A national organization is celebrating the City of Pittsburgh's efforts to close the internet and digital access barriers found throughout its geographic footprint, though the timeline outlined to complete this work has been pushed back by several years per a separate announcement made last week.
On Wednesday, city officials announced that the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) has named Pittsburgh as a 2023 "Digital Inclusion Trailblazer" for its efforts to close its digital divide, a term used to describe disparities found in populations as it relates to digital technology access to resources like smartphones, tablets, computers and the internet. Pittsburgh is one of 47 honorees in the nation to receive this award across municipal, county and regional governments.
"Nonprofits, libraries, churches, and other community organizations can’t reach digital equity on their own. For everyone to thrive in today’s digital world, we need all hands-on deck," Angela Siefer, NDIA executive director, said in a statement. "NDIA’s Digital Inclusion Trailblazers exemplify the key role local governments have in building connected communities for all of their residents."
NDIA praised Pittsburgh for making accessible and affordable broadband internet a priority and for its efforts to ensure residents have access to digital skills training. The organization also noted Pittsburgh residents' ability to receive low-cost computer devices and technical support as justification for this award.
It's an award that follows an announcement made by city and county officials on Dec. 6 that Pittsburgh would now look to close its digital divide by 2030, an increase of three years from the original and ambitious five-year timeline stakeholders first shared back in September 2022.
Officials did not cite why the timeline was extended as part of last week's announcement, which largely centered around partnerships that have been forged since the launch of the group that's dedicated to seeing this work through, the Pittsburgh Digital Equity Coalition.
Over 4,200 households in Allegheny County lack access to internet service and more than 77,000 households have what is considered to be slow internet service, according to the 45-page community strategic plan shared in the Dec. 6 announcement.
