No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section directs the Commission to conduct a study on digital literacy and equity, including (1) the state of digital literacy and information literacy in the United States, covering federal, state, and local programs aimed at increasing digital literacy and information literacy and an analysis of digital literacy and information literacy in low-income areas and disadvantaged areas; (2) programs in other countries aimed at increasing digital literacy and information literacy; and (3) strategies and best practices to maintain increased levels of digital literacy and information literacy in the United States.
This section establishes the membership of the Commission as (1) seven specified federal officials or their delegates—including the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, the FCC Chairperson, the Chief of the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Secretaries of Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development; (2) three members appointed by the Commission's Chairperson with knowledge or expertise in digital literacy and equity from diverse economic, professional, and cultural backgrounds in the public or private sector; and (3) not more than five members appointed by the President from federal agency heads or their delegates. The section designates the Secretary of Education (or delegate) as Chairperson and the FCC Chairperson (or delegate) as Vice Chairperson. This section requires the first Commission meeting within 90 days of enactment, subsequent meetings at least every four months (and others as necessary), and public access to all meetings. A majority of members constitutes a quorum, though a lesser number may hold hearings.
This section authorizes the Commission to hold hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take testimony, and receive evidence as appropriate to carry out the Act. It further authorizes any Commission member or agent, if authorized by the Commission, to exercise these powers.
This section directs the Chairperson of the Commission to submit a report to Congress within two years after the appointment of the Commission's members. The report must contain (1) the results of the study required by section 3; (2) recommendations to improve and maintain digital literacy and information literacy in the United States through early education and community outreach, with a focus on increasing equity in resource availability; (3) recommendations for the federal government to create and implement a method to measure digital literacy; and (4) a plan to increase interagency coordination for federal digital literacy services.
This section defines the following terms for purposes of the Act: (1) digital literacy as the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills; (2) disadvantaged area as a community with an annual median household income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual median household income, determined on the basis of the latest available decennial census of the United States; (3) information literacy as (A) the ability to recognize when information is needed and (B) the ability to locate, evaluate, and use needed information effectively; and (4) low-income as having the meaning given that term in section 1303 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4502).