Institute for Emerging Issues – BAND NC
Approved by Board of Directors: July 2021
SECU Foundation awarded Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) at North Carolina State University a grant of $225,000 to support a statewide digital inclusion initiative designed to provide internet services to communities located in the rural Northeast, Northwest, and Sandhills region. Through BAND-NC (Building a New Digital Economy in NC), IEI seeks to make North Carolina the first state in the nation where every county has a digital inclusion plan, in addition to strategies that enable all residents to obtain and effectively use internet services. BAND-NC addresses digital access gaps in rural and underserved communities with a focus on obtaining digital equity throughout all 100 counties of North Carolina.