As part of the recently approved City Council budget, Council Member James Vacca has secured and allocated over $350,000 towards technology initiatives in his district and throughout the Bronx. He has also recently put forward a bill to increase WiFi access 
in city parks, particularly in undeserved areas to achieve, as Vacca puts it to the Daily News, “an equal basis with Manhattan and affluent parts of Brooklyn.”
Among Vacca’s goals as Chair of the Technology Committee is to bridge the digital divide and provide New Yorkers with greater access to broadband internet and computer training. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers still do not have access to broadband internet, and many don’t even have computers in their homes. In an effort to close this gap, the Council Member developed the “NYC Digital Inclusion and Literacy Initiative,” which seeks to address the disparities in access to the internet and increase digital literacy.
As part of the initiative, each Council district – including the nine districts in the Bronx – will have its own program established through a local non-profit that serves seniors, youth and immigrant communities and focuses on computer training and education, supporting 21st century technology skills development and improving access to high-speed internet. Each Council Member will provide $14,705 to a group of their choice to run a program in their district.
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