Southeast Indiana Digital Inclusion Plan
What is Digital Inclusion?
Digital inclusion ensures everybody (children, seniors, minorities, small businesses, and workers to name a few) have access to affordable and adequate internet connectivity, reliable devices, sufficient digital skills and literacy, and customized support to prosper in the digital age.
The Mission
The mission is to create a regional environment where all southeast Indiana citizens and businesses thrive through connectivity and digital inclusion.
Goal #1: Build/upgrade affordable, scalable, and future proof broadband throughout the community and improve adoption.
Goal #2: Ensure all residents have reasonable access to quality, affordable, and reliable devices as well as a trusted technical support to maintain, upgrade and use these devices
Goal #3: Provide a perpetual digital literacy ecosystem — multi-faceted across multiple technologies - offering support and equitable access to people of all ages and abilities for the region’s digital activities
Goal #4: Include connectivity, devices and digital skills into local and regional community and economic development strategies through public private partnerships, coordination, and assessments resulting in a sustainable digital equity ecosystem.
Affordable Connectivity Program
The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program that replaces the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB Program) to help low-income households pay for internet service and connected devices.
If your household is eligible, you can receive:
- Up to a $30/month discount on your internet service
- Up to a $75/month discount if your household is on qualifying Tribal lands
- A one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, tablet, or desktop computer (with a co-payment of more than $10 but less than $50)
Test Your Broadband Speed: Participate in the Indiana Speed Test
Indiana Farm Bureau formed the Indiana Broadband Strategic Partnership (IBSP) to help bring reliable broadband to the most unserved and underserved communities across the state. To help with this initiative, the IBSP also includes Cook Medical Group, Duke Energy Foundation, Indiana Association of Realtors, Radius Indiana and the Regional Opportunity Initiative.
This partnership will promote the Indiana Speed Test, a crowd-sourced internet speed test.
From this web site we can collect data about your broadband speed and create a map for your community that will help your community in efforts to get grants and other support to improve broadband for your community. We need your help, click here to participate.
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