Adams Administration, LinkNYC, NYC CTO Matt Fraser, and Other Leaders to Unveil Free Tech Education Center for Brooklyn Residents to Help Bridge the Digital Divide

During Designation, Local Students will Take Part in a Digital Literacy Workshop

Over 11% of New York City Students Only Have Access to Wi-Fi at School

Staten Island, New York – On Wednesday, March 22, 2023,  the Adams Administration and LinkNYC, in partnership with the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI), ZenFi Networks, and tech education non-profit Digital Girl, will host a press conference to announce the opening of the new Brooklyn Gigabit Center in Crown Heights. As part of the event, young New Yorkers from a local school will take part in a digital literacy skills workshop hosted by Digital Girl and LinkNYC.

Located on the third floor of the Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center, the Brooklyn Gigabit Center, is the largest Gigabit Center powered by linknyc and  will serve as a community hub in partnership with Digital Girl, an organization dedicated to empowering youth, especially young girls, to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) disciplines. Citywide, 1-in-3 households lack either home or mobile broadband, and 1.3 million New Yorkers have neither. Rates of access are significantly lower in communities of color across the city — in Crown Heights where the Gigabit Center is located, 36% of households lack broadband. As a result, between eleven and thirteen percent of all New York City students lack adequate access to Wi-Fi outside of school. This disparity especially impacts young girls, who are already less likely to use technology compared to men and boys — leading to a massive disparity where women make up just 25% of tech jobs. The Brooklyn Gigabit Center will help address this divide by providing free high-speed Wi-Fi and technology education, as well as access to laptops, tablets, and computer workstations for students to complete homework and extracurricular activities after school hours.

WHAT

  • Designation of Brooklyn Gigabit Center
  • Visuals will include plaque unveiling with CTO Matt Frazier and digital literacy workshop with local students

WHO

  • New York City Adams Administration
  • Chief Technology Officer Matt Fraser
  • LinkNYC CEO Nick Colvin
  • Digital Girl Executive Director Michelle Gall
  • Local Brooklyn Electeds
  • Local Brooklyn students

WHEN

  • Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 10 AM EST

WHERE

  • Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center, Digital Girl Inc.
  • 1561 Bedford Avenue,  First Floor Auditorium
  • Brooklyn, NY 11234

*If you would like to attend this event, please RSVP to Will Whitmire at wwhitmire@skdknick.com.*

ZenFi Networks:

ZenFi Networks, a BAI Communications company (BAI) soon to rebrand as Boldyn Networks*, is an innovative digital infrastructure company focused on delivering wireless siting, network edge colocation and fiber optic network solutions in the NY-NJ metro region. As the area’s most experienced communications infrastructure builders, ZenFi Networks has an unparalleled reputation for efficiently architecting and delivering solutions that enable mobile network operators, wholesale telecommunications providers and large enterprise clients. With its purpose-built C-RAN infrastructure, ZenFi Networks is at the forefront of network architecture innovation and a critical part of the digital ecosystem in one of the biggest, most important markets in the world. *BAI is bringing together our six companies BAI in the Northern Hemisphere, Mobilitie, Signal Point Systems, Transit Wireless, ZenFi Networks and Vilicom, and rebranding into one powerhouse called Boldyn Networks.

W zenfi.com or W baicommunications.com

About LinkNYC

LinkNYC is the world’s largest and fastest free public Wi-Fi network. Each Link kiosk provides free superfast Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, access to social services, and displays content such as real-time weather, transit info, public art, and local information. The city-wide network has more than 11 million Wi-Fi users and has connected more than 25 million free phone calls. All of LinkNYC’s services are completely free to users and taxpayers, provided by CityBridge, a partnership led by Intersection and ZenFi Networks. The second generation offering will deploy thousands of new kiosks, called Link5G, enabled with 5G wireless technology across the city. For more information about LinkNYC or to find a Link near you, visit www.link.nyc.

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Media Contact:

Ilissa Miller
iMiller Public Relations
Tel: 1.914.315.6424
pr@imillerpr.com