Background

Access and Inclusion in the Digital Age is a resource guide designed to support communities of all sizes and geographies in advancing their goals for expanding high-speed Internet access and digital inclusion. The guide was developed by a team of six cities that have all been active in enhancing broadband Internet access and addressing the digital divide in their respective communities. These cities include:

• Chattanooga, Tennessee

• Gonzales, California

• Greensboro, North Carolina

• New Orleans, Louisiana

• Springfield, Missouri

• Youngstown, Ohio

With support from the National Resource Network and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), representatives of the six cities communicated regularly about the broadband Internet access and digital literacy initiatives underway in their communities, highlighting major obstacles encountered and key lessons learned. By sharing information on programs, practices, challenges, and opportunities from their own communities, these six cities were able not only to learn from one another, but also to produce the following guide for the benefit of other communities as well.

Informed by experiences of these cities as well as research on national best practices, the resource guide outlines key steps for local governments to take in enhancing broadband Internet access and addressing the digital divide in their own communities. The document also provides useful information to support communities in engaging with potential partners, finding funding, and measuring and managing the performance of new or existing programs and initiatives.

The resource guide represents an innovative model for intercity collaboration and peer learning. While federal agencies, nonprofits, foundations, and private interests have produced much information on digital inclusion, a resource guide on this subject produced by a consortium of city leaders for the benefit of cities nationwide is unprecedented. The perspectives of the authors and the target audience are completely in alignment, which allows for greater sensitivity to the financial, social, and political realities that will impact communities seeking to launch new initiatives.

This resource guide is intended to be a tool to facilitate two-way communication. Rather than simply providing information in a static format, the resource guide will be the vehicle through which the six cities and other future participants continue to collaborate, build knowledge, and share resources. It will be a dynamic repository of best practices and key considerations that will evolve as the collective knowledge of participating communities grows.

The resource guide is the product of extensive communication and collaboration among the six cities. The vision of this group is that the document will not only provide valuable information to communities, but that it will also facilitate ongoing networking, resource sharing, and peer learning among a broader cohort of interested stakeholders.

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