What is the Digital Divide? The Digital Divide is the gap between demographics (such as age, gender, income, religion, education, and family structure) in terms of access to digital technology. The City sees it as the full and rightful access to digital technology and its benefits for our residents. This access is so all in the community can thrive regardless of their economic status, or demographics. What is the Digital Equity Study? The City of Palmdale has a population of approximately 170,000. Approximately 55 percent of the City’s population are considered minority. The average household income is approximately $95,000, although certain parts of the City have a significantly lower average income. Almost 40 percent of the City’s population are Spanish speaking residents. The Digital Equity Study is intended to survey the community of Palmdale on how connected the residents are. The City needs a survey that addresses our residents’ need to bridge the digital divide. The plan should document the needs of the community, through surveys, community outreach, workshops, documentation of feedback and available data. The City of Palmdale wants to know what might impede people from accessing the internet. Accessibility is important, and lack of it can be for a variety of reasons, such as education, training, lack of proper equipment and affordability. The City of Palmdale needs a study that will pinpoint the root causes for the lack of access, so that we may be able to better serve our community and provide programs that are of true value to our residents. The Consultant will coordinate with the City and stakeholders to address Digital Equity and Inclusion so that unserved and underserved constituencies and Stakeholders in areas of the City are provided with an ubiquitous and robust Fiber network by SiFi that they can use. The Consultant will also work with the City to document equity issues beyond availability, including affordability, training, and education needs, such that grant funding and other measures can be pursued to enhance digital inclusion in the City that will provide a sustainable impact to the community. Digital Equity in the Antelope Valley The City of Palmdale is in the high desert area of northeastern Los Angeles County, in an area known as the Antelope Valley (AV). The population of the AV as a whole is approximately 540,000 and approximately a quarter of the AV’s population are considered minorities and average household income is approximately $91,610. Another city located in the Antelope Valley and adjacent to Palmdale is the City of Lancaster. Lancaster is of similar size and shares challenges similar to those of the City of Palmdale (population of approximately 200,000 with approximately a 60 percent minority population and average household income of almost $85,600). There are also several rural communities in the Antelope Valley. As part of the study, although the focus area is the City of Palmdale, the study findings must also contribute to digital equity efforts in the Antelope Valley as a whole. The resulting study should provide Palmdale specific information; however, will also contribute to efforts for the entire Antelope Valley. Purpose: The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit competitive proposals from a qualified company/consultant, to provide a Study on Digital Equity in the City of Palmdale, with the experience pertaining to presenting conclusions, collecting data, outreach, and quality engagements of the residents of the City. Knowledge on how to properly present this data to be useful for grants and programs to benefit the residents of the City of Palmdale. These services should be efficient and economical; adhere to industry standards and best practices. The City will award to a Contract company/consultant whose offer represents the “best value” to the City, price and other factors considered.

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