An update on the city's digital equity work

Introduction Over the past five years, there have been significant efforts to assess and meet the digital equity needs of Cambridge residents. Two Digital Equity studies have been completed, the first in 2021 and an update in 2025.

Key recommendations from 2025 are to: 1. retain digital navigators to meet the needs of low-income Cambridge residents to the extent funding allows; 2. support efforts by affordable housing providers to pursue strategies for providing enhanced connectivity and meeting device needs of residents; and 3. purchase devices to support city direct services.

The City, in partnership with community organizations, affordable housing providers, and the Cambridge Public Schools, has acted on the studies’ recommendations through a combination of new programmatic work, pilot initiatives, cross-departmental collaboration, and significant leveraging of federal, state, and philanthropic funding.

Resident feedback and response to the pilot programming have been overwhelmingly positive and has underscored the importance of individualized instruction and the necessity of translation and interpretation services for our Digital Equity offerings. The digital equity landscape remains fluid with rapid significant changes to federal funding priorities having downstream effects on the needs presented in the community 2

and the programs designed to address them. Funding for most of these programs has come through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), or other grants. A challenge that we are facing is that many of these funding streams, both to our direct programs and other community organizations, are ending.

The following report contains updates on work stemming from the Digital Equity studies, an overview of the current state of digital equity resources available to residents, and a proposal to continue one FTE Digital Navigator at the Cambridge Public Library for up to three years (see page 10) to continue to address the gap facing low-income residents in access and skills.

A Coalition is Formed

A coalition of City Departments: Information Technology (ITD), Department of

Human Service Programs (DHSP), Cambridge Public Library (CPL), Cambridge Public

School District (CPSD) and local non-profit organizations: Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA), Homeowners Rehab Inc (HRI), Just A Start (JAS), and Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) was convened in 2023 and has been meeting monthly to organize Digital Equity efforts across the City including a digital navigators pilot.

This coalition has focused on access to technology and teaching and learning how to use technology, especially for low-income residents, rather than a universal fiber-to-the-premises network, which would be quite costly. Funding for these efforts comes from a variety of sources including ARPA, grants, salary and wage lines for positions at CPL and DHSP, and Library operating (OOM) for collection materials including circulating Chromebooks and Wi-Fi hotspots.

Building a Structure for Direct Services

Dedicated staff positions at the Library and Community Learning Center have been created to perform digital equity work. In FY23 the Cambridge Public Library hired a full-time Digital Equity Manager and in FY25 hired a full-time Digital Equity Specialist. They and the Digital Navigator placed at the Library (see page 5), focus on direct service to residents. Team members have had a profound impact working with community members to directly improve their lives through access to and training on using technology.

Team members work closely with other Library staff as well as City and non-profit partners to offer a variety of services including classes and Tech Help Sessions. The number of classes, tech help sessions, and participants are growing over time (see bar chart): 3

Additionally, the Department of Human Service Programs has recently hired a second full-time Technology Aide at the Community Learning Center to work directly with adult learners to ensure they have the tools and skills to participate in digital instruction, including occupational skills training.

Digital Navigator Pilot

Cambridge residents have had access to digital navigators through a pilot program funded with regional and municipal ARPA funding since June 2024. The cohort of seven digital navigators across the city have directly engaged with residents who have persistent technological needs that prevent them from fully engaging with life and limit their ability to access necessary services.

Cambridge Digital Navigators have completed 2,775 service tickets, each one making a difference in bridging the digital divide for a resident. Digital Navigators work directly with residents in a variety of service models designed to bridge gaps in access, skills, and abilities through a community-based approach to meet complex needs including scheduled one-on-one appointments, advertised drop-in hours, single session workshops, and multi-week courses to build skills.

The most common service interactions handled by Digital Navigators during the pilot were access to a laptop, assistance with job searching or applications, assistance with software, assistance using a device, access to internet, assistance learning email or other communication tools, assistance learning how to save, edit, move, and share files, and assistance with online banking or other online transactions.

Two MassHire workforce regions, Metro North and North Shore, have led the Digital

Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Consortium work since 2023 to dismantle 4