Don’t believe in Baltimore’s office of information and technology? Just ‘watch’

Rec centers have been the scene for several Baltimore city-related announcements this year, including Mayor Brandon Scott’s bid for a second mayoral term. The youngest person to hold this municipal position in over a century has made investing in Baltimore’s recreation centers a top priority throughout his first term, recognizing their “potential to be life-changing.”

On Monday, dignitaries, members of the media and invited guests came together at a newly constructed rec center in Cherry Hill to mark another municipally-led investment in Baltimore’s digital ecosystem: the launch of FreeBmoreWiFi. The network was live at Middle Branch Fitness and Wellness Center during its launch.

Mayor Scott urged attendees to pause and recognize how Wi-Fi access may also change Baltimoreans’ lives.

“Think about the child unable to complete their homework, the job seeker unable to access online job opportunities,” he said. “The individuals struggling to connect with essential city services or the older adult who cannot do telehealth, or think about a young person trying to do their homework or a research paper simply on a smartphone. Far too many Baltimoreans — for far too many of them, that is the reality, and my administration is working to change it. Access to the internet is a right, not a privilege.”

Similar to Open Works’ solar-powered Wi-Fi efforts, FreeBmoreWiFi will roll out at the city’s remaining recreation and senior centers, in addition to its intended rollout in neighborhoods throughout Baltimore.

Mayor Brandon Scott at the FreeBmoreWiFi launch event. (Courtesy BCIT)

Is it only Wi-Fi? Is there a plan to further digital access in Baltimore City?

No, it’s not just Wi-fi. The network, in addition to a previously launched digital equity campaign, is only one component of a strategy released last week by Mayor Scott and the Baltimore City Office of Information and Technology (BCIT). The plan aims to act as a guide for the Office of Broadband and Digital Equity (BDE), a division of BCIT, and its partners in navigating affordable connectivity.

Read Baltimore City’s Digital Inclusion Strategy

The plan details four “actionable” goals: reliable high-speed internet, technology and devices, digital skills training and multi-lingual technical support.

These goals might serve as guides to ongoing efforts to provide digital access throughout Baltimore City over the next five years.

BDE Director Kenya Asli considers these goals her “chief responsibility.” During a call with Technical.ly, she said that she shares this responsibility with Todd Carter, the director of BCIT, as well as with her team.

“It is amazing, the magic that happens when you get the right people in the right roles,” said Asli. She mentioned that, even with the Wi-Fi rollout, BCIT plans to focus on fiber.

“The shelf life on fiber is significantly longer than Wi-Fi, arguably 5G, and so we focus primarily on fiber because our focus, especially for in-home Wi-Fi, is to ensure that folks have that direct connectivity,” she said.

Asli highlighted that the BCIT team has a history of successfully managing fiber infrastructure. She also noted that the team has grown from two employees to eight in just one year while actively “rolling” in its efforts for digital equity.

(L to R) Mayor Brandon Scott and BCIT Director Todd A. Carter. (Courtesy BCIT)

What’s Wi-Fi got to do with it?

A summary in the report suggested that improving access to technology could be a way to recognize and address the impacts of structural and institutional racism in Baltimore, as well as ultimately contribute to residents’ success. This assertion is supported by William Honablew Jr., the digital equity coordinator for BCIT. During the Wi-Fi launch, Honablew emphasized the importance of “authentic feedback” from city residents at the intersections of belonging to certain racial or ethnic communities, being unhoused or having a disability. Honablew said that bidirectional community engagement helped to inform the five-year plan.

“For a lot of people, what ends up happening is that [you hear], ‘We’re the experts. We’re the ones who know, so we’ll tell you guys what you need, because why would we think that you understand,’” Honablew said. “It’s really great to be part of an organization that not only doesn’t take that approach but also takes the antithesis approach. It’s like, we don’t know what we’re doing because it’s for the people in the community we need to [serve]. Without their input, without their support, without their feedback, it’s just a bunch of bureaucrats guessing at what the actual real people need. And so, we hosted several town hall meetings, and the thing is that this is part of a larger continuum.”

What can city residents do to measure the plan’s success?

The continuum of work mentioned by Honablew is something that Asli highlighted throughout her call with Technical.ly before the in-person FreeBmoreWifi launch. Asli had “taken sick,” according to Carter, and was not in person for the launch. But in her interview with Technical.ly, she encouraged the public to measure the progress of BCIT and its efforts by observing the process for themselves.

“The public should watch the number of recreation centers that we light up. Watch the number of public Wi-Fi [spots], so there are seven neighborhoods that we’re going to deploy to,” said Asli, who mentioned that the Middle Branch launch was merely a pilot. “Watch the number of Chromebooks that we are distributing, right? You want to watch the — we have our digital equity fund, we allocated $5 million to that,  watch that number. Hold us accountable for how much of that $5 million really gets distributed and to whom it gets distributed.”

Asli said the public should think of digital equity by the numbers in the city. She also said that in releasing the strategy, BCIT, as well as its partners and stakeholders, are telling the public what the agencies involved know — and that what they’ve gathered is necessary to close the digital divide.

According to Asli, one of the initial projects following the launch of FreeBmoreWiFi will involve connecting eight public housing developments.

“Watch us on that eight,” she said.

Mayor Brandon Scott (center) with various BCIT staffers and digital equity stakeholders. (Courtesy BCIT)

Who is paying for the Wi-Fi and other digital inclusion plan components?

The digital inclusion strategy and components like FreeBmoreWiFi will draw resources from various programs. They include the Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance Program, the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, Maryland’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, the Digital Equity Act and ARPA funds. The Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs, represented by its deputy director Elizabeth Tatum at the city’s Free WiFi launch, supports the administration of these funds.

Asli noted on the call that ARPA funds must be committed by December 2024 and spent by 2026. Additional financial support for the plan is expected through partnerships with the public-private sector, philanthropic institutions and nonprofits to fulfill its range of goals.