NYC Gives Tablets to Seniors to Close the Digital Divide

New York City agencies began to distribute 10,000 Internet-connected tablets to senior residents earlier this month to close the digital divide, reports StateTech Magazine . The Mayor's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), in collaboration with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), started sending out free LG tablets, initially for seniors living in buildings run by the NYCHA in Brownsville, East New York, Mott Haven, Red Hook, Bushwick, and Coney Island. The city also is supplying 12 months of free technology training and digital literacy education for residents receiving the tablets. The CTO's office has partnered with the city's senior citizen services and wireless carrier T-Mobile to distribute the tablets. This move is part of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's Internet Master Plan, which aims to address the fact that 40 percent of city households lack home or mobile broadband, including 18 percent of residents who are without both. "In recent weeks, we've worked . . . to ensure that older adults have access to the information, critical services, and online support they need so that they can stay safer by staying home," said New York City CTO John Paul Farmer. New York City has pledged $5 million to provide technology to older residents, mainly in lower-income and poorly connected neighborhoods. Farmer said the effort to close the digital divide "will ensure that everybody has high-speed, high-quality, privacy-respecting broadband at home and on the go so they can fully participate in daily life in New York City."