Baltimore-based technologist urges communities to build tech access from the ground up
BALTIMORE, MD, March 05, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ — 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 in-depth 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.
The Cost of the Digital Divide
The data is clear:
35% of households in underserved Baltimore neighborhoods still lack reliable internet access (Baltimore Civic Tech Survey, 2024).
43% of adults in low-income U.S. households do not have home broadband (Pew Research Center, 2023).
More than 30 million Americans lack basic digital skills—like creating a spreadsheet or sending a professional email (National Skills Coalition, 2022).
“These gaps don’t just impact individuals,” Pranzo adds. “They impact city budgets, workforce pipelines, healthcare systems—everything.”
Simple Actions, Scaled Impact
While Gregory Pranzo’s company builds dashboards, smart infrastructure, and automation tools for clients across sectors, 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 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.
What You Can Do
Pranzo is urging individuals, businesses, and civic groups to take local ownership of digital access and education. Some of the actions he recommends include:
Donate working laptops or tablets to community organizations.
Host or sponsor free tech literacy workshops in schools, libraries, or rec centers.
Mentor someone in your neighborhood or network who’s learning digital skills.
Advocate for city budgets that support community technology staff and digital navigators.
Design tools and websites 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.”
Gregory Pranzo is a Baltimore-based technologist, entrepreneur, and community advocate. As CEO of PranzoTech Solutions, he helps small businesses, nonprofits, and local governments modernize operations through digital tools. He serves on the advisory board of Code B’More and works with the Baltimore Digital Equity Coalition to advance digital access citywide. He holds a degree in Information Systems from Towson University and a certificate in Smart City Strategy from MIT.
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