Okay, so we are recording. And again, welcome, everybody. Glad to see you this morning.
Excuse me. So get rid of this here just a minute.
Okay. So there we are back, back again. So, just want to do a couple of quick things. A couple of housekeeping things I want to thank again, our sponsors Valley Telecom Group, CareFirst, Healthplan, Kajeet, Triad Wireless and Karen Ziegler consulting services, we greatly appreciate it. And those of you who might have some money for sponsorship, we are looking for sponsors, and I'll be glad to share some information with you about that. Secondly, just a reminder, if you haven't, and I do include this in all of the emails that I send out a link to be able to make sure that you provide an update in our Google form, so that we know who you are, have contact information, and so forth. So if so please take a couple of minutes to take care of that. Next is just a reminder, those of you who have been here know that we do a kibitzing with colleagues after this after the formal meeting is over. So about 9:15 or so we stop the recording and just provide an opportunity for people to chat and ask questions, look for contacts and that sort of thing. So I encourage you to stay on afterwards. And again, that might be five minutes, it might be an hour, it might be two people, it might be 10 people. Yeah, we just don't know. It's just a very informal kind of thing. So with that, I want to just jump right into some updates with the Broadband office. And I don't believe Sandip is going to be here this morning. And Perla I think you're going to lead off with providing an update on what's happening with the Broadband office and the BEAD planning and so forth. Do we have any new people who are joining us today? Besides Vanessa, who we're going to introduce in just a little while? Isaac, I think this might be your first meeting?
Yes. Happy to be here. Pima Community College. I am the Chief Information Officer.
Finally got you here. Isaac. Yes, yes. Yes. This time works. Good. Well, glad. Glad you're here today to be here. And anybody else? That's new to us today. Okay, if not, let's get back into doing the updates. So I'm gonna turn it over to Perla. I'm gonna stop sharing. I don't know if you're gonna share anything or not.
No, I won't be sharing anything. But thank you so much, Steve. First and foremost, Vanessa, because last time I introduced Erin, so we're super excited about introducing Vanessa. Our team is growing. And we're really, really excited about that. Vanessa is our Broadband Grants Manager. And I'll let her introduce herself after I finished a little bit about what the Broadband is office is doing at the moment. We've submitted Volume One to NTIA. And so we're currently making some final revisions to that our volume two of the initial proposal is still up for public comment and closes on the sixth of December. So if anybody wants to submit any last minute comments there, we're very open to it. We also have in regards to the timeline for starting the challenge process, we plan to submit everything by December 27. And we plan to start the chat pre challenge process in January, February, where everybody can start pre registration and we'll be providing training in those two months. And March, we'll open optional challenge process where communities ISPs and carriers have 15 days to rebuttal. And then in August, we'll open the project areas to give everybody just a timeline as to what's going on there. We're currently talking to well, I'll put crystal is is doing really great work when it comes to talking with vendors in the software companies to help build the challenge process for us. So yeah, that's the that's the big updates that I have What's going on on the Broadband office side?
Perla? Can you just take a moment and explain a little bit more for people about the challenge process? I know we've have some new people and if you can just help to explain a little bit about the challenge process
Sorry, I thought someone was gonna talk. Sure thing. So this is where people can go into our challenge portal and challenge the local locations on certain areas if they have Broadband or not. We're going to be going to counties and cities where we'll be helping them and seeing if they're areas we possibly testing like their
I'm sorry we lost you there.
You're muted Perla.
Hi. Perla I might pop in and help out Perla who found issues?
Yeah,
I'm sorry about that I having some low battery issues here and surely with that, but yeah, people, we're gonna do speed tests with people, and we're gonna be able to help them during that training process as well.
So anything else? Perla?
Um, nope. That was it. Steve, are
Vanessa can introduce yourself for that matter.
Good morning, everybody. My name is Vanessa Figueroa, and I am the new Broadband Grant Manager with the Broadband team at ACA, and I'm excited to be here. There's a lot of work that needs to get done. And I'm just happy to be part of the team and and looking forward to all the work. So appreciate it.
Can you explain just a little bit Vanessa what you're going to be doing as a part of the team, please.
So my job is basically, basically, but my job is going to be as the Grants Manager. So basically, making sure so one of the processes, making sure that I that we have a solid grant process for this grant, making sure in and reviewing and and reviewing, you know, contracts and getting things signed making, putting everything into place that will help this project move forward. So sending out award letters and making sure that we're reporting correctly, making sure that we are that every project is sticking to what was what what was there what was said and that we are following the federal guidelines, and that we're following the guidelines for Arizona. And so just kind of managing all of that and managing the process itself. And so that's what I'll be doing for that. There are other things that I'll be doing. But as of right now, the big. The big, big project is coming up is what you guys are what we're working on right now. And trying to get that off the ground.
Cool. Thank you and welcome to the team and welcome to participating with us. We look forward to your regular participation.
Thank you. I'm looking forward to that
Krystal, do you want to add anything? Are we pretty much covered what we need to I think we pretty much covered everything. Okay, sounds good. So So moving on. And Nicole were gonna get to you in just a minute, but I saw she's still here, Maggie Farry Maggie, do you want to introduce yourself real quickly and kind of give an update on what's happening with the teams that you're working with?
Yeah, certainly. And yeah, so my name is Maggie Farry, I'm the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for Governor Hobbs, and I run her Broadband policy portfolio. So I'm lucky enough to work very closely with the st Broadband office over at ACA and have have had the pleasure of really teaming up with them on some of the projects related with BEAD and Digital Equity as well as the other programs that they run. So I as a part of my role with the governor, I run her Interagency and community Broadband Advisory Council, which is made up of about 30 individuals from across the state, various agencies, staff as well as some public interest staff and and representation from local governments as well, as a part of that council, there are six working groups. And we meet monthly at those for those working groups virtually. And those working groups, the ideas that they kind of gather recommendations and ideas and suggestions that then the council will review. So we are meeting this week, it's our second round of working group meetings, the working groups include infrastructure and permitting, mapping, outreach, affordability, Digital Inclusion and workforce. If you're interested in joining any of those, we're working groups are open to the public. We've had four already this week. But we have several this afternoon as well, Digital Inclusion and workforce and I'm happy to add you to the list of interested parties. Yeah, I think that's, that's a good overview of what we were up to over the governor's office.
Great. Thanks. So Maggie, appreciate it. And as you said, you're working very closely with the Broadband office doing some some great stuff. So
I've just got a question for Maggie, can you repeat the working groups one more time?
Yes, definitely. Hi, Alexis. So the working groups are infrastructure and permitting, mapping, outreach, affordability, Digital Inclusion, and workforce. And if you have any interest, or just want to learn more information, I just dropped my email in the chat. I can send you some some more additional information. And we have lots of folks from the county level and the higher education level, which I'm sure will interest you. Particularly. Cool. Thank you.
And just FYI, I believe that I included the Maggie's been recording those meetings, and I share the recordings from the previous meetings, in my email announcements that I send out, that has a link to all those companies so that you can catch up on the discussions that have taken place. And I assume Maggie, at some point that you'll share the current ones to
certainly six hours a month of fun Broadband conversations from state stakeholders, more than welcome to share.
Sounds great. Okay, thank you. So Nicole, I think I saw you online. Do you want to try to give us a little update from NTIA.
Hey, good morning, everybody. I'm Nicole Umayam. I'm the federal program officer with NTIA. For Arizona I live in work in Phoenix here. Nothing, you know, nothing major right now that all eyes are on making sure states and territories submit their initial proposals for BEAD and their Digital Equity action plans in on on all their respective timelines. States have different deadlines for the Digital Equity plans. But all states and territories have to submit their initial proposal by December 27. So that's where the focus is right now.
Thank you. And just quickly, many of you attended the part two of the BEAD plan that we did a study session. And Nicole and Mr. Broadband manager did a great job of providing an overview and Nicole did a Excuse me, did a an update on what the NTIA requirements are. And then Sandy kind of addressed what the state is doing in response to those requirements and draws me there are lots of requirements from NTIA. So the Broadband office is working diligently to try to make sure they can all fit. So with that, anything else, Nicole that you wanted to add?
You know, I'm gonna just share my contact info in the chat here again, but you know, I really love this job because I get to amplify the awesome work going on in Arizona at the national level and try to connect people in Arizona together. So please reach out if you have questions about BEAD or the Digital Equity program and also if you have projects related to those that you want to share.
Thanks, Nicole, and really appreciate your partnership with us. And what as soon as the Digital Equity plan is released, we will do one or more study sessions like we did for BEAD this week to really help people understand and provide input. And we've tried to keep it somewhat informal. And that's why we call this a study session. So there's opportunity for questions, comments, and so forth. But again, just to remind you, if what you've already heard, is that the deadline is looming for our input into the volume two. So please, if you have not done so, please review it is a daunting document. But please review at least looking at the sections that may be of particular interest to you and provide any input, which is available online at the Broadband office. So with that, moving on, I believe ACA you guys still have open positions that you're trying to fill the senior Broadband Program Manager and the community engagement outreach specialist. Is that still the case? That That is correct, Steve? Okay. And State Library Mala? Are you guys still looking for digital navigators?
I will let Holly answer that.
Megan is on and Megan probably answer that. I think that we are the applications are being reviewed currently. Is that correct? Megan?
Yes, that's right. I tried to turn on my camera. There it goes. We received 29 applications. So far, the closing date is today. And that is more applications than we've ever received in the past. And so we've got some really good options right
here. And I apologize. So Holly is the director of the State Library. And so thank you, Holly, for being here. It's always good to see you guys do a great job over at the State Library, which I have said many, many times. So. So just quickly, as I mentioned, that we did do this special study session, we had about 60 people who joined us, Sandip, as I mentioned, kind of did well, we call that kind of an overview of NTIA's requirements and Sandip addressed the state, that recording is available and will be and I will be distributing the link to that recording, in case you missed it and would like to catch up on that. So that will be coming up fairly shortly. The other thing that I would like to explore in the future is to have a panel discussion on the role of Broadband providers and Digital Equity inclusion. We have a number of providers here in the state who are doing Rory Rory is here and, and a number of others who are doing some great stuff at Digital Equity in addition to providing Broadband connectivity. And so I think that's an important discussion, and certainly will be at least my opinion, will be a relevant discussion in regard to the Digital Equity plan. So I hope to be able to do that probably maybe not till after the first of the year. Maybe once the Broadband, the Digital Equity plan is released. So I just wanted to mention that. So any questions about anything? Oh, I'm sorry, Karen. Well, I know we kind of Perla was kind of doing the updates for you. But did you have anything else that you wanted to add? There, are you still there? Okay. So moving on. We have a great presentation, as I was telling Brian and so you probably heard my my earlier comments that I'm pleased to welcome Dr. Bryan Carter Beck, who is the project, the principal investigator and director for the Center for Digital Humanities at the University of Arizona. And Melissa Hall was also on the call who is there a program manager for the $3 million grant that they've received for both internet and Digital Inclusion? And at least in my opinion, and one of the reasons I brought him back, as I told Brian, besides the fact that he's most amazing, dynamic guy, but they're doing a really interesting program, which I think is a good model, certainly for other communities and looking at both how they're doing addressing both Broadband and Digital Inclusion activities. So with that, Brian, I'm going to stop sharing and I don't know if you want to share or you just want to talk or however you want to do this, but I'm going to turn it over to you. Great.
Well, thank you very, very much, Steven. And thank you all very much for the opportunity to come back and give you an update on where we are. And some of the, the the wins that we've had some of the accomplishments and as well as some of the frustrations that we've had to deal with, but we've had an amazing team that has really worked very, very hard to, to, to work out many of the wrinkles that we've encountered. And so we're still working through some of them. And we can't wait to share some of that with you. So just as a big picture, for those of you that aren't familiar with, with this particular grant that we just received, I'll give you just a very low of what we've done. And, and some of the accomplishments related to the three categories that you see here, that this grant included. First of all, this grant was one that we applied for, a long time ago, and it took quite a while for the award to be made. And there were some things done during that particular time. And that's the reason why I give you that bit of history, because I know I don't know if that that that period that the award when the grants are submitted now, versus when they are announced or awarded has been shortened it. But I think we waited almost two years. And so it was it was quite a while. So some things were done. That being said, we did do some really interesting things here with regards to some of the the accomplishments related to this particular grant. The the grant incorporated three particular categories. The first was that the the University Library's expanded, created and expanded a lending library to students from particular demographics that fit into either underserved categories or demographics related to socio economic class. And we're really excited that that Travis, the lead there was able to I put together a very, very detailed sort of selection criteria for those students. And one of the wins that we had is that all of the students that qualified for this particular lending program, which, which is one that's really cool, because it included a laptop, it included a router, wireless hotspot, headphones, a webcam, and all the things that folks would need in order to connect to the intranet, and then start receiving some of the, the content that's going to be delivered over that at that particular high speed network. And they can keep that for their entire college career. There's just just reopen it, and then send it back at the at the end of the when they when they graduate. And so he put a process in place, all of them were distributed, some were leftover, we got to put a pin in there for me, because it's a very important point that we're going to come back to with regards to some of the ways that our team has been able to work on a few of the wrinkles. The secondary aspect. Oh, yes, I'm sorry. Sorry
to interrupt. But can you talk a little bit about the criteria for people to be eligible for to participate? Yes, I
can I can generally talk about and I know that, and I don't have it right in front of me. But it did incorporate students from underserved I guess some in marginalized communities that have been identified as marginalized communities, students that fall within a certain socio economic class, that would be Pell Grant recipients, or that would be on financial aid in some category that would indicate that there is a need for this particular type of assistance. And then I believe there was also another criteria with regards to coming from I think I mentioned no minoritized demographic. And so with that being said, and then it also extended into the, into the near me or near you network. And so students that were a part of that distance network also qualified for, for these particular devices, which was really nice, because it opened it up to students that that weren't a part of the main campus, which was really which was really important for us. So going on. The second part of this was really important because in order to extend what we were doing, we were able to incorporate underserved communities in or near our microcampus sites within 19, I believe, or 12 or 90 mile perimeter that we had to qualify for. So that included Huma Paskal, yaki Douglas and Thatcher. And so the the grant included updating those digital classrooms so that they would be able to then receive some of the some of the content from the stem distance courses that are being delivered over that network. We're also talking with, with the with, with distance ed, in order to provide Some courses from from other colleges as well. And so that hopefully will be in place in the near future. Um, interestingly enough, as I mentioned before, because the Grant took a little while for the award to be made, many of these campus sites, these micro campus sites, a lot of the equipment was already purchased, because we wanted to get those you at U of A and wanted to get those sites up and running. And instead of having to, you know, we thought the grant was going to be awarded earlier, and we would be able to use the grant funds to do this. We couldn't wait, you have a updated those sites. And so what we found was that some some of the equipment that had we had budgeted, we didn't necessarily have to use for that. For those, all of those sites, some of them just needed updates. So we were able to hopefully realize some cost savings there. And that was one of the other wins. And so we're slowly trickling in those, those those modifications, which took a while for those to because you see, these sites are all spread out in southern Arizona, and we only have one or two people that are really trying to manage a lot of that equipment. So it took a while for those inventories to go there for them to go, you know, figure out what was needed, what wasn't needed, what they want to update and all those kinds of things, just getting that in, and we're revising the budget, which then has to be submitted in a, you know, sort of a unified manner, revised budget requests from all of our partners, to the NTIA for approval, which we don't think that there'll be any problem with because we're still meeting the, the, the the overall spirit of the grant. So those that's that's the first two parts of this, this particular opportunity. And so far those are in place and and in the works. Now the third part, and I think the most exciting part, and the part that I think is really quite innovative is where we're incorporating the Digital Inclusion aspect of this. So the Broadband network has been laid, the access aspect with regards to the distribution of computers is has been done. Now we're looking at what we can do over those Broadband networks, and including your community anchor has been really playing a crucial part of this and the most exciting, however, it has also, unfortunately been the most challenging. And I'm going to stop sharing right now, so that so y'all can see my face when I'm talking about this because it was so very interesting, the lessons that we learned going through this whole process. So the community anchor is Dunbar pavilion, it's the formerly segregated school here in Tucson, and it's now turned into a community anchor, where all sorts of events related to the community take place there. And so we we were very fortunate to to get them involved in this, we were including another community anchor, the other the Tucson Urban League, there were some problems there. So we had to make some adjustments with regards to what they were doing and shift some of that to between just Dunbar and the University of Arizona. Now, here is once again, when you start thinking about lessons learned, when we think when we think about included community anchor, it was so important, and I'm so very thankful that we had a of course, a very strong and previous relationship with Dunbar. And of course, if we include community anchors, we always do that. But believe it or not, sometimes that's not the case. And I know that Dunbar has been has some memories about different kinds of relationships with different universe, unfortunately, university or other academics that have you know, you sort of used that particular center as a testbed or, or microscope. And as soon as the grant funds were done, they were gone. And then sometimes stuff laughter and sometimes, you know, things were left hanging, we've all seen examples of that. Right. And so I'm just being very transparent. So when we when we had this relationship with Dunbar, you know, it was it still is very, very good. And so as a result of that, we are we are able to work out many of these, these, these challenges now. Now, one of the challenges was that we Dunbar I think, didn't understand and I'm not sure how that the message was dropped, it could have been on our side, it could have been, you know, combination of both, I really don't know. But what we learned was that an organization if they are a sub recipient, they have to spend the money and then invoice the university for reimbursement. Now, you can imagine that if an organization a community anchor has, you know, limited resources, and they have to then hire people, by computers, installed, install Broadband, you know, do all the networking and all that kind of stuff out of pocket, that is in many cases, not necessarily possible and We learned the hard way that, that that wasn't something that Dunbar was prepared to do. And so our team are gonna give it to our team, they are so brilliant, we've got a budget management team that, you know, work tirelessly to try and figure out how we can still make this thing work. Because we've still got to empower this community, we've got to make sure that this community doesn't, you know, think that we're going to, you know, sort of grab this money, put it on the university budget, and then and then, you know, the same thing happens where, you know, as soon as that's gone, then or soon as the grants finished, and everything leaves, equipment might go, you know, services might go, you know, they're left hanging, and we did not want to make that in any way, a possibility that anyone would be able to think of, once again, that that long standing relationship really, really helped with regards to making sure that that trust was there, before any of these things could even be proposed to Don bar. So what we had to do was, as a result of that, we're we're having to move funds, you know, in different ways, we're having to, you know, make sure that, that Dunbar is able to rest assured that whatever is in place there will stay there after the life of the grant. Because, you know, once again, if something is owned by by a university or an entity, there is always that fear from the community that if that entity or if individuals within that entity change, then that may threaten the, you know, the the placement of these, these, these items that you know, are still serviceable, but what happens if you know, the university or whomever changes their minds? And what's that stuff back. So all of these assurances have to be put into place. And so that's what we're in the process of doing now. We, we think we've come up with some really, really good solutions. And so we're now in the process of putting those things into place, finalizing that budget
modification, sending it off to NTIA before the Christmas break, so we can get all of that approved. And so as we move into the new year, that's when the really exciting stuff is going to begin. So we've empowered Dunbar and as I mentioned before, many of you and thank you all so very much Cindy Hogan, she's been so helpful with regards to making sure that that Dunbar is submitted as an anchor community. And that's so very important because when we didn't know that there was there were there were so many discounts involved with with regards to Broadband to the to the facility, which was is going to save Dunbar so much money with regards to the the contract that we're going to have to you know, work out with Cox in order to get Broadband, you know, highs, higher speed Broadband, and stable Broadband to the buildings that that are going to house the the the the aspects of the project. So that's really, really helpful. We've had individuals that that have been also helpful with regards to hey, we can we can maybe do some STEM programming, or we can do some, some some security program where you are, or maybe even something on AI or whatever the case might be. And of course, I think that's all great. But again, as you know, as the PII the university representative, we can't fly into a community center and say, Hey, we're going to do XY and Z, we have to say, Hey, these are some options for you in Frida is so very fantastic. She's the the executive director at the Dunbar and she's taken all these suggestions and, and she said, Okay, I'm going to I'm going to do a community needs assessment and see what my community needs. And that's the, that's, of course, what she should do. And of course, we want to support that as much as possible, like, Yes, do that. And as soon as that's done, we'll then be able to, you know, hit the ground running with regards to the types of programming that are specifically designed for that community. I can't wait to find out, you know, of course, we know generally, it's going to be doing something with hell, it's going to be something with workforce development, it's going to be something with creative and, and productivity development, things like that. Because but specifically, what are those things? Now, there is going to be an opening up that space after the first of the year, I'm not going to tell you say when that is because they haven't formally announced that and of course, you know, it's not my place to do that. But as soon as that date is finalized, we'll make sure that everyone here knows they're going to be doing a grand launch of of the of the space will have some some programming in place by then, which will continue to evolve throughout the the rest of that of the year and made available in perpetuity at the center in very, very innovative ways. And that's the very exciting part. So holograms immersive experiences, think about learning about, you know, bookkeeping and inventories inside of a bank or inside of a business in a 360 immersive experience where you can actually interact with the the environment in various ways a young versus gonna be like, I can do that. Right as opposed to, or maybe in addition to watching that same lesson in a more traditional, you know, sort of experience on the screen. So, so that's what we're hoping to install there, as well as many other things. And that Dunbar will will identify that template is what we then hope to be able to share with everyone here. So that as we begin to expand these kinds of things around the state, will, at least you'll have the other other locations will have at least something to start with. As far as a lot of the things that we learned the lessons we learned, as well as some of the ways that they may include the community or empower those communities, to tell their own stories, create their own programming, and access, you know, all the fantastic things that we know are available on these Broadband networks, and then share that with one another. So so that's where we are right now. We'll know more right after the first of the year, and we can't wait to to share what we're doing and to invite you all down and and, and see the Dunbar and really experience some of the ways that this is really going to impact this community. So I can't wait to share more. Are there questions or listeners? Don't leave anything out?
So yeah, so actually, you want to introduce Melissa. Real quickly, please.
Yeah, sure. Melissa, thank Well, if you introduce yourself, Melissa.
Sure. Good morning. I am Melissa Hall, and I am the program manager for University of Arizona's connecting minorities grant, our project that Dr. Carter was just speaking about. We work together along with as he said, a phenomenal team, on campus and remotely. And together we've we've kind of been able to navigate through some of these barriers and challenges. And I think at the end of the day, we're going to come up with some amazing things to implement within the community. So we're really excited to share more and keep everybody in touch. And I think our are asked from this community is, you know, we're very interested on the Dunbar is very interested in any workforce development opportunities or Digital Inclusion that we might be able to share out through the community anchor for community members, younger older, those who are not in school, the goal through the Dunbar is really to promote opportunities for community members who otherwise may not have had any. So it's really exciting. And we're really looking forward to joining forces with some more folks down the road as things progress. So thank you. Great.
Thanks. Thanks, Melissa. So Bryan, I wish you had a little more enthusiasm about this project.
Slug slide. Are there any questions?
Yeah, questions or comments for for Bryan.
Thank you again for the video assistance. Yeah.
Steve. This one Vaughn Croft, Bryan? Yes. I mean, BRyan.
Yeah, me? Yes. Oh, I
was here. I work for a job corps here in Tucson. But anyway, I'm there's a gentleman that that I've been associated with, through an organization. And he is heavily into digital literacy for youth working with adults. And so I'm connecting his your name to him by email. And I took a snapshot picture of what you put up with that graphic in the very first slide. So you might hear from him. His name is Michael Rorbach. And you'll you guys will have a very interesting conversation. Steve, you might know, Michael.
Great, thank you very much.
Yeah, he's he's very tenacious about the whole digital literacy with youth helping adults, because he looks at the Youth knowing a whole lot of the ins and outs of the digital literacy world. And then, in the middle of it well, senior to above adults having issues with the whole world of digital literacy, digital literacy. So thank you, I love
it. I love it for those of you that are empowered, and I know that this is a big ask, and many of you, you know, may know of resources, of course, NTIA didn't necessarily fund programming, and that's where we're now putting in pilot programming so that we can then maybe then apply for something more specifically for programming that can be then, you know, experienced over these high speed networks. So if any of you know, resources that that we can apply to in order to develop those kinds of programs or that are free resources that Dunbar might access, please let us know and we'd definitely love to talk with your partner with you about something like that. A suite of digital a lot of men need to talk again. Thank you.
Okay, anything else? For Brian before we move on? And so I want to back up for a second while we're talking about Digital Equity and Digital Inclusion and all that sort of stuff. So Aaron, I apologize, I should have asked you when we were talking about what's happening with the Broadband office, if you want to share anything, or any comments.
Thank you for the opportunity, I do appreciate it. So I think that a lot of these organizations are probably aware that the Digital Equity plan will, hopefully provide support and space for some of these expansions that we're discussing here. So I'm gonna drop my contact information in the chat again, as well. We are deep in the throes of writing the plan right now. And so this is, you know, this is an opportunity to add your voice to that conversation, for sure. And we'll have more updates on the Digital Equity plan soon.
Good. So Erin, just listening to what Bryan was talking about. I think there's a lot of lessons learned that many of the issues we've been talking about in terms of Digital Inclusion, but I think it was really illuminated about the, you know, the challenges and dealing with a project the size. On the other hand, I think it's a great example of a community plan. Paul, you had a question, you had your hand up? Yeah,
I was just gonna say, Bryan, on the, the one of the other four, it was in Arizona, so I'm just up the road, but we two are going through the same thing that you you've talked about in terms of having to revise, you know, when we wrote this grant a couple of years ago, and going through writing, revised AAR requests, and I'm working on that right now, actually, to be able to get that sort of thing into the system. So that way, we can, you know, pivot a little bit. But still, you know, a T head here to the overall goals of the program. But you're right, in terms of moving things around, and the relationships that you need to be able to get things done. And then you got to work through the internal pieces as well. And sometimes the internal is the hardest space, how to pieces, I should say, to be able to move through. But yeah, great program, I think you and I will probably connect on a few points as we go forward. Because I see some similarities. And there are also differences in terms of our programs, right, because we're actually doing some programming piece. And, you know, also looking at a couple of locations for specific enhancements, as well. So, but not good. Good to see you in great presentation. And, yeah, good, good to see just found that you're just down the track, so to speak.
I can't wait to talk with you soon. But one of the things that you said here, that's so important, very important, then, if there are inspiring in state grants that will be then offered to individuals here, those that are writing those proposals, you see some of the difficulties that that we have had so far, and we've got a team that's working on this, you can imagine that if if an a community center or an underserved group is applying for this, they're not it's going to be so difficult to navigate that system, we got to come up with an easier way to do this, right? There's got to be an easier way for folks to apply for these grants to still remain accountable, but yet not go through all the hoops that we have been going through collectively, we jump through hoops from January all the way to June, trying to get funds approved before we can even spend any money for this grant. I know that you know that that might seem extreme. But we were going back and forth. I mean, trying to get things in and not some one thing wasn't right. And, and believe me, I got a very talented team and they didn't know and and there were personnel changes at NTIA in Washington, and in all these things. I mean, they were learning the ropes. So I think that hopefully the next time that this is announced, or if there are any internal ones, that there's got to be a way that we can address, you know, making this accessible, we're talking about accessibility, this process has to be more accessible to if possible.
Hi, I just wanted to comment really quick. It's Vanessa from the Broadband team and the grants manager. I didn't introduce myself. I don't think you met me earlier. But so that's part of what that's actually what I'll be doing is that I want to be able to take wherever, you know, opportunities that you know the state offers or you know, other federal government offers and really take it from pre award to post it well. or to close out. And to make that flow simpler and have a constant process, make sure that there's a standard process, and that everyone follow that process, and it's not convert them to the organization that are applying.
Cool. Okay, so anything else for Brian? Okay, I'm going to share my screen again for a minute. Make sure I didn't miss anything. So I wanted to mention that next week. I didn't put it on the agenda here. But next week, we are having a presentation from the Arizona Economic Recovery Center grants resources. And they have been here a couple of times in the past. But I have asked her to come back again. And and it's a very timely issue right now. Because what we're hearing is we're moving ahead with our planning is that we have a number of particularly a number of small communities here in the state, who don't have it, people that don't have people who can do grants, planning, and all of that sort of stuff. And so the economic recovery center has staff people on staff, and funding to be able to hire consultants, to help communities with planning and not just for Broadband that they do economic development, and a number of other kinds of things. And so again, and it's not just the community planning, but they can also help individual organizations with doing their planning, writing grants, and actually helping to manage those grants after you've received the funding. And so we're going to hear from them again, there. They are like, like, Brian, I think the only organization that we've had present for a third time, but it's a very important resource, in my opinion, for all of you. And I think it'll be particularly important down the road as we move into the Digital Inclusion space of helping some of the smaller organizations to be able to write, to write grants, and so forth. So I encourage you all to plan to be there next week. So moving on, some updates mava. Holly any other updates from the from the State Library.
I can give you a small update, I have to introduce yourself. I'm Mala Muralidharan, I'm the state IT administrator for public libraries. I work on the E Rate program. And I want to give you a brief update on the tribal II rate assistance. I do have to hop off at nine o'clock so I'm going to make this real quick. The tribal ERate assistance program there is a pilot program that USAC has introduced. And this is to provide one on one support, training handholding applicant through the application process, the long application process for E rates and the application is still open. I will put the put the link in the chat. So, you can copy that and if any any of the tribal entities are interested they can participate. And for the purposes of Erie tribal has been defined as anything under the Bureau of the Indian Education Bie are operated by a tribe band nation or other tribal groups. It does not have to be recognized by the State Library as it used to be before tribal colleges and your tribal college and university if they are open to the public free of cost. If they're serving the public, then they are eligible for a rate as well. And any of the tribal entities that have computers that are offering information to the public as long as they have their open hours advertised and they have a staff that can help people log in operate the computers or you know find information online or physical books. They are in they are eligible for the for the pilot program as well as for Iraq. Of course it is on a first come first served basis they do have limited The capacity to accept people for the pilot program, but there is no limitation on which tribal entity can apply as long as they fulfill the the eligibility criteria, there is also a budget increase for the tribal entities as compared to the other urban libraries, their discount rate for especially the internal connections to category two has been increased from 85 to 90%. So they will have to put in only 10% of their budget to do any internal connections, once they get the internet to the door. And those internal connections involve routers, hubs, switches, any wiring upgrades, all of that the floor for that has been increased from 25,000 for other libraries to 55,000 for tribal libraries, and this is a five year budget, they can spend that 55,000 anytime during the five years that they apply. And that calculated based on the square footage of the of the building that is used as the library is calculated at a rate of $4.50 per square foot. And that's and like I mentioned the floor, the minimum amount that they are eligible for is $55,000. So please, if you know of anyone, any entities that are interested in the pilot project, they can contact me or contact us directly. And I will walk them through the process to enable them to get into the pilot program. Back to you, Steve. Unless there are any questions.
Okay. Any questions for Manuel? So how many do you have anything else that you want to add?
Not really, Steve, just that we're trying to have this state library represented in each one of the working groups. That's working right now. And I'm on the council. And so we're also reading very carefully that volume two and and preparing some comments to submit for that on the ACA website. So that's about it.
Okay, thank you, Holly. Mom, is there anything that's happening with the telehealth and libraries project? And are you gonna drop off here?
Right now it's on hold until we fill the position and when we move forward once that's done, okay,
thank you. Okay, I know Janet's not here today. But I'm glad to welcome Karina Jones back. Karina, you're still here with us.
I am with you, Steve and no updates. So my side just catching up. As I mentioned before
my islands not here today. There. Rory, do you have anything that you want to talk about regarding the final mile or anything?
Well, about a mile that could be needed. Installation without an obligation.
It's hard to hear you're right.
That's kind of update. That's kind of ongoing. We are working with a psychomotor foundation and I think he said updated the first couple weeks throughout the rocket. Several installation scattered. That's moving much quicker than that. That's pretty much it. Most of the variance around barrydale. No, I think school
Excuse me. Anything else? We're already before we move on, though. I'm good. Thank you. Okay. Cindy Hogan. You want to do a quickie update on Digital Inclusion network? Sure,
sure. I'm Cindy Hogan. I'm the chair of the Arizona Digital Inclusion network Aiden. We're a nationally affiliated statewide coastal coalition of Digital Inclusion practitioner organizations and individuals in Arizona working to close the digital divide in our state. And we meet every other Thursday. I'll put the information in the chat if you want to get a link to that meeting. This week, we are talking about our comments for the the broad, the BEAD, initial proposal, volume number two, and we're also going to kind of start sifting through how we want to address making comments on the Digital Equity plan that comes out in December 11. It's I'm heard, I'm told it's a very large document. So we're trying to get a head start on how we can best approach it, whether it's breakout groups, taking different different sections. So I will put my information in the chat. And if anybody wants to be in touch, they can do that through my email. Thank you.
Thank you. Newbie. Are you still online? Have you Are you still there? Currently Not. Elena, do you have anything that you want to talk about in terms of updates and project you're working on?
Um, thanks, Steve. Not not really we're just continuing our work through schools. Trying to kind of determine what the next steps are with ACP, really pivoting to low cost providers, or low cost plans that providers may have if ACP goes away? So we're trying to figure out the messaging around that etc. Really, yeah, no update, just I can tell you that in October, we reached over 27 over 20,700 families just through the schools to get them either signed up for ACP or information about ACP. And then also, you know, sharing our digital literacy materials with these families. So that's about it. Okay,
thank you, Elena. Elena.
Elena, this is Cindy. Do you are you having Do you have any updates on how the length of time that ACP is going to be alive?
Well, that's not no, that's the $6 million question for everybody. And everybody that I've spoken with, including some folks from higher level folks at the FCC, is things are progressing in terms of helping in terms of keeping the program alive. You know, there's a lot of discussions happening on the hill, there's a lot of stories, personal stories that are getting back to you, congressional leaders, things like that. There, there has to be a wind down period. So we won't, we won't see the spigot turned off, so to speak until, you know, probably end of first quarter in 2024. If it should go away completely. I think all the ISPs have their marching orders or will have their marching orders in terms of their timeline. So, you know, we're still, you know, we're still hopeful that it will be refunded, and we're kind of moving forward with the idea that 5050 chance, and, you know, What's plan B? So that that's kind of what a lot of the group's NTIA and some of the other groups are talking about is how do we pivot? And so yeah, so I wish I had a better answer for you. But I don't at this point. That's
That's great update. Thanks
so much. Thanks, Elena. So there's a couple of people who have joined us that are new, Ricky white, do you want to introduce yourself real quickly?
Ricky, are you there Okay.
Anybody else have any announcements or anything that they want to share with the group before we before we have for today?
Going once, going twice. And I believe we might be done for today. Okay. Well, thank you all for for being here today. Brian. And Melissa, thank you for your presentation today. As always, it's it's awesome. Thank you so much, everyone. We will, we will see you next week. I'm going to stop recording. If any of you want to hang on for a little bit and chat for a while. You're free to do so.
