA webinar, “Utilizing Federal Data to Measure the Digital Divide,” provided an overview of federal datasets that are publically available to help communities and policymakers understand the digital divide at the local level.

Each presenter in BroadbandUSA’s May webinar would agree: the deployment of smart technology is transforming regional economies, creating resilient communities, and making government more efficient. The presenters stressed that successful smart communities ensure coordination between governments, create public-private partnerships, and foster community-level support. The webinar speakers discussed the importance of policy goal alignment and coordination to achieve smart region benchmarks.