Engaging the Community
Proactively engaging the community is another essential first step for expanding broadband access and promoting digital inclusion. Community buy-in will be necessary for successful implementation of any program or initiative. Also, input from the community can help to inform program goals and priorities and raise awareness about community sensitivities that could create obstacles later on.
Identify a Lead Organization
- Moving a community toward greater broadband access takes a host of players all working together on complex social and technical issues. Building broadband access calls for a collective impact effort. Research on collective impact suggests five conditions that can support success: a common agenda, shared measurement systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and a lead organization. For expanding broadband access, that lead organization is essential to catalyzing action, maintaining momentum, coordinating parts, and building the structure necessary for broadband access that suits the community. The lead organization is the entity that will maintain a day-to-day focus on broadband access.
- To determine who that lead organization might be or to help a natural lead organization gain the subject matter expertise it needs, tap into networks of organizations engaged in similar activities. Next Century Cities, Mozilla Gigabit Foundation, National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Coalition for Local Internet Choice, Community Broadband Networks, and US Ignite link together “gig” cities across the nation, and seasonal conventions such as Gigabit City Summit (Kansas City, Missouri) provide easy opportunities to gain expertise.
Engage Other Participants
- While a lead organization is key for moving a city toward greater broadband access, the lead organization must be the backbone of a greater network of stakeholders. The following key stakeholders should be considered for outreach as local leaders seek to engage the community in program planning and execution:
- The local business community
- The tech and start-up communities
- Local anchor institutions, such as universities and medical centers
- Schools and libraries
- Existing ISPs
- Elected officials
- Local economic development organizations
- Local workforce development organizations
- Community advocates
- The philanthropic community (foundations and nonprofits).
- Many cities have also found allies and stakeholders beyond the usual stakeholders. Police, housing authorities, and others may not initially appear to be allies, but might nonetheless become an important part of the broadband access picture. Either way, frequent outreach encourages broad participation.
Get the Public Involved
- It is also important to engage and educate the general public. Community education on the benefits and opportunities created by broadband will help to achieve buy-in. An engaged community can be the strongest messengers, help implement solutions, support strategic planning, and provide the lens through which design decisions are made.
- Some cities have found that broadband access provides a unique subject for engaging citizens. In Seattle, Washington (Seattle Broadband Speed Test), broadband access leaders deployed apps that quickly tested user download speeds and mapped those speeds so that the community could contribute to building its own map of access. The app not only built wide support for action and lists of supporters, it also created transparency that held providers accountable for advertised speeds and helped them find market opportunities for expansion.