NDIA activities and success of Quarter 1, 2017:
- We were awarded a $330,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for a Digital Inclusion Corps Pilot Project. The one-year project will demonstrate the value of having local digital literacy volunteers connected nationally to a supportive peer network working towards increased digital inclusion in the United States. In Quarter 1, we hired the five corps members.
- Supported by Mobile Citizen, NDIA released Digital Inclusion Trailblazers in November 2016, a resource for tracking local government digital inclusion leadership and programs. We now have 14 local governments answering yes to more than one digital inclusion indicator.
- In December 2016, guested edited by Angela Siefer, the Journal of Digital and Media Literacy published a special issue on “Digital Inclusion Policies & Programs of Local Governments”. The issue featured articles by municipal digital inclusion leaders from seven U.S. cities (all Trailblazers). In January 2017, Angela Siefer moderated a webinar with the authors.
- NDIA hosted three other webinars this past quarter: Digital Inclusion Data 101, Lifeline Broadband Update and Low-Cost Internet Options and How the Evolution of Internet Service Technologies Impacts Digital Inclusion.
- The FCC released “Strategies and Recommendations for Promoting Digital Inclusion”. This document quotes and adopts NDIA’s definitions of digital inclusion and digital equity. The report also referenced multiple NDIA affiliates and policies NDIA and our partners have championed.
- NDIA posted a list of recommendations for how the U.S. Government could strengthen digital inclusion.
- Bill Callahan and Angela Siefer were guest speakers at the San Antonio Digital Inclusion Summit.
- In partnership with Connect Your Community, NDIA released “AT&T’s Digital Redlining of Cleveland” and similar maps of Dayton. The release resulted in many press articles, particularly in the technology field. One example is in Ars Technica.
- Benton Foundation published Innovators in Digital Inclusion: Multnomah County Library, authored by Angela Siefer.
- Last year’s Digital Inclusion Day became Digital Inclusion Week 2017.
- Our second national summit, Net Inclusion is May 16-17. Host by the St. Paul Public Library, we are expecting 200 digital inclusion community practitioners, advocates, academics, Internet service providers, policymakers and entities reliant upon online access and digital skills of their clients/users.