Public Invited to Online Forum to Create More Broadband Access Opportunities

The University of Hawaiʻi is hosting a free online forum to learn more about statewide efforts to expand broadband services and digital literacy opportunities, and the public is invited and encouraged to attend.

“Broadband Infrastructure and Digital Equity: Building Digital Foundations for Hawaiʻi’s Communities” is the first of many planned meetings to provide information about programs in progress, as well as provide opportunities for the community to get involved and provide input for the planning process.

The forum will be conducted from 1:30-3 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, via Zoom.

“Meaningful access to universal broadband service is critical to supporting digital equity for all residents of Hawaiʻi,” Garret Yoshimi, UH vice president for information technology and chief information officer, said in a press release. “Our UH team is helping to lead the statewide efforts to build important human and technological infrastructure that will be the foundation for our residents to thrive in the highly connected future. These public investments in broadband access directly align with UH’s mission to provide higher education, while working in collaboration with our statewide communities to support all of Hawaiʻi’s residents.”

To register for the free online forum, click here.

In August 2021, Gov. David Ige tasked the UH system with leading and coordinating a broad scale strategic investment effort to ensure all of Hawaiʻi’s residents have access to broadband services. These investments are guided by a strategic framework to support four essential activities to meet Hawaiʻi’s needs now and into the future:

• Access, equity and literacy: Every resident must have access to robust, reliable and equitably priced broadband services and the education and training to make the best use of these services.
• Last mile: Broadband networks must serve all Hawaiʻi residents regardless of where they live.
• Middle mile: Hawaiʻi’s remote location requires smart and sustainable investments in middle mile infrastructure, including interisland submarine fiber optic cables, carrier neutral submarine cable landing stations and terrestrial fiber networks to connect all communities to the broadband network
• Governance and sustainability: Investments must be crafted to maximize long-term, strategic public benefits and shall be governed with sustainability as a core design principle. Regardless of the source of funds, design of governance efforts associated with broadband infrastructure investments should include representation from relevant stakeholders and ensure that Hawai‘i continuously benefits from these strategic investments.

For more information, visit UH’s broadband website.