{"id":408415,"date":"2024-04-01T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=408415"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"NMI-may-apply-for-2-1M-grant-to-increase-digital-inclusion-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/NMI-may-apply-for-2-1M-grant-to-increase-digital-inclusion-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"NMI may apply for $2.1M grant to increase digital inclusion efforts  \u202f"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>WASHINGTON\u2014<\/strong>The Department of Commerce\u2019s National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Friday that the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands can apply to receive $2,100,000 to empower individuals and communities with the tools, skills, and opportunities they need to benefit from meaningful access to high-speed internet.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the \u201cInternet for All\u201d initiative, a key component of President Joe Biden\u2019s \u201cInvesting in America\u201d agenda, NTIA announced Friday the availability of more than $800 million nationally in funding from the Digital Equity Act\u2019s State Capacity Program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Biden is committed to ensuring everyone in CNMI and across America has access to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service,\u201d said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. \u201cCommerce\u2019s work building high-speed Internet infrastructure is only part of the equation. Families in CNMI need the tools and skills required to make the most of that Internet connection, and that\u2019s the $2.1 million opportunity we\u2019re announcing today. President Biden\u2019s digital equity initiative will make the promise of the Internet come alive for everyone in CNMI, no matter where they live or what their background is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>States, territories, and Native entities will use this funding to begin implementation of their digital equity plans. The CNMI plans to use its funding to enhance the quality of life for CNMI residents by facilitating equitable access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service, thereby unlocking social, educational, healthcare, essential services, and economic benefits.<\/p>\n<p>Through community collaboration, these digital equity plans outline a state or territory\u2019s approach to empowering communities with equitable access and opportunities to adopt a high-speed Internet connection and develop essential digital skills to fully participate in society and the digital economy.<\/p>\n<p>The funding allocation was calculated based on a formula defined in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and specified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The formula takes into account the relative population of the state or territory (50%), the relative size of the covered populations residing in the state or territory (25%), and the comparative lack of availability and adoption of broadband (25%). <em><strong><em>(PR)<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/imgupload\/15b55910ea58ef64678273b35a06fa84.jpg\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><br \/>people-working-together-side-view.jpg-FREEPIK.COM<br \/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON\u2014The Department of Commerce\u2019s National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Friday that the Commonwealth of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-408415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}