A digital Hawaiʻi
that leaves no one behind.
The Broadband Hui is a statewide community closing the digital divide — broadband access, digital and AI literacy, and the livelihoods they unlock. Internet for A.L.L.
Internet for A.L.L.
Born in March 2020 from Hawaiʻi's pandemic response, the Hui's Digital Equity Declaration rests on three pillars — a commitment that everyone, keiki to kūpuna, can participate fully in a digital society.
A community that just kept showing up.
What began as twenty people solving an emergency has become an enduring statewide forum. The Hui has met 273 times since March 2020 — wireline and wireless carriers, agencies, nonprofits, schools, universities, and businesses, all at one virtual table.
In 2025 we shifted from weekly to bi-monthly gatherings — more space between sessions for working groups and pilots to take root, deeper engagement when we meet.
The divide is no longer just access. It's AI.
As AI reshapes work and learning, a new opportunity gap is opening between those who can wield these tools and those who can't. The Digital Futures Initiative makes AI literacy a foundational skill — and uses AI itself to synthesize community input and shape Hawaiʻi's strategy from the grassroots up.
AI literacy as a right
Spreading AI capability widely — so understanding these tools prevents marginalization rather than deepening it.
Community-driven data
AI tools like Claude and NotebookLM turn hundreds of meeting hours into clear, shareable digital assets that guide planning.
Innovation + inclusion
Balancing a high-tech digital economy with grassroots inclusion, so no community is left at the basic-skills starting line.
Many hands, every island.
We grow by localizing — empowering communities to lead their own digital equity work, tested through small pilots before scaling statewide.
County coalitions
Encouraging each county — especially the neighbor islands — to form local digital equity coalitions that replicate and adapt the Hui's work, building toward community-led independence.
Neighborhood pilots
Small experiments in specific schools and neighborhoods to learn deeply before scaling. Nānākuli's Spectrum-sponsored initiative is a working model worth expanding across Oʻahu's west side.
DOE partnership
Working through DOE computer science and education committees to integrate a uniform baseline of digital competencies for every public-school student statewide.
Modular learning units
Plug-and-play digital and AI literacy modules for teachers, community leaders, and whole industries — from classrooms to realtors to kūpuna.
Cross-sector reach
Extending beyond schools to real estate, healthcare, and seniors — adaptable resources for every age group and profession adapting to new technology.
Easy onboarding
Orientation packets and clear summaries of past work, so new members find their role fast and contribute meaningfully from their very first gathering.
The divide, in numbers.
Hawaiʻi households still face real gaps in connection and devices — felt most by rural, lower-income, Native Hawaiian, and kūpuna communities.
Source: 2019 American Community Survey, via the Broadband Hui Digital Equity Declaration.
An open internet, for all of Hawaiʻi.
ISOC Hawaiʻi is the Hawaiʻi Chapter of the Internet Society — a global nonprofit working to keep the internet open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy. Newly revived in 2025, our chapter carries that mission across the islands, with the Broadband Hui as its flagship program.
Membership is free, and everyone is welcome.
Internet for all
Advancing an internet that is open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy — for every community in Hawaiʻi.
Local chapter, global network
One of 130+ Internet Society chapters worldwide, rooted in Hawaiʻi's communities and values.
The Broadband Hui
Our flagship convening for digital equity — bringing the islands together twice a month to close the divide.