accelerating impact with technology: building skills, confidence, and community
DESCRIPTION
One portion of a presentation organized by the BroadbandUSA Office, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, under this description: "Whether your focus is economic self-sufficiency, community change, health, or education, the Internet is changing the way you achieve your goals. As more information and services move online, people who are “digitally isolated” grow more excluded from opportunity and less connected to their communities. Although most American households are now online, a large minority – about 30 percent, including many whose members are poorer, less educated, and older – are not. Since 2010, investments in community-based Internet education and training, including $450 million from a federal grant program (the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, or BTOP) and $210 million in matching funds, have demonstrated the power of the Internet to change lives, improving educational outcomes, job readiness, social isolation, and health care. As a result of these investments, there is substantial new capacity available to bring families and communities online – including comprehensive models and resources for program planning, implementation, and evaluation. This session will describe ways to leverage this untapped intellectual and social capital."TRANSCRIPT
Accelerating Impact with Technology: Building Skills, Confidence, and Community
Daniel X. O’NeilNTIA Broadband Team Webinar
November 17, 2014
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@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Outline
• How the Chicago Community Trust got involved
• What we’re doing now• Why it matters
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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How the Chicago Community Trust got involved: 2 Philanthropies, 1 Municipality
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Central to the work
• The Chicago Community Trust
• The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• The City of Chicago
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Our PrinciplesTechnology
OpenEveryoneChicago
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We’re all about technology
• Everything we do relates to technology
• We are of and about the Internet• We believe in the transformative
power of the Internet to change lives and build the economy for all
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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We are open
• Open source code• More importantly: open processes,
open minds, open methods• Allowing others “in”, wherever that
may be
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Target market: everyone
• We believe in the power of the network
• The network needs everyone in it in order for it to be powerful
• We work on solutions that cover the entire city
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Chicago is our middle name
• All of our work is done here• Unique and thriving ecosystem • We serve as a model for others
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Access, Skills, and Data
Smart Chicago is a civic organization devoted to improving lives in Chicago through technology. We work on increasing access to the Internet, improving skills for using Internet, and developing meaningful products from data that measurably contribute to the quality of life of residents in our region and beyond.
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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We were kickstarted by BTOP
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Two projects
We administered two grants received by the City of Chicago from the U.S. Department of Commerce – National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) for Sustainable Broadband Adoption and the support of Public Computer Centers
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Public Computer Centers
• $8,974,283• Building new computer centers,
including Smart Health Centers• Adding capacity at others• Creating a community of shared
learning through Connect Chicago• We learned that there were tons
of places of learning but none of them were connected to each other
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Sustainable Broadband Adoption
• $7,074,369• Run by LISC Chicago• Working to increase digital access
and use by families, businesses and other institutions in five moderate- and low-income Chicago neighborhoods
• Building a culture of digital excellence that supports neighborhood goals—from education to economic development, from safety to youth programs
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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What we’re doing now
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But what do we do now?
• Keep working!• None of the assets
disappear• There are budgets
embedded in all of the institutions
• People value technology, so our work has value
• Meetups, building community and awareness
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Eliminate The Digital Divide Advisory Committee
• I am the chair of this state-based grant program
• They give grants to community technology centers all over the state of Illinois
• Allows me to be more plugged in to the investments happening outside of a particular jurisdiction
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Connect Chicago
• Loose network of more than 250 places in the city where internet and computer access, digital skills training, and online learning resources are available—for free.
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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A range of programs and resources
• Meetups for practitioners• Training to download• Custom detail pages that can be
edited by each location
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Alignment with planning at the municipal and business levels
• Part of the City’s Tech Plan
• Included in the World Business Chicago Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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Why it’s important
• Everybody means everybody
• The power of the network is derived directly from the people within it
• So everybody must be included
@danxoneil @smartchicago
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We have a chance to make Chicago the most dynamic digital city in the world.
@danxoneil @smartchicago
