Gregory Pranzo, Founder and CEO of PranzoTech Solutions, is calling for urgent, community-led action to close the digital divide, a problem he says is being overlooked by both the private and public sectors. "We don't need another press release about broadband expansion plans," says Pranzo. "We need people on the ground showing others how to use the tools we already have. It's local, it's urgent, and it's everyone's job."
In a recent interview, Pranzo shared how his work in Baltimore has revealed the hidden costs of digital exclusion, from small business owners unable to access affordable automation tools to families left out of city services due to a lack of basic digital literacy. "When a resident can't apply for a housing program because the form is online, that's not a tech failure—it's a systems failure," he said. Data underscores the scale of the issue: 35% of households in underserved Baltimore neighborhoods still lack reliable internet access according to the Baltimore Civic Tech Survey, 2024, while 43% of adults in low-income U.S. households do not have home broadband per Pew Research Center, 2023 findings.
More than 30 million Americans lack basic digital skills, like creating a spreadsheet or sending a professional email, as reported by the National Skills Coalition in 2022. "These gaps don't just impact individuals," Pranzo adds. "They impact city budgets, workforce pipelines, healthcare systems—everything." While his company builds dashboards, smart infrastructure, and automation tools for clients, he stresses that the solution isn't always high-tech. "Sometimes the most important thing you can do is help someone sign up for email or show them how to use a shared document," he said. "That's how change starts."
In 2024, Pranzo helped launch a citywide digital skills accelerator, training over 300 Baltimore residents in basic tech fluency, many of whom had never used a computer before. He also volunteers with Code B'More, a youth organization teaching coding and robotics in underserved neighborhoods. "We can't build smart cities if we leave whole communities digitally invisible," Pranzo emphasized. He urges individuals, businesses, and civic groups to take local ownership through actions like donating working laptops, hosting free tech literacy workshops, mentoring neighbors, advocating for community technology staff in city budgets, and designing tools with non-experts in mind. "Innovation isn't about building for the top 1% of users," he says. "It's about making sure the bottom 30% can still participate."
