BALTIMORE — Baltimore City will distribute thousands more free Chromebooks to low-income households, and find more ways to subsidize computing devices for the general public.
That's part of the city's new, five-year Digital Inclusion Strategy, which was officially released today as part of the ongoing effort to bridge the "digital divide."
One initiative is giving out 50,000 devices to low-income households, a project that will be ongoing through 2024. In October, the city first began giving out 30,000 HP Chromebooks through Enoch Pratt Free Library.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced last month that more than 130,000 laptops will be distributed statewide, at a cost of $27 million.
The plan notes that about 120,000 city households have major problems getting access to digital services. Only 46.4 percent of the city's Hispanic households have wired broadband 47.5 percent have desktop or laptop computers, compared with more than 70 percent of white households. About 50 percent of black households have wired broadband, and 60 percent have desktops/laptops.
The city also has almost no fiber-optic service. "Fiber is generally concentrated in the area around downtown," as well as "around major arteries feeding downtown areas, especially in higher income areas," and in neighborhoods, like those around Johns Hopkins University, that "require robust internet connections."
The plan includes providing better Internet access, giving out technology and devices, offering digital skills training, and providing technical support in multiple languages.
Kenya Asli, director of broadband and digital equity, said in a statement that the plan shows a commitment to building a city "that leaves no one behind in the digital age."
Mayor Brandon Scott created the Office of Broadband and Digital Equity in 2020. He said the need to close the digital divide is "one of the biggest civil rights issues of our lifetimes."
