The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s (CDLE) Office of the Future of Work (OFOW) has been awarded $897,119.02 to create Colorado’s Digital Equity Plan. The office applied in collaboration with the Office of eHealth Innovation (OeHI) located in the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, and the Office of Information Technology for the grant funding through the Digital Equity (DE) Act, a component of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law last November.
“Digital access impacts a person’s ability to acquire housing, jobs, education, telehealth, food, family support, and many other social influencers of health, making it all the more important to work across sectors to address the digital divide in our state,” said Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera. “The Digital Equity Planning Grant will bring together stakeholders from across sectors, and I am thrilled to see the Office of eHealth Innovation and the Office of the Future of Work leading this effort.”
“Too many Coloradans remain disconnected, preventing them from participating fully in their communities and economy,” said Katherine Keegan, director of the OFOW. “This Planning Grant funding allows the Office of the Future of Work to build a comprehensive, innovative, and sustainable digital equity state plan that will reach historically marginalized folks across our state."
OFOW and OeHI will work together to engage community-based organizations, lived experts, and state agency partners in:
- planning efforts for the grant
- collecting and analyzing data on the digital divide and its impacts on marginalized Coloradan communities
- and developing, publishing, and disseminating a written plan before 2024.
This funding will also support the Digital Navigator Program efforts the OFOW is spearheading.
For more information and ongoing updates on these efforts, please visit the Office of the Future of Work website. To get involved in the planning efforts, fill out this interest form.