Extension and the Rockefeller Foundation Launch the National Broadband Navigator

The National Broadband Navigator tool represents the culmination of nearly six years of work, starting with Rural Electric Cooperatives, moving to a partnership with the Public Utility Commission, the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, and most recently, the Rockefeller Foundation. Those partnerships, combined with Penn State geospatial intelligence, applied research, and extension education resources, allowed the university to assist the Commonwealth in directly securing over $117 million in deployment funding in 2023 and assisted with securing another $418 million since 2017. If anyone counted, that is over half a billion dollars in new broadband deployment funding that helped hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses receive high-speed broadband. These amazing impact numbers illustrate the potential value proposition for communities nationwide. This project is a tremendous testament to the purpose and power of the land-grant system through quality collaborations and partnerships, access to high-quality data, applied research and geospatial analytics, and education within and beyond the university walls.

Through the Rockefeller Foundation's generous support, the Penn State team created a national broadband map with key geospatial intelligence features that will allow elected officials, agencies, non-profits, community groups, internet service providers, and even individuals to start local broadband deployment project conversations using the best available data.

From the Rockefeller Foundation press release, February 28, 2023:

“Penn State Extension has a long track record of disseminating research-based knowledge to help residents navigate the issues and opportunities of new technology and connected digital infrastructure,” said Brent Hales, former Director of Penn State Extension. “With this partnership, we seek to develop new mapping and spatial analysis tools that inform equitable distribution of FCC BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) funding to communities nationwide and enable them to estimate the costs of fiber deployment to homes and businesses, emphasizing underserved markets. Our similar work in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission already has helped the state secure almost $369 million in federal broadband funding, which will enable up to 327,000 Pennsylvanians to gain high-speed internet access.”

The Rockefeller Foundation is collaborating with Penn State to:

• Develop a national fixed broadband map to identify and prioritize underserved communities and populations for broadband deployment and utilization effort.
• Implement first-of-its-kind modeling to support local and regional data-driven decisions about broadband deployment.
• Design a BEAD project map layer to assist state and federal legislators in better understanding their district's unserved and underserved areas and the potential for BEAD funding.
• Deploy a team of educators and communicators to raise awareness and adoption of the new mapping tools to support their local community.

For a more in-depth look at the National Broadband Navigator, you can access the webinar recording at National Broadband Navigator. The webinar will share the free National BEAD Broadband Navigator downloadable data you can access and use to bring together projects for your state, region, county, or local community broadband projects to enhance broadband service for those most at risk of being left out of the digital revolution and the healthcare, workforce, business, and education opportunities developing around the world.

Source

The Rockefeller Foundation Collaborates With Universities to Close America’s Broadband Equity Gap