Tag: Digital Divide

The City of Seattle Awards $400,000 to Help Improve Digital Equity

Photo courtesy YouthCare, a 2018 recipient

 The Technology Matching Fund grants will be offered for the 21st year in a row to organizations in Seattle working on improving lives through technology literacy

The Seattle City Council unanimously approved $400,000 in Technology Matching Funds be awarded to 12 local organizations. These grants are given out annually to uphold the commitment by the City of Seattle as outlined in the Digital Equity Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to improve connectivity, digital skills training, and provide devices, and technology support to communities that might not have equitable access.

“Furthering technology equity and access is an important way to create opportunity for historically underserved neighborhoods,” said Mayor Jenny A. Durkan. “These investments allow our communities to capitalize on technology and job training while making a more inclusive city.”

This year, projects receiving funds will support a broad range of community-driven, collaborative solutions to achieve digital equity in Seattle. They will reach over 8,300 residents, including immigrants, refugees, seniors, youth, and people with disabilities.

“It’s a pleasure to be part of this process each year as we build this relationship with organizations that are making a difference in making technology more available to everyone,” said Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell. “We inch closer to digital equity each year when we allocate this funding. I’m especially pleased to see this funding package emphasizes programs that work with adults and youths experiencing homelessness.”

City funding for the awards is matched by the community through additional cash, donations of hardware, software, supplies and labor. A one-half to one match is required of each organization receiving funding; however, the community contribution is often greater than the City’s support. This year’s projects are projected to provide more than $300,000 in community matching resources.

“It’s a pleasure to award these grants that help build vital skills like job hunting, helping kids with homework, and accessing government services,” said Tracye Cantrell, Acting Director of Seattle Information Technology. “Through increased outreach to the community, we saw a greater number of submissions this year from a diverse pool of applicants, which is exciting.”

The 2018 Technology Matching Fund award recipients and their projects:

  • Community Passageways: Technology Equity for Young Adults of Color
  • East African Community Services: 2018 Technology Matching Fund
  • Garinagu HounGua: Garifuna Digital Literacy Workshop Series
  • Helping Link: Mobile Computer and iPad Literacy Lab
  • Literacy Source: Open Doors – Increasing Basic Digital Literacy
  • Millionair Club Charity: Computer Lab Expansion/Update
  • PROVAIL: Adaptive Technology for Children with Disabilities
  • Seattle Neighborhood Group: Building Our Bridge: Crossing the Digital Divide
  • Somali Family Safety Task Force: 2018 Digital Literacy in West Seattle
  • South East Effective Development: Technology Builds Community
  • United Indians of All Tribes Foundation: Broadband and Public Computer/Internet Access
  • YouthCare: Employment Technology Supports for Homeless Youth (pictured above)

To learn more about the City of Seattle’s commitment to Digital Equity and the Technology Matching Fund, visit http://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/digital-equity/technology-matching-fund.

Seattle Information Technology recognized at NATOA Awards in Seattle

Pictured from left to right: Brian Roberts, Jose Vasquez, Delia Burke, Jim Loter, Chance Hunt, Vicky Yuki, Derrick Hall, David Keyes, Chris Alejana, Gabriel Garcia

Big honors were given out to Seattle IT at this year’s annual conference of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) which took place in Seattle in September. The Digital Engagement Team was honored with two awards. Seattle IT’s Strategic Plan for Facilitating Equitable Access to Wireless Broadband was awarded the 2017 Community Broadband Strategic Plan of the Year. The Technology Matching Fund was awarded the 2017 Community Broadband Digital Equity Project of the Year.

Seattle Channel was named among the best municipal television stations in the nation when it received the prestigious Excellence in Government Programming along with eight other programming awards, including five first-place wins for programming.

Also recognized at the NATOA conference was Tony Perez, director of Seattle’s Office of Cable Communications. Perez, immediate past president and longtime member of NATOA’s Board of Directors, received NATOA’s 2017 Member of the Year award for his contributions to the field, including his leadership, policy development and strategic advice to ensure that communities benefit from the transformational nature of broadband technology.

NATOA is a national association representing the needs and interests of local governments in the areas of communications, broadband and technology. NATOA’s annual government programming awards honor excellence in broadcast, cable, multimedia and electronic programming produced by local government agencies. This year, NATOA received more than 900 entries submitted in 65 categories by local governments across the country.

Expanded wi-fi now available at 26 Seattle Community Centers

The City of Seattle has completed upgrading public wi-fi equipment at 26 Seattle Parks and Recreation Community Centers, and it’s already helping thousands of users. The increased access points were installed as part of the City’s Digital Equity Action Plan with support from Google. The City has seen wi-fi usage more than double in the past year with this addition of more and higher quality access points. Over 16,000 devices (16,166) connected in November, up from 7441 in November, 2015. The public wi-fi spots are especially valuable for low-income families who have no internet at home or are on limited data plans, and the homeless, who rely on wi-fi as a lifeline to look for work, complete homework, access health information, or stay in touch with family.

The community center upgrade project also enhanced capacity for digital literacy programming by replacing 49 computers in Community Center technology labs that provide public access and training at Delridge, Rainier, Rainier Beach, South Park and Yesler.

These improvements help ensure digital equity and opportunity in lower income neighborhoods. The robust upgrade expanded coverage so that users can connect in lobbies as well as in meeting and activity rooms at the community centers. The wi-fi expansion has been a classic case of If you build it, they will come. User rates have skyrocketed at several of the sites.  Danisha, a parent at Rainier Beach Community Center reports: “Not only do I get to watch my kids play basketball at the gym, I can now get online for social networking and check my work email.”

“We’ve seen an increase in the number of participants that come into the center just to use the wi-fi which, in turn, leads to conversations about what’s offered at the Jefferson Community Center,” said Doreen Deaver, Recreation Coordinator at the Jefferson Community Center.  “Overall, it has been very good for interest in our programs.”

Installation of the expanded service was led by Seattle Information Technology, the Associated Recreation Council, and Seattle Parks and Recreation. The system is using Cisco Meraki devices, with internet service currently provided in most sites by Comcast and by Wave Broadband in their service area. The expanded wi-fi provides another opportunity for users to connect to Seattle.gov, use the wi-fi for civic participation, or get online to sign up for programs at the Community Centers.  For those without devices, the community centers also offer public internet kiosk computers.

Tech Talk 2015-07-30 10:59:45

2014 was a year of accomplishment and transition for the Seattle Department of Information Technology.

The Annual Report also shows what DoIt has learned about internet access and use in Seattle

Seattle Channel took home many Emmy Awards. DoIT laid the groundwork for Seattle’s national leadership on our municipal Privacy Principles and Toolkits. We also transferred just over 55% of the City’s 102,000 Web pages into our Content Management System (CMS) and ramped up the migration to the cloud in Office 365.

You can read about these accomplishments and more in the City of Seattle Department of Information Technology 2014 Annual Report.

The projects, metrics and analytics that were either started or completed in 2014 you can find them: our digital cities survey, the technology access and adoption report, infrastructure enhancements, WMBE purchasing, uptime statistics and much more.

2014 was a year where DoIT moved forward with major projects that will take years for completion, while, at the same time, accomplishing some very distinguished goals within the calendar year. The City of Seattle Department of Information Technology 2014 Annual Report  is an user-friendly accounting of DoIt’s accomplishments, metrics and outlook for the future.