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Digital Inclusion: DIG Cited by FCC as National Model
Digital Impact Group's broadband adoption program was recently cited as a national model as part of the National Broadband Plan proceeding. DIG was one of just two organizations nationwide to be cited by the FCC. The FCC's status report on the proceeding included a slide that highlights DIG's innovative service model and findings from an independent evaluation of our program, which you can view here.
Addressing programmatic efforts to promote broadband adoption, Elise Kohn, Esq., Adoption Manager at the FCC, said:
“I just want to walk through one (example) quickly to demonstrate how these principles can be incorporated into a community program. Digital Impact Group – or DIG – is a Philadelphia-area nonprofit organization that allows participants to earn what they call a TechPack, and a TechPack includes a new laptop, home broadband access, customized training, targeted content, and ongoing local support.
"So, for example, DIG may work with a local high school that serves vulnerable students and allow these students to earn a TechPack by achieving certain grade point averages or attendance benchmarks. So here you have an example of a program leveraging the school as the community institution, providing the students with comprehensive services, allowing them the home access, and offering them intense, in-person training.
"An early interim evaluation of results from a pilot program that DIG did – which began in 2008 – suggests that this program is serving the needs of its participants, so of the participants who responded to survey questions about their motivations for taking part in the pilot, 68.1% who wanted to learn how to research educational opportunities continued to use these materials for that purpose once the training ended – they continued to use it for at least once a week after the training ended. This is also true for 68.1% who wanted to learn how to find and apply for jobs online, and 68.8% of the participants who wanted to learn how to help their kids or other family members with homework.
"So while these results are preliminary, they're indicative of some of the types of outcomes that we will look for as we examine programs.”
Thanks to Elise and everyone at the FCC for highlighting our work!
posted by Ryan Nichols @ 10.22.09 | 1 Comments
That's awesome! Way to go and glad to hear that things are still chugging along over at DIG :)
Posted by Sleepless in Seattle | October 24, 2009
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