Digital Inclusion Summit

January 28, 2019

Cracker Factory, Geneva NY

Over 120 people across New York State from many sectors - education, local government, nonprofit, small business, healthcare, and libraries - convened on January 28th to discuss the digital ecosystem in the Finger Lakes region and beyond.

Breakout Activity Summary:

Attendees were asked to consider what is gained by working towards digital equity, as well as what the cost is if the work is not done. Attendees were asked to answer questions from the following perspectives: business, civic engagement/public works, education/information, community empowerment and opportunity.

Business

Benefits of action:

●      Increase in skilled labor workforce

●      More opportunities for entrepreneurs to soft test business

●      Increased support for business to thrive in a time of change

●      Value of dollar spent local greater that money spent online

●      Increased economic growth

●      Increased innovation

●      Local businesses will benefit from higher local employment rates

●      Increased economic opportunity for everyone

●      Easier for business to start and grow

Cost of inaction:

●      Loss of jobs

●      Lack of growth

●      Fewer skilled workers

●      Loss of innovation/creativity

●      Economic decline                                                                                            

Civic Engagement / Public Works

Benefits of action:

●      Society benefits from informed populace

●      Echo chambers are dismantled

●      Increased number of productive contributors to society

●      Communities able to focus on other concerns

●      Individuals have a voice in larger issues

●      Individuals have a clearer understanding of the voting process

Cost of inaction

• Further apathy - if people don’t know who they can vote for, they might not vote

●      Decrease congressional representation

●      Decision making is not representative of the full community

●      Segregated communities

Education / Information

Benefits of action:

●      More robust education system

●      Develop a love of lifelong learning

●      Increased level of digital citizenship

●      Increased awareness of diversity in the world around us

●      Informed citizens

●      Access to education and employment

●      Increased level of family literacy

●      Strong internet ethics

●      Easier to complete lifelong learning

●      Internet access at home leads to easier access to information and education

Cost of inaction:

●      Uninformed public

●      Good ideas don’t travel to other communities

●      Cogeneration diversity - elders disproportionately excluded from digital communities

●      Communication breakdowns

Community Empowerment & Opportunity

Benefits of action:

●      Equity: levels playing field for those with less

●      Synergy from working with different groups

●      Social stigma removed for lower incomes

●      Greater participation in decision making

●      More educated & empowered public

Cost of inaction:

●      Brain drain

●      Isolation

●      Inequity

●      Most vulnerable feel like they don’t count

●      No sense of belonging/connectedness

Participant Feedback:

●  90% of participants said that their knowledge of digital inclusion increased as a result of attending the Summit

●  “Thank you for putting this together, for inviting the diverse presenters, and for offering ways in which we can stay involved”

●  “The breadth of knowledge conveyed gave me enough information to digest for now but I'd like to begin where we left off at another forum on this topic”

●  “This was a great opportunity to network across industries”

●  I enjoyed... “Learning from a broad base of people on what they and their organizations were doing”

●  “I loved that the panelists came from different ‘industries’ and provided points of view that I had not considered. The panels were very informative and the moderators did a great job of keeping the content focused”

Photos from Event