The Faces of Community Technology, presented by David Keyes at the Austin Community Tech Symposium.

1. David Keyes
City of Seattle
www.seattle.gov/tech

3. “Water is a necessity to the health and life of every
individual member of a community…It must be supplied
in order to preserve the public health, whether it can be
done profitably or not, and must be furnished, not to a
few individuals, but to every individual.”
“Electric lights are different. Electricity is not in any
sense a necessity, and under no conditions is it
universally used by the people of a community. ..It Is not
the business of any one to see that I use electricity, or
gas, or oil in my house, or even that I use any form of
artificial light at all.”
Oct. 24, 1905, in the Richmond, Virginia, Times-Dispatch

5. Educational excellence
Youth development & violence prevention
Workforce training
English literacy and immigrant services
Small business development & entrepreneurship
Access and help to use
E- government services
Other essential services
Civic engagement
Community building and problem solving
Safety & Emergency Preparedness

6. Enhances local economy
Furthers educational opportunities
Is applied to solving social issues
Is used to foster civic participation
Promotes relationship building and community
development
Supports the sustainability of our quality of life
Access to tools is equitable and affordable
www.seattle.gov/tech/indicators

7. Residents
Neighborhoods
Business
Education
Government
Human Services
Faith
Culture

8. Increasing access
More mobility & need for faster speed
Increased use of social networks and
expectation of personalized info
Fluency in applications varies greatly
Gains, but very significant differences based on
education, income, age, language and disability
Key barriers to adoption include awareness &
training, cost, security, and maintenance
Trusted teachers & settings important

9. About 10%
reported “a
disability,
handicap, or
chronic disease
that keeps
[them] from
participating
fully in work,
school,
housework or
other
activities .”

12. For residents, businesses and NGO’s (anchor
institutions)

13. Access to computers and the internet
Availability, cost, ease of use for connectivity to the Internet,
and end-user hardware and software. Also tech support.
Literacy in using computer and internet technologies
Skills required in order to utilize the equipment and Internet
effectively for essential services, education, employment,
civic engagement and cultural participation.
Meaningful and useful content and services available
Services available for those in need, culturally and
educationally appropriate design, marketing and placement
appropriate to reach underserved communities, and enabling
of content production and distribution by lower capacity
residents, businesses and organizations.

14. Digital Inclusion
The goal of equity in information technology access,
literacy and meaningful content
Broadband Deployment & Adoption
Distribution of infrastructure…followed by prevalence and
equity in use
Community technology
The strategy, programs and services to help reach digital
inclusion
14

15. Direct and indirect access (access to technologies: access
to services (facilitated through access to technologies)
(Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, UK 2005; HM
Government, 2008).
Technology as a ‘vehicle for empowerment, rather than a
force for further exclusion’ (Cook & Light, 2008).
Dig Divide is a complex web of interconnected social,
economic and cultural factors that cannot be fully
captured by a definition that focuses solely on access or
ownership (Becta 2001: p4)
Focus on agility and digital decision-making
Greater fluency = greater engagement

16. 1534 King Henry VIII Prohibits publishing without a
license. Printing is a dangerous art that must be
controlled.
Public radio
Public tv
Community television
Community networks
Media Arts Centers
Community Tech Centers - Diffuse production and
skills training centers

18. Human
Services
Community
Centers
Schools
Work
Centers
Housing
CONFUSED
Difabled
Culture/Faith
Centers
Youth
Unemployed
Immigrant
Libraries
Business
Seniors
Content &
Connectivity
Tech support
Referral
Hardware/
Enrichment
Community
Jobs
Software
IT Training

20. On individuals
On Families
On Organizations
On Communities
Note difference for different types of users
Also difference on whether it’s a skills training
program, content delivery, or community
networking project

21. Based on information from about half (104) of the known
community technology providers in the state– we know that
these agencies serve:
99,467 unique users per year
Weekly counts show that on average, a user visits 14 times
during the year
Resulting in an estimated total of
1,392,538 visits per year

22. Employment/Economic Benefits
Developed job skills
Empowered to obtain additional technical skills
Helped gain employment
Academic Skills and Literacy
Providing references and/or resumes for college or jobs
Academic improvement like raising math scores
Preparing users to obtain a GED or go to college
Social Inclusion and Personal Growth
Relationship building/friendship
Staying out of trouble
Developing or expanding interests
Tangible skill development (e.g. leadership, public speaking)
Providing connections to community leaders
Building confidence and elevating expectations

23. Employment/Economic Benefits
Helping users to get a better paying job
Academic Skills and Literacy
Connecting families to technology
Ability to help school aged children
Social Inclusion and Personal Growth
Improving family relationships
Keeping kids safe by checking their online activities
23

24. Employment/Economic Benefits
More skilled work force
Better educated population
Social Inclusion and Personal Growth
Develop future leaders
Motivate users to take action in their communities
Community building
Organizational Capacity Building
Staff skills gained
Volunteer opportunities

25. Can I use this better?
Am I more comfortable using it?
Am I now able to teach myself more?
Am I able to help others use it?
Am I able to redesign it?
The more you learn, the more you know what you don’t know…leading to
curves in metrics
Employment Education, Social inclusion & self-sufficiency
Basic IT survival, For school or job, For civic and
cultural engagement, For an IT career, To be a
leader or inventor

26. 14 NGOs, 5 WorkSource Centers, and 2 Community Colleges in 5 cities. 5340
surveys
54% of the survey respondents found a job after completing the
training (of which, 42% found a higher-paying job and only 11.5% found
a job after the training but are currently unemployed)
On average, 85% of survey respondents think that basic computer skills
training is very important for improving their employment opportunities
followed by further educational opportunities and on-the-job training.
97% highly value the training and employment-related services received
at the organizations and perceive this as one of the most important
factors for finding a job
NGOs play a very important role in re-skilling and up-skilling
unemployed people to improve their opportunities in the labor
market
Source: Maria Garrido www.cis.washington.edu

27. Gates Foundation CAT/MGS
mgs-s.com/OurClients/CaseStudies.htm#GatesFoundation
Lisa Servon
Mike Crandall/ Karen Fisher’s
book
Ming-Chun Lee study
seattle.gov/tech/reports

30. Integration into mission
Ongoing program relevancy
Adaptation to changing technology & maintenance
Funding & staff turnover
Organizational capacity (manage, develop & partner)
Community & decisionmaker awareness
Facilities

32. Policy
Peer support
Identify excellence
Grants and collaboration
Content distribution networks
Hiring/internships/volunteers
Strategic distribution of services

33. • Develop/recognize experts
• CT Mapping
• Online & on-the ground
community networking
• Be at others’ table
• Invite others to yours
• Indicators
• Dialogue w/funders
• Tech $ for tech programs
•Legislation & programs
• Research

34. •Council on Digital Inclusion
•State grant program
•CT defined in state law
•State directory of CT
•Member of broadband task forces
•Advised state economic dev
strategy
•Capacity building for CT’s
www.communitiesconnect.org

36. You are the experts!
David Keyes
City of Seattle
www.seattle.gov/tech

37. Zerodivide.org
cctpg.org/
www.communitiesconnect.org
Seattle.gov/tech
ctcnet.org/what/resources/startup_manual.htm
ctnbayarea.org/
Broadband.gov, http://broadband.ideascale.com/
UW Technology & Social Change Group
http://cis.washington.edu/
http://www.techforall.org/TFA_061231_CTCStandards
ExcellenceV3.3.pdf