Delaware tech leaders gather at White House for action summit with Biden and Harris

Delaware is the latest state to summit with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other members of the administration for a “Communities in Action” series.

The Tech Council of Delaware announced that it was one of the organizations invited to participate in today’s event. The council, which celebrated its first birthday in March, among other things works to secure federal funding through programs created by legislation including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the American Rescue Plan and the CHIPS and Science Act. CHIPS and Science is the legislation behind EDA Tech Hubs, which established The Greater Philadelphia Region Precision Medicine Tech Hub — encompassing Delaware, Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey — as eligible to receive millions of dollars in federal funding.

“The Tech Council of Delaware intends to apply for and secure Digital Equity funding originating from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), via the Delaware Broadband Office, to ensure that Delawareans have the skills, technology, and capacity to participate in, and reap the benefits of, today’s digital society and economy,” the council said in a press release. “If awarded, the Council will utilize a portion of the digital equity funding to launch a cohort of the Certified Cybersecurity Professional Program.”

Past events in the “Communities in Action” series have focused on Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Florida, North Dakota and Maine, to name a few.

A complete list of organizations involved in the Delaware event is not publicly available, but Wilmington Alliance has also announced that it is participating. Logan Herring, CEO of the WRK Group; Tynetta Brown, CEO of Philanthropy Delaware; and Traci Manza Murphy, executive director at Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence have also commented on LinkedIn that they will attend.

At Pennsylvania’s event in 2022, attendees included US congresswomen representing Pennsylvania, as well as various White House advisors and department secretaries, with topics ranging from bringing manufacturing jobs to the state to federal/local healthcare partnerships.

The meeting will be followed next week by another Delaware-focused summit, this time based in Wilmington: Moving Delaware Forward: From Equity Awareness to Action will take place April 18 and 19 at the Chase Center on the Riverfront. The summit was designed by and is being co-hosted collaboratively among 20 organizations working to improve equity in Delaware. The hosts include Healthy Communities Delaware, Delaware Racial Justice Collaborative and Black Voters Matter, whose cofounder LaTosha Brown will give a keynote speech.