OCED Attends California Emerging Technology Fund's 10th Learning Community Meeting in Los Angeles

 

 

OCED staff members Eduardo Gonzalez, Claudia Sanchez and Luz Ezquivel attend 10th Learning Community Meeting in Los Angeles, representing the Fresno State Call Center, an initiative of the San Joaquin Valley Regional Broadband Consortium, administered by OCED.  The two day Learning Community Meeting was hosted by the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) in conjunction with Charter Communications and Frontier Communications.  Representatives from both Internet Service Providers were in attendance to discuss various outreach methods and new adoption strategies on how to get more community members in the San Joaquin Valley region to adopt to low cost internet services.  OCED joined other community based partners from throughout the state to discuss strategies and report on progress to date. 

Day two was dedicated primarily to review the  2019 Statewide Survey on Broadband Adoption, which CETF conducted in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. 

The report provides details on how more Californians are getting connected to the Internet at home using devices that will make a real difference in improving their access to educational, career and healthcare opportunities.

The reports shows that 88% of the California households have high-speed Internet access at home through either a computing device or a smartphone, but that many rural communities in the state are still facing a digital divide. 

Additionally the report says that In the last two years, the proportion of Californians connecting to the Internet through a home computing device—defined as a desktop, laptop or tablet computer—has increased from 69% to 78%.  This is a positive development given that households with only smartphone access are considered “underconnected” because they are at a disadvantage in optimizing the use of technology for certain functions, such as doing schoolwork, applying for a job, or taking online classes to expand workforce skills. 

OCED will continue to implement new strategies discussed during the Learning Community Meeting with hopes to increase adoptions in the San Joaquin Valley.   Fore more information about the Fresno State Call Center please call 559-278-0702.