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The basics:

• Newark earns National Digital Inclusion Alliance Trailblazer status for the third consecutive year
• Newark Fiber expands affordable, high-speed internet to residents, businesses and public housing
• City-backed partnerships boost digital equity, workforce training and youth arts technology access
• New broadband survey aims to improve connectivity planning in future real estate development

For the third consecutive year, Newark has received plaudits for its efforts to expand digital access throughout the city. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance named the Brick City a 2025 Digital Inclusion Trailblazer last month.

When the city announced the distinction in January, Mayor Ras Baraka highlighted three initiatives from this year’s submitted programs. He said they offer a snapshot of Newark’s cultural profile:

“Multi-faceted collaboration in all efforts; resident participation in data collection; and a next-level studio where youth can weave their own musical and video talents into Newark’s longstanding artistic legacy.”

“By supporting digital inclusion initiatives, we are giving residents support as they build their ladder into the innovation economy and beyond,” Aaron Meyerson, chief innovation officer and director of broadband at Invest Newark and Newark Alliance, said with the announcement.

“We’re also focused on ensuring the city’s booming real estate growth is well connected.”

This year, NDIA recognized 58 local governments representing 25 states as Digital Inclusion Trailblazers. One other New Jersey local appears on the list: Hoboken.

How to become a trailblazer

To determine trailblazers, NDIA collects and evaluates across seven categories and indicators.

1. Dedicate resources
2. Fund or aid digital inclusion programs
3. Participate in digital inclusion ecosystem
4. Engage the community
5. Advance digital inclusion through policy
6. Use data to inform digital inclusion
7. Create a local digital inclusion plan

Submissions are scored, with a maximum of 23 points available. The organization makes all materials available via an interactive map and searchable database on its website.

Setting a standard

Beyond serving as an honor roll for areas that achieve Trailblazer status, the program also helps to establish a national standard for digitally inclusive cities. Most important, perhaps, it also functions as a resource – a knowledge database.

“It’s not always a big new flashy building that we’re ribbon cutting or things like that,” Meyerson told NJBIZ. A lot of the time, this kind of work goes unseen. Whether that’s by design, for instance putting internet cables behind walls, or due to lack of awareness, recognition like the National Digital Inclusion Trailblazer Award provides something concrete to point to.

“We’re trying to use this as a way to recognize the things that the city is doing to bring attention to it,” Meyerson said. “And hopefully attract more resources and make that umbrella and tent bigger. So, that more people can come and share their resources that they have to promote connectivity in the city.”

Invest Newark works in tandem with the city and the Office of Information Technology to promote broadband access across the metro. For instance, consumer brand “Newark Fiber connects thousands of residents and hundreds of businesses in office buildings and large multifamily buildings in the downtown core every day.” Its programs provide high-speed, low-cost internet connections across residential and commercial buildings, parks, streets and schools.

Saving big $$$

According to Urban Institute’s August 2024 Assessing the Impact of Invest Newark’s Programs report, Newark Fiber’s utilization of city fiber infrastructure to provide connectivity services saves the city $840,000 a year.

Revenues from Newark Fiber go toward maintenance and operations of the full city network, according to the study. Other inputs include financial investments through federal appropriations along with staff, equipment, and infrastructure to facilitate programs and set up connections. Beyond expanding connectivity, other outputs cited include increased jobs, and revenue, for the city and program partners.

Invest Newark and the OIT manage the network through contracts with engineering companies, internet service providers and other contractors. Newark Fiber is powered by GigXero. The public-private partnership with the city also engages with several vendors and partners, such as AvatarTech, Millennium Communications Group Inc., NetTarius, Newark Alliance and Teknogrid. The service offers month-to-month internet contracts.

Between January 2021 and December 2023, 236 private and public buildings received service from Newark Fiber. The UI report said the additions serve an estimated 27,000 people. The report also estimates more than 3,700 residents now have access to internet service who did not before the installations.

Tracking adoption

However, “We can’t be there to everybody. We don’t have the resources … And so, generally, we just try and promote more connectivity, period,” Meyerson told NJBIZ.

He said they employ a handful of metrics to try to track adoption. Among them:

• Presence of high-speed internet: Meyerson said this is about access. “Is there fiber in different places? Is there coax cable, copper cable? What is the quality of the internet in various buildings across the city?”
• Adoption: How many people are actually signed up for that service? Meyerson said they reference federal data sets through the Federal Communications Commission and the Census Bureau, which he said tracks that information on an annual basis

“And generally, our adoption or access and adoption in the city has gotten better year over year,” he said. However, “There are still pockets of the city that are unconnected and under connected.” These are typically areas where people can only afford one internet connection, Meyerson explained. And in most cases, that one source will wind up being a cellphone.

Making connections

According to 2024 Census data, nearly 6% of Newark households do not have a computer. More than 86% of city households have a broadband internet subscription, leaving about 14% without service.

In its 2024 snapshot, Invest Newark said it connected 25 new businesses to Newark Fiber, and 1,600 units of Newark Housing Authority housing via its Andrena partnership. Additionally, it noted 34,000 households received Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) internet discounts.

On Andrena, Meyerson noted that company has since set up a Newark office under Audible’s Business Attraction Program. “They’ve now expanded their work here as well,” he said. “So it’s a competitor to Newark Fiber, but that’s fine. We want more providers.”

Teamwork

Invest Newark works with the city, the library system, and others to track and cross-promote opportunities as they arise, Meyerson said. “Whether it be job fairs in the tech sector that one of the local universities is putting on,” for example.

The contingent of folks working on this issue isn’t large, so there’s a lot of collaboration and support among those involved. “We really try and stay on top of what is happening and share those resources as much as possible.”

“Nonprofits, libraries, churches and other community organizations can’t reach digital equity on their own. For everyone to thrive in today’s digital world, we need all hands on deck,” said Angela Siefer, NDIA executive director. “NDIA’s Digital Inclusion Trailblazer program exemplifies the key role of local governments in building digital opportunities for all of their residents.”

Meyerson said the Trailblazer designation offers a sort of annual opportunity to take stock of the past year’s work. To see how it differs from years prior, and how they can highlight available programs moving forward.

This year, the City of Newark’s new initiatives include:

• Achieving the “Best IT Collaboration” by the 2025 New Jersey Excellence in Technology Awards for a partnership between the City of Newark, Invest Newark, Newark Alliance, YouthBuild Global, NetTarius, Avatar Tech and the Newark Workforce Development Board for their work at Hope Village 2.
• Broadband Development Survey launch. Program used in the permitting process for new developments.
• Opening the Ronald L. Rice Arts Center West for Youth Exploration of Arts and Music. The community center aims to foster youth empowerment through creative use of technology.

Hope-ful

Opened in January 2024, Hope Village 2 is a 20-bed transitional housing community that offers residents access to social services. Meyerson described it as a home for residents without addresses. “We wanted to make sure that connectivity was not an afterthought, but the residents living there had access just like they had heat and water,” he said.

Invest Newark connected the facility to Newark Fiber, making the city the internet provider for the space. But that’s just the impetus. “Internet’s one thing, but they don’t have devices to get on,” Meyerson explained.

So, the city also offered up old computer equipment. “That got donated to an organization that worked with the Newark Workforce Development Board, YouthBuild, NetTarius and RampUp America, which are all organizations that helped with training on how to refurbish those computers,” he continued. “We actually took that opportunity as a way to train the youth on how to refurbish computers.”

Beyond the educational component, at the end the hardware was donated to Hope Village 2, as well. Meyerson said that use of resources is the kind of project they’d like to see duplicated.

Because the activities that may qualify for Trailblazer consideration change from year to year, Meyerson said it makes repeat representation an even harder feat to achieve.

Survey says

The launch of the city’s broadband development survey marked another new venture for 2025.

Produced through a partnership between the Department of Economic & Housing Development and Invest Newark, the effort aims to encourage developers, across sectors, to plan for and accommodate telecommunications infrastructure, according to the 37-question form.

Just getting started, Meyerson said the goal of the project is to collect more information and build a repository of data to help support or inform future actions or policies.

The launch of the survey does a few things. When it comes to new developments, “Part of the survey is proactively asking those questions to make sure that the building has redundant points of entry … for telecom.” A lot of the times, that sort of infrastructure comes as more of an afterthought, he noted.

Keeping costs down

It also elicits information about engaging multiple internet providers. Accommodating this in the build-out can function as an important tool toward increasing competition and keeping internet costs down for customers, Meyerson said.

“This broadband survey for new developments is trying to push the developers to think about this early in the process, as they’re building the building, so that it doesn’t have to be retrofitted later.

“We’re hoping that over time, the city can collect information about the development process, what a building was planning at the start; and what they built at the end. And then we would be able to see over time: this survey has helped buildings create redundancy and create a smarter building than it did at the beginning.

“But also, just trying to track how many buildings are being built and what’s the connectivity being deployed in them.”

The broadband development survey is voluntary.

Developers also benefit

“This is an opt-in type survey,” Meyerson said. “We’ve gotten several responses and we’ve seen that there are a lot of questions left unanswered because they haven’t thought about it yet, which is OK. That’s why we’re trying to get them earlier in the process.

“We hope that over time, people will want to use this.”

Meyerson noted benefits for developers, as well.

“[T]hinking about it early can save you money,” he said. “And also, being able to talk about the quality of your internet, and differentiate your building from another.”

“From our perspective, this is really about making sure that our building stock is being well designed and that residents and businesses have a good user experience, but certainly from the landlord side it could be used as a marketing and branding companion, as well.”

Open for business

When it launched, Meyerson said part of Newark Fiber’s mission was to help brand the city as well connected and open for business. And the campaign has gained traction. In March 2025, Forbes ran a piece titled, “Is Newark The Next Silicon Valley?”

Citing big name tenants, like Audible, that call the city home, as well as local universities and growing ventures, Forbes says, “Newark’s tech revival isn’t just an idea — it’s already happening.”

“Newark Fiber is the internet provider at EqualSpace, which is the great coworking space where a lot of these startups are basing. And so, they’re often on Newark Fiber, whether they know it or not,” Meyerson said.

He also highlighted HAX, the Newark-based hard-tech incubator overseen by Princeton-based venture capital firm SOSV. The accelerator occupies 35,000 square feet of space on Broad Street, supported by matching $25 million investments from both HAX, as well as the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

“A lot of those companies that are developing the next stage of technology in Newark are on our network, and they understand the need for high-quality, high-speed, affordable internet. And that’s what we’re trying to bring,” Meyerson said.

Retail businesses also benefit from the availability of Newark Fiber. “We’re always focused on attracting and retaining the best companies and tech talent, but it’s also really important to make sure that the legacy … and the new retail businesses that are here have the connectivity to process your transactions quickly and expeditiously,” he said.

City hallmark Hobby’s Deli wasn’t able to get the internet speeds it needed to operate. “They didn’t have a fiber connection into their building,” Meyerson explained. “And so, Newark Fiber stepped in and paid for the connection to their site so that they (and the apartments above) could get a high-speed internet connection because it wasn’t available on Halsey Street where they were.”

Because Newark Fiber aims to stimulate economic development and business growth, “we are willing to get a lower ROI on our investments, sometimes, because it is important to make sure that businesses stay in business and can grow.”

Future foundations

The final highlight from Newark’s Trailblazer recognition offered one of those rare, ribbon-cutting moments, where “you get to see the work in real life.” In February 2025, Invest Newark, Baraka, and the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery came together with family of the late state Sen. Ronald Rice and others to debut a new community center.

The Ronald L. Rice Arts Center West is wired to train the next generation in music and electronic and digital arts. It offers youth support services for residents ages 12-24.

When the center opened, Invest Newark President and CEO Marcus Randolph said his organization was pleased to help bring the project to fruition. “This arts center will serve as a crucial new anchor for important services, community events, artists and you in the West Ward,” he commented at the time.

Meyerson said the center offers top-of-the-line recording studios, as well as podcasting and video editing equipment, and more. The idea is to expand youth access to these kinds of tools. He described it as an investment in the future. “Specifically making sure that the next generation of arts, whatever that looks like, has the resources and access to try to test out their skills and to learn new skills.”

Boosting productivity

In its report, Urban Institute noted that reduced internet costs allow consumers – including businesses – to put those funds back into circulation.

The report also cites enhanced productivity. From 2021 through 2023, Newark Fiber was estimated to have lowered the number of unemployed workers by more than 600 through nearly 27,000 internet connection setups, it said.

“Newark Fiber was estimated to have increased total income by $14.3 million, increasing consumption in the city by $138 million. The total economic impact of this consumption is around $50.9 million over these same three years. Per internet connection, local economic output increased by $1,889. Over this period, the city’s economic output rose 37.6%. Excluding estimates of the economic impact of Newark Fiber, the local economy would have expanded just 36.7%,” according to the report.

Work isn’t done

When it comes to what’s ahead, the runway is wide open. And the search for new opportunities is on.

Meyerson said the city’s “constantly looking for ways to partner.”

“Newark Fiber wants to continue to grow,” he said. “We want to continue to operate and find ways to expand our footprint, as well, to make sure that as many residents and businesses as possible have the connectivity they need.”

“Access and adoption,” he added. “We want to see those numbers continue to tick up. … We need to keep going after that gap to make sure that nobody is left behind and that everyone has access and everyone has the skills to use that access for the jobs of the future.”