Eastern Carolina Council, in partnership with North Carolina University Institute for Emerging Issues (NCSU IEI) and the Friday Institute (NCSU FI), is developing a region wide digital inclusion plan. The project is funded through a grant from the North Carolina Department of Information Technology with additional funding support from the Camber Foundation.

The goal of this project is to have one regional plan with sections on each of the region’s nine counties in support of efforts to increase broadband access and use, and therefore reduce the digital divide. While Carteret, Duplin, and Onslow counties have already developed county-specific digital inclusion plans, the ECC digital inclusion plan will cover both those counties without county-specific plans and those with county-specific plans in recognition that digital inclusion and digital services do not end or being at county lines.

The digital inclusion plan is intended to be a strategic, actionable plan for identifying areas where individuals, businesses, and even communities are excluded from fully participating in today’s increasingly digital world, what factors contribute to their exclusion, and how we can work to close the digital divide.

Listening sessions have been held in each county that does not have a county-specific digital inclusion plan and listening sessions are currently under way in Carteret, Duplin, and Onslow counties. Listening sessions have been held in a variety of locations with a focus on ensuring that the many diverse populations and communities in the region have been heard. Listening sessions have been held with older adults, rural communities, minority groups, veterans, those with disabilities, low-income groups and communities, and incarcerated individuals as well as with young families with children. Additional input has been gathered using data for the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) Digital Equity Survey. To better understand existing digital assets, data gathered from the North Carolina Office of Digital Equity and Literacy’s Asset Inventory Survey has been used.

The Eastern Carolina Council Regional Digital Inclusion and Broadband Plan will be a tool for individuals, businesses, communities, and counties as they work to achieve individual and collective digital goals.

As part of this effort, we are asking folks to complete a couple of quick surveys:

• Take the NCDIT Digital Equity Survey (approx 10 minutes) HERE.
• Take the NC Office of Digital Equity & Literacy Asset Inventory Survey (approx 3 minutes) HERE.

NCDIT provides Broadband Profiles for each county in North Carolina.

To access Broadband Profiles for a specific county, go to the NC OneMap broadband page (Broadband | NC OneMap).

Under “County Profiles” use the pulldown menu to select the county you wish to view and click on the download button. The selected map will download as a PDF file.

The maps show broadband service and funding for each county. Information is updated to reflect new data, and the date and version of the last update is listed.

Other resources are also available on the NC OneMap broadband page.

• The mobile app, NC Broadband Location Status, shows reported broadband service availability by address.
• The NC Broadband Awards Dashboard displays information on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded projects administered by the NCDIT Division of Broadband & Digital Opportunity, including project status.
• The Digital Opportunity Dashboard documents access to digital devices by county
• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) map of Fixed Broadband Deployment data allows communities and the public to look at fixed broadband access in a county by census block.

For more information,

Contact ECC Interim Executive Director David Rosado

at 252-638-3185 x 3013 or drosado@eccog.org.