Digital Inclusion Initiatives
The Connected Dallas Digital Ambassador program is designed to provide a full spectrum of digital touchpoints for community members that meet them where they are, whether by phone, text, chat, online or in-person. This ensures community members are educated, trained, and connected to all services that require connectivity to improve quality of life.
The Connected Dallas framework is provided by National Digital Inclusion Alliance. For more information, please visit www.ConnectedDallas.org.
Mobile Learning Lab
Many of us take the internet for granted - for some, access isn’t an option, whether it is availability, affordability, or the skills to use it. Living a full life and achieving economic mobility requires high-speed broadband in today’s world - a fact made glaringly clear to all during the pandemic. While long-terms solutions are on the way, we know that students today need support to bridge the gap between today’s needs and tomorrow’s solutions. Beginning in 2018, and getting ‘on the road’ in 2020, the DIA in partnership with the Santander Consumer USA Foundation, The Meadows Foundation, Communities Foundation of Texas, Cisco, Capital One, Cradlepoint, GTS, REI, Parsec, Netsync, and Presidio, the DIA and our partners at FlyBusFly converted a retired school bus into a large-scale mobile hotspot and classroom, providing after-school enrichment STEAM programming, Wi-Fi, homework help and popup adult community programming.
(Em)powerment Pop-ups
(Em)powerment Popups are a new initiative created through a partnership between the CARDboard Project and Dallas Innovation Alliance. Both Dallas based nonprofits focus on bridging the digital divide through the ‘three legs of the stool’ - access, affordability and training - to make a more connected community through outreach to areas that have unreliable access to the internet and need support to access critical services. Popups can also provide staff that can help communities understand and register for federal benefits like the Lifeline Program.
Originally launched in 2020 with the establishment of Operation Connectivity, Internet for North Texas (I4NTX) was relaunched in 2024. The I4NTX coalition will engage public and academic entities across the region to address key broadband efforts, including data, policy, infrastructure and equitable access. It will encourage local municipalities to designate broadband technical leads and share best practices for achieving universal broadband access.