03 Digital Inclusion

Description

Request for Qualifications Digital Inclusion and Navigation Partners DETCOG Regional Digital Inclusion Program RFQ # 2024-03 Deep East Texas Council of Governments 1405 Kurth Drive Lufkin, Texas 75904 Responses and Questions Shall be Submitted by Email: respond@detcog.gov RFQ Issued: July 29, 2024 Responses to questions will be posted as soon as possible on the DETCOG website under Notices & Resources/RFPs & RFQs. (Link: https://www.detcog.gov/rfps-rfqs) First Response Date: August 16, 2024, 4:00pm CDT (Including: NTIA Digital Equity Competitive Grant Preparation) Second Response Date: September 6, 2024, 4:00pm CDT (Including: Texas BDO State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Preparation) Final Response Date: December 6, 2024, 4:00pm CDT (All Programs) Responses are encouraged as early as possible. DETCOG expects to begin awarding contract(s) after the first response due date and may award additional contracts after the second and final response dates. Request for Qualifications: DETCOG Regional Digital Inclusion Program 1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Executive Summary The Deep East Texas Council of Governments (DETCOG) and Economic Development District is a voluntary association of local governments in the 11-county region encompassing all of Angelina, Houston, Nacogdoches, Newton, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity and Tyler counties. We are one of the largest rural COGs in the nation. This RFQ acts as the driver to understanding which organizations, be it national, state or local, have interest in building digital inclusion capacity in the DETCOG region. Responses will determine a reasonable vision for a regional digital inclusion program that prepares DETCOG staff for regional grant applications. DETCOG has already achieved funding for broadband infrastructure programs in portions of the region. To learn more about the activities that drove DETCOG’s success in securing this funding, please follow this link: https://www.detcog.gov/broadband. Here you will find several articles and DETCOG commissioned broadband feasibility reports. 1.2 Definitions The following definitions related to digital inclusion programming are provided by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). NDIA is a national nonprofit leader in the digital inclusion space.