Capital Region Coalition for Digital Inclusion Quarterly Meeting

The Capital Region Coalition for Digital Inclusion shares a mission to achieve Digital Equity in the Greater Sacramento region. As part of the strategy to implement digital inclusion efforts in the region, provide regional updates, and connect a community of digital equity stakeholders, the Coalition hosts quarterly meetings as a forum for these strategies. From community members, non-profits, private and public institutions, local, state, and federal governments, and more, we invite all to attend our quarterly meetings to learn more about digital inclusion initiatives and strategies. 

Learn more about the Coalition by viewing past meeting materials HERE.

Capital Region Coalition for Digital Inclusion

The Capital Region Coalition for Digital Inclusion, formerly the Sacramento Coalition for Digital Inclusion, started as part of community discussions following the release of a Brookings Institute report on the Sacramento region in the fall of 2018. With the goal of creating a prosperous Sacramento region, the discussion of digital equity was one of the most-spoken components, and in January 2019, during the Sacramento Digital Inclusion Summit hosted by the Sacramento Public Library, the Coalition was created. 

The founding Steering Committee includes the City of Sacramento, Sacramento Public Library, Los Rios Community College District, California State University at Sacramento, Capital Region Workforce Boards, Clear Strategies LLC, and Valley Vision.

In its first stages, the Coalition conducted an assessment of needs with community input, built collaborative relationships across industries, and published an initial report which determined digital access to be achieved through affordable Internet and devices, along with digital literacy/skills. 

The start of COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the digital inclusion gap, and pushed the Coalition further towards efforts to bridge the digital divide. To support the Coalition’s efforts, Valley Vision has been successful in securing funding to continue and expand this valuable work through the Capital Region Workforce Boards, SMUD, Union Bank, and community partners and stakeholders.

Following the Coalition’s expansion from Sacramento County into a 9 county region, Valley Vision partnered with mohuman, a non-profit connecting low-income communities with digital resources, to create the Capital Region Digital Inclusion Portal. The centralized platform was developed with the goal to be a source for community members and organizations to find and upload resources for computing devices, internet connectivity, and digital skill building – including free and low cost computers, internet services, foundational and career-specific digital skill building tools and training, and more.

As part of its current efforts, the Coalition hosts quarterly meetings on digital equity initiatives and strategies, and we welcome all community members to attend. Register for the upcoming quarterly meeting HERE.

Quarterly Meeting: Capital Region Coalition for Digital Inclusion

Please join us for our next quarterly virtual meeting of the Capital Region Coalition for Digital Inclusion on September 23rd, from 11 am to 12:30 pm. This meeting will delve into the importance of digital navigators for our region – highlighting local and national programs. Join us to collaborate on this key effort to close the digital divide.

We appreciate your commitment to supporting digital inclusion for all capital region community members. We look forward to connecting with you on September 23rd.

Quarterly Meeting: Capital Region Coalition for Digital Inclusion

We invite you to join the Capital Region Coalition for Digital Inclusion’s Quarterly Meeting on June 24, 2022, from 11 AM – 12:30 PM. We look forward to sharing a new tool the Coalition is developing, which will assist community members in reading their broadband bills and understanding their internet speed. We will launch this tool at our next meeting, and look forward to seeing its impact!

Registration for this event can be found here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMof-iopjwiHdcAmDsCQNIQHWq3meUqdUtB

Skills for a Ready Future Workforce (2021)

Valley Vision has been examining Future of Work trends for many years. Our latest research was made possible through funding from the City of Sacramento CARES COVID Relief and in partnership with Burning Glass Technologies.  This analysis sought to answer the question, where should resources be targeted to provide the most effective skills acquisition and training, especially to disproportionately impacted community members, to enhance and accelerate recovery from the pandemic.

Building on previous work, Automation Risk for Jobs in the Capital Region (March 2020), this report looks at the potential impacts of automation in our nine county region, recovery from the pandemic and future workforce development strategies need to be responsive to multiple factors. The following white paper highlights the result of these efforts:

Policy Brief: Internet Service Competition in CA and the Capital Region (2021)

This policy brief presents an analysis of the internet service market and providers choices (number of ISPs) serving residential customers in California and the Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium (CCABC) Region, and its implications on cost and quality of service.

This analysis is based on broadband availability data from the California Public Utilities Commission from 2020 (as of December 2019). Findings of our analysis are that in California, the vast majority of the population (near 87%), households, and housing units, have access to two or less choices of ISPs, which indicates a concentrated and non-competitive market. Furthermore, analyzing the number of internet choices, in areas served at different speed standards, nearly all population (high nineties percent) have access to two or less choices of ISPs.

Preferred Scenario for Unserved Households in the CCABC Region (2021)

Valley Vision, as manager of the Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium (CCABC) (funded by the CPUC CASF Program), partnered with the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) to prepare the “Preferred Scenario for Unserved Households in the CCABC Region.”

This report provides detailed information on 1) identifying unserved households at different broadband standards in the Capital Region, 2) estimating the deployment costs to connect these unserved households, and 3) establishing partnerships with state agencies and broadband stakeholders to achieve cost-efficient infrastructure deployments. It also incorporates demand aggregation of potential community anchor institutions and business customers to ensure a sustainable business model for ISPs in the long term.

The Preferred Scenarios Report will help local governments, ISPs, and broadband stakeholders to accelerate broadband expansion and upgrades in the Capital Region to achieve affordable, reliable, and high-speed Broadband for All.

Launch Event – Getting Connected: A Broadband Resource Guide

Valley Vision, together with the California Emerging Technology Fund and California Forward, invite you to the statewide launch of “Getting Connected: A Broadband Deployment and Adoption Resource Guide for Local and Regional Government Leaders,” on Friday, May 14, from 10 AM to 12 PM.

The Guide provides detailed information and resources on innovative policies and practices to accelerate broadband investment at the local and regional levels, highlighting examples of best practices, toolkits and information resources from communities across the state and nationally. The Guide will help us reach our goal of high speed Internet connectivity and Broadband for All.

The webinar will include a presentation of the results of a statewide survey on the digital divide, an overview of the Guide, and a three-person panel to spotlight some of the innovative models and best practices found in the Guide.

Getting Connected: A Broadband Resource Guide (2021)

The California Emerging Technology Fund partnered with Valley Vision to prepare the new “Getting Connected: A Broadband Deployment and Adoption Resource Guide for Local and Regional Government Leaders.” This is the first update since the original guide was prepared ten years ago and much has changed since then. While progress has been made to address the Digital Divide, Covid-19 Pandemic exposed the stark and growing gaps within and across our communities related to Digital Equity and Inclusion.

The Resource Guide provides detailed  information and resources on innovative policies and practices to accelerate broadband investment at the local and regional levels, highlighting  examples of best practices, toolkits and information resources from communities across the state and nationally. The Resource Guide will help us reach our goal of high speed Internet connectivity and Broadband for All. Click here to view the joint letter from Valley Vision and the California Emerging Technology Fund announcing the launch of the Resource Guide.

A launch event was held in partnership with California Forward on Friday, May 14th. Click here to view the recording. The event also featured a presentation of the results of a statewide survey on the digital divide, an overview of the Guide, and a three-person panel to spotlight some of the innovative models and best practices found in the Guide. You can view the slides covering these items below:

Webinar #1 – May 15, 2021 – Recording

Webinar #2 – June 15, 2021

Webinar #3 – August 26, 2021

Policy Brief: How Much Broadband Speed Do You Need? (2020)

Valley Vision, as the managing organization for the Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium (CCABC), has prepared this policy brief. The CCABC is funded by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and supports the counties of Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba to achieve improved internet connectivity across the region and reduce the Digital Divide.

This policy brief was prepared due to the critical need to expand connectivity, as the pandemic revealed the disparities across the region – connectivity essential for both recovery and an inclusive community. The brief ties together different aspects of internet use from household needs (i.e., speed, usage, multiple users’ needs, and technologies), to larger regional deployment and cost analysis (i.e., broadband coverage by technology and cost to bring internet to unserved households).

Broadband Coverage in the Delta (October 2020)

Beginning in 2014, the Delta Protection Commission (Commission) undertook the Delta Community Action Planning (CAP) project to increase civic vitality and preserve the values and character of historic Delta towns. Through the CAP process, broadband infrastructure was identified as an essential utility needed to serve residents, businesses (including agricultural operations), and visitors. In 2019, Valley Vision completed Connecting the Delta: Broadband Action Plan, a report prepared for the Commission to inform local governments and all those affected by the lack of high-speed internet service of recommended actions to improve broadband adoption and support.

According to the report, within the five legacy communities identified in the CAP project (Clarksburg, Courtland, Hood, Isleton, and Walnut Grove), approximately one-third of households did not have Internet subscriptions at the time of report preparation in 2019. Households and businesses within the legacy communities have very limited provider options. Additionally, 17% of households within Delta communities do not have access to a computing device (desktop, laptop, smartphone, or tablet). Access, quality, reliability, and cost all factor into this circumstance. The Delta is faced with many barriers and has several unserved and underserved areas lacking broadband service, compared to the surrounding greater metropolitan areas of Sacramento, Stockton-Tracy, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

At broadband workshops held in the Delta during 2018 and 2019, community members voiced broadband quality and access frustrations, equity discrepancies, and educational and safety concerns. Additionally, while not exclusive to broadband, it must be noted that each community also identified challenges with mobile wireless (i.e. cell phones) and lack of signal availability.

 The 2019 action plan offered three recommendations for achieving improved broadband: (1) organize for action; (2) leverage existing opportunities; and (3) pursue and secure funding. As a preliminary step to organizing for action, the Commission is partnering with Valley Vision and the Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium (CCABC) to assess the broadband coverage in the five legacy communities and an expanded area including Bethel Island, the Delta Loop, Freeport, Rio Vista, and Terminous. 

The following report and maps will be used in three ways:

• To provide local governing bodies, committees, and councils the coverage profiles that broadband service providers have reported to the CPUC,
• To kick off a campaign to engage residents of these Delta communities to test and register their actual residential service download and upload speeds for comparison with the reported available speeds, and
• After reviewing testing results, identify areas where service most needs improvement, and work with the community leaders, appropriate broadband coalitions, Internet service providers and the CPUC to leverage existing opportunities for service improvement and seek funding support.

Sacramento Area Broadband Coverage Maps (CPUC 2019 Data)

These maps from the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) illustrate broadband coverage across the 4-county Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium (CCABC) area. The CPUC collects reports from providers throughout the state. More data is available through the agency’s interactive broadband map.

High-Resolution Maps:

• City of Sacramento Broadband Coverage (CPUC 2019 Data)
• City of Sacramento Broadband Coverage – Satellite (CPUC 2019 Data)
• County of Sacramento Broadband Coverage (CPUC 2019 Data)
• County of Sacramento Broadband Coverage – Satellite (CPUC 2019 Data)
• County of Sutter Broadband Coverage (CPUC 2019 Data)
• County of Sutter Broadband Coverage – Satellite (CPUC 2019 Data)
• County of Yolo Broadband Coverage (CPUC 2019 Data)
• County of Yolo Broadband Coverage – Satellite (CPUC 2019 Data)
• County of Yuba Broadband Coverage (CPUC 2019 Data)
• County of Yuba Broadband Coverage – Satellite (CPUC 2019 Data)