Celebrating Digital Inclusion Week 2026: Keeping Boston Connected
Ensuring every Bostonian can work and connect in an increasingly digital world.
October 9th, 2026 - The week of October 4th marks Digital Inclusion Week, an annual nationwide event highlighting the importance of inclusion in our increasingly digital world. It offers an opportunity to share ongoing digital equity work and highlight how the City has worked to deliver high-speed internet, devices, and digital skills training to every Bostonian.
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HIGHLIGHTING DIGITAL EQUITY
In 2025 alone, the Digital Equity Team and partners at the Department of Innovation and Technology:
- Released the results of Boston’s first-ever Digital Equity Plan, outlining how the City would expand affordable broadband, increase device access, and expand free training.
- Connected 36 community partners to $1,418,000 of grant funding through our 2024 Digital Equity Fund, enabling 11,143 individuals to enroll in low-cost internet, obtain a laptop or computer, or take digital navigation classes.
- Delivered digital skills training to over 3,000 residents through our Digital Equity Fund partners' leadership and service.
- Provided direct services to hundreds of residents, including procuring refurbished, low-cost, or free devices, supporting enrollment in low-cost internet, and providing digital skills training.
- Provided 1,460 devices to residents in need through partnerships with TEK Collaborative, Computers 4 People, and the Mattapan Technology Learning Center.
These programs serve a diverse audience, including but not limited to immigrants, persons with disabilities, English Language Learners, public housing residents, and those returning from incarceration. This past spring, the City of Boston was named a 2025 Visionary Digital Inclusion Trailblazer by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). This marks the 10th consecutive year Boston has earned this recognition.
“Nonprofits, libraries, churches, and other community organizations can’t reach digital equity on their own. For everyone to thrive in today’s digital world, we need all hands on deck,” said Angela Siefer, Executive Director for the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. “NDIA’s Digital Inclusion Trailblazer program exemplifies the key role of local governments in building digital opportunities for all of their residents.”
“There is a reason why folks from other parts of the country and the world look to Boston for guidance across various sectors,” said Peter Favorito, Senior Program Manager. “In these trying times, when digital equity work is more crucial than ever, when having access to the online world, healthcare, and government programs is more crucial than ever, when dispelling misinformation and mistrust is more crucial than ever, Boston must continue to be a beacon of hope.”
"Boston has spent years building digital inclusion programs that work: hundreds of access points delivering free Wicked Wi-Fi, fiber to every library and public school, and thousands of residents trained and connected,” said Brian Donoghue, Chief Digital Equity Officer. “I am proud of what our team and partners have done. Federal support for this work is shrinking, and that makes the next few years challenging. We will keep finding ways to fund it and keep it going, because residents still depend on it."
2026 AND BEYOND
As the year comes to an end, the City of Boston has already:
- Expanded the citywide Wicked Wi-Fi network to more than 200 access points, ensuring that low-income, immigrant, and transit-dependent residents can access free, FCC-speed broadband at no cost.
- Earned recognition for the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) ‘Community Broadband Project of the Year’.
- Extended the Boston Fiber Optic Network (BoNET) to reach each and every Boston Public School, providing high-speed internet for students and educators.
- Awarded a total of $1,270,753.62 to 48 community-based organizations as part of the 2026 Digital Equity Fund to support both Digital Navigation and Community Technology Training and Device Distribution and Refurbishment efforts.
- Hosted workshops for returning citizens in Boston. The Office of Returning Citizens in partnership with the Digital Equity team hosts Build your Tech Skills every 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. These workshops are designed to help returning citizens create online accounts, navigate websites, explore employment and education opportunities, and other digital skills.
- Launched free and multilingual AI Literacy Workshops, offering more than 30 trainings alongside community groups and local nonprofits. Topics range from spotting scams, identifying misinformation, and using generative AI safely.
The Digital Equity Team will continue offering training and resources through the end of this year. Looking for resources to get connected? Find low-cost internet and devices, trainings in your neighborhood, or other digital equity resources on Boston.gov.
Please direct press inquiries to press@boston.gov. To reach the Digital Equity Team, please contact digital.equity@boston.gov.
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