[Excerpt] According to the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), digital equity is “a condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy.” Achieving that condition requires a commitment to digital inclusion activities that are specifically designed to “ensure that all individuals and communities, including the most disadvantaged, have access to and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).” As the New York State Library’s Achieving Digital Equity in New York State: An Outline for Collaborative Change report notes, such activities require five elements:

1. Affordable, robust broadband Internet service;
   
2. Internet-enabled devices that meet the needs of the user;
   
3. Access to digital fluency training;
   
4. Quality technical support; and
   
5. Applications and online content designed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, participation, and collaboration.
   

This brief explainer and fact sheet explores New York State’s progress on, and outstanding challenges with respect to, digital inclusion commitment #1: providing affordable, robustbroadband Internet service to all residents and households across the state.