It can be easy to miss the forest when you’re amongst the trees, and taking this time at the close of the year to review the work undertaken and accomplished is always a ‘holy s**t, we DID get a lot done this year. Today, I’m so grateful for our partners and team that made our digital equity work possible this year. There’s much to do, but am so encouraged by the strides made together. Some of our favorite moments of 2021 – there were so many, I had to create this separate article! Thank you to our partners that provided the resources necessary to carry out this work, including: Communities Foundation of Texas, Meadows Foundation, Santander, Cisco, State Fair of Texas, Capital One, Cradlepoint, GTS, Parsec, REI, T-Mobile, and all our community partners – more on them later!
1. Celebrating the City of Dallas and Dallas Independent School District’s development and adoption of the first Broadband and Digital Equity Strategic Plan. This collaboration is critical to designing a network that serves both residents and the City of Dallas in streamlining operations, the foundation for smart technologies in transportation, traffic signals, sustainability and so much more. A true example of intra- and inter-organizational partnerships. If you haven’t yet seen the plan, please check it out https://bit.ly/3pyGmhC
2. Completing our first full year of the DIA Mobile Learning Lab ‘Wi-Fi bus’ program. The total number of community members through [Em]powerment pop ups, after school programs, and community events served was over 4,500, we have served at least 1,200 adults through [Em]powerment Pop Ups, where we collocated with other nonprofits at local events to provide public health information, vaccine registration, digital skills, job readiness, and support food access, and 95% of those served were low to moderate income (LMI) populations; and 97% represented people of color.
3. Expanding our partnerships with the CARDboard Project in on-the ground access and education support for broadband and digital skills. One of our partnerships, (Em)Powerment Popups, supports Wi-Fi access and services including awareness of programs like the Emergency Broadband Benefit, vaccine registration and signing up for free transportation to sites, basic digital skills and ‘start-up’ support for devices and hotspots, and many others.
4. Development of the Digital Ambassadors program: Creating a central resource for the community's questions and connections to programs is a major factor for both our neighbors, and for service providers in all areas, whether health, education, transportation and others. Our development of our Digital Ambassador program has the ability to increase capacity for these programs and to achieve this lofty goal of upward mobility for all, and we are currently in the process of securing support to implement the Ambassador program. One of the clearest gaps we (and all those we work with) have seen is in community awareness and understanding of the resources that are available to them, and how to access them.
5. Support of the Internet for All Coalition in moving from immediate crisis solutions to long-term programs to support permanent ongoing projects and programs to create digital equity throughout Dallas. In addition to continuing to ensure than all students had internet and devices in the home, community engagement campaigns including Connect Week brought direct insights from our communities and awareness of available programs, and collaboration on strategic planning for large-scale investments hit major milestones. www.internetfordallas.org
6. The Dallas Device Challenge! As a part of our organizations' shared commitment to expanding digital access across the Dallas area, the Dallas Innovation Alliance and the CARDboard Project partnered with Comp-U-Dopt to launch the Dallas Device Challenge! The Dallas Device Challenge is an easy way to support bridging the digital divide, by donating new or used laptops to our organizations. We are asking Dallas employers [and also individuals/employees!] to consider donating their used or new laptops to our organizations this holiday season so they can be gifted to families who need them. Devices will be securely wiped using DoD protocols, reconditioned and then redistributed to families and opportunity populations in the DFW area that need them to access services and opportunities. http://www.dallasinnovationalliance.com/news/2021/12/4/introducing-the-dallas-device-challenge