Photo by Richard L. Gaw         Former Kennett Township Supervisor Whitney Hoffman gave a presentation that updated the status of digital equity in southern Chester County at the township’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting on April 5.

 

By Richard L. Gaw, Staff Writer

In early 2021, as southern Chester County entered its second year of a worldwide pandemic that had impacted schools, businesses and homes, a group of 50 area citizens first met to address and advocate for the improving and providing digital access throughout the region, particularly in more vulnerable areas where access to technology is scarce.

From that meeting, the Southern Chester Digital Equity Coalition was formed, and one of its key members – former Kennett Township Supervisor Whitney Hoffman -- told the township’s supervisors at their April 5 meeting that while digital infrastructure in the region is one of the strongest in the commonwealth, there remains a long way to go before complete equity is reached.

“We have some places [in the township] that don’t have good wired access to houses, and then we all found out during the pandemic when kids were issued Wi-Fi hot points to get on the internet for their virtual classes, that you couldn’t get good cellular access everywhere in the township,” Hoffman said at the start of her presentation. “It’s a real problem.”

While internet access to the government and informational services, healthcare, e-commerce and education are all vital, having connectivity to emergency management and safety agencies during a crisis is absolutely crucial, and not everyone in the township has that capability, Hoffman said.

“What happens in Kennett Township all the time is that during a storm, we all lose power and if you don’t have power and cell phone coverage and someone has a heart attack in a house, that’s a real problem,” she said. “Getting hold of emergency services involves having really good connections. Dropped calls can not only be inconvenient, they can cost lives.”

The problems on the road to achieving digital equity in southern Chester County are not unlike what is happening in other regions of Pennsylvania, said Hoffman, who listed the lack of reliable access, outdated cable infrastructure and the area’s rural topography as major factors.

Pointing to an overhead map image of southern Chester County that indicated several zones that are practically devoid of internet coverage, Hoffman said that the lack of digital equity is not keeping up with the increasing reliance on internet technology. According to Forbes’ 2022 analysis of 41 million homes in the U.S., the average home now has nearly 22 connected devices, while Europeans have an average of 17.4 devices and Japan has only 10.3 devices. Right now, she said that 26 million U.S. employees are working remotely, a figure that is expected to grow to 36.2 million by 2025.

Hope in the way of state funding has begun to fully address the problem of digital equity. On April 5, Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority Executive Director Brandon Carson announced the approval of grant guidelines for the Pennsylvania Broadband Infrastructure Program, which will provide $200 million in funding to businesses, non-profits, local government and economic development agencies.

The Authority expects to award grants prior to the end of the year.

On the federal level, the Digital Equity Act and the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program provides $2.75 billion to establish three grant programs that promote digital equity and inclusion – that ensure Americans have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of our digital economy.

“With all of this money coming down from the Feds, we have a unique opportunity to really solve some of these problems in a bigger way, but I think it’s going to take somebody bigger than just Kennett Township to do that,” Hoffman said. She called for the township to advocate for the establishment of an office of digital equity in Chester County that would help manage internet service providers and coordinate grant programs.

If there is a silver lining in the cloud that continues to restrict digital access in Chester County, it is that the county is way ahead of other counties in the commonwealth.

“It’s important to note that we are really different than the rest of Pennsylvania,” said Rep. Christina Sappey, who visited the meeting. “I can’t underscore it enough that even though we are trying to serve people that don’t have access right now, we still have far more resources and connectivity than a lot of the rest of the commonwealth.”

Other township business

The supervisors authorized the township to re-submit an application for a 2023-27 Kennett Woodlands and Trails Acquisition Grant in the amount of $300,000 to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. If given, the grant will be directed toward the purchase of 22 acres of open space in the township, and account for one-third of the total acquisition price of the property, which is valued at $942,195.

Rep. Sappey shared her work with several commissions in her role as the representative for the 158th district in Harrisburg. They include the Veterans Emergency Preparedness Committee, the Local Government Committee, the Local Government Commission, the Recreational Economic Development Tourism Committee and a committee on agriculture. She encouraged the township to partner with her on grant funding opportunities and infrastructure issues.

“I feel very strongly about using my role to connect people to their local government and the state government whenever that is appropriate, to solve problems that impact us all,” she said. “We are going through a lot of growth here in Chester County and southeastern Pennsylvania so we want to make sure that we want to get it right. We owe that to our constituents.”

Rep. Sappey also encouraged township residents to attend a family-based stream walk event in partnership with the Stroud Water Research Center on April 22 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The event will introduce families to the importance of maintaining stream ecosystems. To learn more about the walk, email [email protected] or call her office at 484-200-8264.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].