Tag Archive for: communities

FACT SHEET: President Biden Signs Executive Order to Strengthen Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Across the Federal Government

/in


On his first day in office, President Biden signed Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. That Order emphasized the enormous human costs of systemic racism and persistent poverty, and provided a powerful and unprecedented mandate for all federal agencies to launch a whole-of-government approach to equity. Over the past two years, agencies have taken historic steps toward ensuring that federal programs are serving the American people in an equitable and just manner and supporting communities that have been locked out of opportunity. Through the implementation of landmark legislation and historic executive action, the Biden-Harris Administration is working to make real the promise of America for everyone—including rural communities, communities of color, Tribal communities, LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, women and girls, and communities impacted by persistent poverty.

Despite the meaningful progress that the Biden-Harris Administration has made, the reality is that underserved communities—many of whom have endured generations of discrimination and disinvestment—still confront unacceptable barriers to equal opportunity and the American Dream.  It is imperative that we reject the narrow, cramped view of American opportunity as a zero-sum game. When any segment of society is denied the full promise of America, our entire Nation is held back. But when we lift each other up, we are all lifted up. As the President has said: “Advancing equity is not a one-year project. It’s a generational commitment.”  

To strengthen the federal government’s ability to address the barriers that underserved communities continue to face, today, President Biden signed a new Executive Order, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. This second Order reaffirms the Administration’s commitment to deliver equity and build an America in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.

The Executive Order:

  • Launches a new annual process to strengthen racial equity and support for underserved communities….

Source…

Eastern Upper Peninsula Rural Communities To Receive High Speed Broadband Internet

/in


$3 Million CARES Grant Awarded to Merit Network

ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Merit Network was awarded a $2.99 million Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Recovery Assistance Grant to support construction of 70 miles of middle-mile fiber optic infrastructure in the Upper Peninsula.

The infrastructure corridor project, named Leveraging Infrastructure for Transforming the Upper Peninsula (LIFT-UP) will pass through Chippewa, Luce and Mackinac counties. This fiber will enable local internet service providers to interconnect with Merit’s middle-mile backhaul to bring reliable, high-speed broadband internet to rural and remote communities in Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula.

The EUPConnect Collaborative, led by the Easter Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (EUPISD) and the Eastern Upper Peninsula Regional Planning and Development Commission (EUPRPDC) will collaborate with Merit on the project. They have collaborated with Merit’s Michigan Moonshot initiative and the Quello Center for Media and Information Policy at Michigan State University for several years on citizen-scientist crowdsourced research to identify and map broadband access and adoption statistics regionally. An understanding of the prevalence and impact of the digital divide for the region was a first step in developing a blueprint for equitable access.

“The Eastern UP Regional Planning and Development Commission is excited to see this significant EDA investment in broadband for the region. Broadband availability and accessibility has long been the highest priority in our region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. The MERIT LIFT-UP project will provide much needed investment to move the needle on this issue and make the region more economically competitive on the national and global stage,” said Jeff Hagan, CEO of EUP Regional Planning.

“Every community deserves access to modern digital infrastructure to support education, telemedicine, public safety, workforce needs and economic development, regardless of geographic location. This new federal investment in the Eastern UP helps advance this goal, and…

Source…

Hackers Attack When Communities Are Most Vulnerable

/in


When natural disasters strike — hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, floods — communities are at their most vulnerable. People are alarmed and distracted. Sadly, cyber criminals see the opportunity in the chaos. They take advantage of the confusion to create more havoc by targeting physical infrastructure like electric grids, fuel pipelines and water systems with ransomware attacks.

Increasingly, when natural disasters happen, the number of cyber attacks immediately spikes. Indeed, many cyber events are now directly linked to physical events. For example, states like Louisiana and Florida routinely see an exponential rise in cyber attacks following hurricanes.

But the government and business are fighting back. They’re organizing cybersecurity efforts like Operation Homeland Defender, a drill at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Indiana, to test preparedness and bolster defenses. The most recent event this summer included the Indiana National Guard, local first responders, Indiana Task Force One and others.


Muscatatuck is the Department of Defense’s largest urban training facility. It is a “real” city that includes a built physical infrastructure, including a water distribution and pump station with multiple active supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, 3G and 4G meshed networks, IoT testing grounds, a hospital, and even a U.S. “embassy.” It is an ideal place to run realistic training and testing scenarios in the event of a cyber event and see firsthand how defenses hold up. It’s a war games facility built for the modern era of cyber attacks, blending both physical and cyber into a common realm.

The Operation Homeland Defender drill involved a simulated earthquake followed by a cyber attack, with hackers swooping in amid the chaos. Specifically, the bad guys attacked the water system and tried to shut it down as the National Guard deployed its defense tools to protect networks, people and property.

During any natural disaster, there will be network outages and various other disruptions. Most will be the result of physical damage. But others may be caused by opportunistic…

Source…

South metro Atlanta communities laying foundation to bridge digital divide – The Atlanta Journal Constitution

/in



South metro Atlanta communities laying foundation to bridge digital divide   The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Source…