It seems like easy enough math. Add access to computers, plus stable internet, plus the training to use technology, and digital equity results. 

So why, in tech-savvy, educated Massachusetts, are there still about half a million households with no desktop or laptop computers and a million Massachusetts residents without a fixed broadband connection?

“I always try to come in with an abundance mindset, but the stubborn reality is it’s gotten worse, in that the skills and the access have become so much more critical,” said Dan Noyes, CEO of the two-decades-old Boston-based digital equity nonprofit Tech Goes Home. “And this is even before the pandemic, but especially coming out of the pandemic. We haven’t made, as a country, big enough steps and progress to make up for the accelerating advancement of technology.”

The term “digital divide” used to paint a picture of rural areas without reliable access to internet services, which is still a problem in large parts of Massachusetts. Increasingly, attention has turned to urban communities where large swaths of cities lack access to one or more parts of the digital equity equation.

After years of Zoom calls, virtual classrooms, and workplaces, and the rise of telemedicine, access to the basic tools, tech, and training remains a stumbling block for much of the state. Even as the vast majority of jobs now require technical literacy skills, bafflingly, Noyes said, “the divide is getting bigger.”

A 2020 report from the research arm of MassINC, CommonWealth’s parent company, found that 30,000 Gateway City households with school-age children do not have a laptop or desktop computer at home, and more than 23,000 of those households do not have internet access. 

Two years later and the figures remain bleak. More than a third of midsized urban centers known as Gateway Cities lack broadband internet, according to a 2022 MassINC report, with more than half of households in Springfield, Fall River, Chelsea, and Lawrence either entirely without internet access or broadband speeds.

It often falls to small non-profit organizations to do the on-the-ground work to distribute computers, train residents to upload resumes, or sign up for telehealth appointments, and even hand out portable internet routers and help people without basic tech skills sign up for federal coupons for internet access. 

Noyes said that last piece should land on internet service providers, “but because the industry is just so unregulated, there isn’t the call to action or the impetus to design something for those most in pain when it comes to that. And so, instead. you get these cookie cutter models that look good in a press release, but for millions of people, including hundreds of thousands in Massachusetts, it’s just not gonna work without significant labor on the part of nonprofits.”

Tackling the modern digital divide has been a focus for successive Bay State gubernatorial administrations. In his departing remarks, former governor Charlie Baker touted work through the state Make Ready program bringing broadband out into rural and Western Massachusetts. This spring, the state Executive Office of Economic Development and the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech awarded $14 million through a pandemic-era program to digital equity groups.

Local partnership models, where trainers work with and inside existing community programs, can help combat language and cultural barriers that exacerbate digital gaps, advocates say. A 2021 Tech Goes Home pilot program in Essex County showed “significant impact” on about 100 learners, with 800 expected to graduate over the next few years, and the group plans to expand into additional cities and towns.

“We take the access to technology so much for granted that it’s inconceivable that in a place like Boston, under the shadows of MIT, Harvard University, there are people who do not have access to computers, to internet,” said Antonio Lobo, director of workforce development for Catholic Charities, who has been a Tech Goes Home trainer for adults with limited English and tech skills for almost a decade. “We take it for granted. It’s inconceivable to you that people wouldn’t have access to the internet. After all, you can get internet for $50 if you can pay for it. When an immigrant gets to America, $50 can be the difference between food for a week [and none].”

JENNIFER SMITH

FROM COMMONWEALTH

Opioids deaths surge: The state reports record high opioid-related deaths in 2022, prompting renewed calls for supervised injection sites. Read more.

Slow zones increasing: MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng reported progress in eliminating slow zones on the subway system, but the agency’s performance dashboard indicates the amount of track with speed restrictions is actually on the rise. The T is shutting down the entire B branch on the Green Line for two weeks in July to replace track and more strictly enforcing slow zone speed limits. Read  more.

Should T pay for highway project mitigation? The state highway administrator says the Department of Transportation, the MBTA, and Massport will cover the costs of mitigation for the upcoming July-August shutdown of the Sumner Tunnel. Transit advocates say the T shouldn’t have to absorb the cost of mitigation – a free Blue Line, no-cost ferry rides, and lower commuter rail fares – for a roadway project. Read more.

FROM AROUND THE WEB

BEACON HILL

Gov. Maura Healey unveils a $14 billion capital improvement plan, which includes significant investments in housing. (Eagle-Tribune)

Lawmakers are pushing a bill that would allow Massachusetts pharmacists to prescribe hormonal birth control, one of several efforts to shore up reproductive protections after the fall of Roe v. Wade. (MassLive)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

A war of words is on between the chair of the Boston City Council’s budget committee, Tania Fernandes Anderson, and the head of the city’s largest police union, Larry Calderone, over proposed cuts to the police budget. (Boston Herald) 

Easthampton hires civilian flaggers to fill vacant police detail jobs. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

The five people aboard the vessel attempting to descend 12,000 feet in the North Atlantic to view the Titanic wreckage were killed when the submersible imploded, the Coast Guard said. (Washington Post) 

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Workers at the Encore Boston Harbor Casino vote to authorize a strike. (GBH)

TRANSPORTATION

Lynn’s commuter rail station was shut down in October and isn’t slated to reopen until 2030, a huge hurdle for the city’s efforts to promote transit-oriented development. (Boston Globe) 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

The FBI raided the Fitchburg home of former Republican state senator Dean Tran, the latest chapter in a string of legal problems facing the one-time lawmaker. (Boston Globe) 

An internal police report found a New Bedford police sergeant violated the department’s harassment policies at least two times, but he remains on the job and has received only light sanctioning. (New Bedford Light)

A study finds the Biden administration’s expedited immigration court program is resulting in fewer migrants receiving asylum and more getting deported. (Boston Globe)