Hawaii residents enjoy a geographic separation. It’s also attractive as an exotic lure to visitors.

But on almost every other level, isolation is a handicap — especially on the digital dimension. Commerce, communications, information, socialization, education: All of these facets depend on Hawaii’s connectivity.

Recently there have been developments that should encourage the public that key steps are being taken in the right direction.

On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and Benji Robinson, director of Asia-Pacific network planning and acquisition for Google, announced a $1 billion project, underwritten by the internet giant, to build new undersea fiber optic cables that will improve Hawaii’s internet reliability and connectivity.

This followed by just a few days Gov. Josh Green’s approval of $33 million in state matching funds for the Broadband Equity Access and Development (BEAD) grant program. These grants underwrite projects to build out connections for high-speed internet, reaching users that now have unreliable broadband links. The final BEAD total will include more than $144 million from federal sources, $46.3 million from the state and $14.2 million from private and in-kind sources.

And in January, the University of Hawaii and Ocean Networks Inc. announced a $120 million public-private partnership, the Hawaiian Islands Fiber Link, to create a submarine fiber optic cable link among the islands.

Luke heads up what’s called the Connect Kakou Initiative, which includes these and other elements. Its website (www.connectkakou.org) describes it as a state initiative “to ensure people from all walks of life have reliable and affordable access to high-speed internet.”

One hallmark of the pandemic era was the number of school children sent home to attend virtual classes then struggling to find a place, and the gear, to get online. It’s clear connectivity is a high priority for Green, as it should be.

Efforts to forge these connections have not always played out well, as was the case with Sandwich Isles Communications, an enterprise to provide telecommunications services within the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands properties.

The project led to fraud charges against Sandwich Isles founder Albert Hee, and culminated in the liquidation of company assets. That whole saga left many soured against the broadband mission.

The current initiatives, however, are much better grounded, and the private investments will be key to success as well. Google is able to finance the enormous cost of laying the cables, including one linking Hawaii directly to Japan, as well as connections to Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Fiji, Australia and the U.S. mainland.

The public part of the partnership, the state, is to see that at the bottom line is the equitable access these projects will provide to all communities. That imperative is underscored in the Hawaiian Islands Fiber Link as well, with the state retaining a 20% stake in the completed system. That’s key, to assure that the public interest is maintained.

The current push for broadband access should incorporate public input to a healthy extent. One onramp for participation is the state’s Challenge Process, launching this week, inviting nonprofits, local government agencies and internet service providers to help identify locations without broadband access.

It is critical that Hawaii proceed carefully on its quest for broadband access, steering clear of potential pitfalls for fraud and misuse of funds. The state must make the best use possible of these resources, because this window of opportunity is unlikely to open again.