The Oakland Digital Inclusion Summit is hours away now, and we are expecting an AWESOME roster of speakers and presenters. Oakland is full of organizations and individuals that work hard to give back to their community. When I listen to and watch the young people of this community, I sense the nascent fruit of that investment. A key to the integral growth of Oakland’s generations, like anywhere else, is access to knowledge. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) facilitate that access. Through ICTs, people have more information at their fingertips with less cost to receive that information. But access to ICTs is only the beginning. Communities like Oakland must adopt digital inclusion strategies to promote affordable and reliable technologies accessible to everyone in their own language, as well as the availability of the technical training needed to use those technologies. The repercussions of such a policy could be monumental.

Be the spark that lights this fire. Join us at the Oakland Digital Inclusion Summit, 10 a.m., Friday, February 15th at Laney College.

Wow! There are just too many amazing Oakland groups with digital inclusion efforts to fit into this blog before ODIS! Come to the Summit this Friday at Laney College to check out these groups and more:

OCCUR provides technical assistance and support to over 1000 local nonprofit groups. In addition to the Eastmont Computing Center, OCCUR projects include Neighborhood Revitalization, Neighborhood Profiles, Consumer Education, and the FAITHS Initiative.

National Radio Project, founded by International Media Project in 1994, is an independent media group that provides a “voice to diverse perspectives and opinions underrepresented in mass media,” and collaborates with and trains community groups and individuals to raise awareness and encourage civic participation in the media.

ZeroDivide, formerly the Community Technology Foundation, supports community organizations that empower traditionally underserved communities through digital inclusion projects. ZeroDivide focuses its efforts on wireless access, mobile applications, and social media/networking programs.

CAMINOS Pathways Learning Center “uses computers to provide educational and employment opportunities to low-income, immigrant women of the Bay Area.” Founded in 1999, CAMINOS offers tuition-free classes in technology as well as a job skills program to empower women limited by low literacy, poverty, and inadequate English language skills to rely on themselves and improve their living standards by moving from low-skilled manual or service labor to higher-paying desktop publishing and technology jobs.

ODIS is thrilled to launch our main events on Friday with a keynote speech by Bay Area hip hop authority Davey D.

Davey D is a Hip Hop historian, journalist, deejay and community activist. He’s been down with Hip Hop since 1977 in the Bronx where he started out as an emcee for two crews: TDK [Total Def Krew] out of Co-op City and the Avengers out of the Marble Hill Section of the Bronx. Later Davey D came out to Cali to go to school at UC Berkeley and started deejaying in the Bay Area. His mobile deejay work and community activism eventually lead him to deejaying at radio stations including KALX, KPFA and later KMEL. Davey D is a proud member of The PROs Record Pool where he served as director for several years in the late 80s -early 90s. He is also a co-founder of the Bay Area Hip Hop Coalition [BAHHC]. Davey D is also a member of the Bay Area Black Journalist Association [BABJA]. Currently he’s the webmaster for what is considered one of the oldest and largest Hip Hop sites on the web Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner– which can be found at www.daveyd.com. The writings on his website are frequently referenced and quoted by journalists, scholars and professors and fans from all around the world. He writes for numerous publications and magazines and puts out a popular Internet newsletter called the FNV Newsletter, which has a subscriber base of 100 thousand people. His newsletter, like his website, is frequently referenced and quoted. In early 2002, Davey D launched another newsletter called HHPN [Hip Hop Political Newsletter].

Davey D’s been featured in documentaries, magazines, newspapers, videos and TV news shows like Rap City Rhapsody, CNN’s Talk Back Live, ABC’s Nightline, Australia’s Lateline, BBC Radio, Internet Cafe, Computer Chronicles, BET Television, VH1 Television, Soul Beat TV, KRON TV, KTVU TV, Bay TV, KPIX TV, KBHK TV, The Tavis Smiley Show, The Laura Flounders Show, E-40’s Charlie Hustle the Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire, 2Pac’sThug Angel documentary, Straight From The Streets documentary, Jahi’s Redefinition documentary, Impact Magazine, Radio Facts Magazine, Rollingstone Magazine, Washington Post, The NY Times, The NY Post, Oakland Tribune, USA Today, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian Magazine [London], The Vallejo Times Herald, The SF Bay Guardian, Vibe Magazine, Stress Magazine, Redeye Magazine and The Source Magazine to name a few. He was profiled in the January 2003 edition of The Source Magazine as being one of the Top 10 most Influential people in the country when it comes to dealing with Hip Hop and politics. In 2000 Davey D was nominated by the Bay Area’s City Flight magazine as one of the Bay Area’s Most Influential African Americans. In 2001, Davey D was voted by the East Bay Express Newspaper as the Best On Air Personality in the Bay Area. The daily radio show he co-hosts, Hard Knock Radio, was voted Best Radio Show in the Bay Area. Davey D is originally from the Bronx and now a native of California. He graduated from UC Berkeley. Davey D also pens a Hip Hop/Political column for the San Jose Mercury News. Davey D also hosts a weekly Hip Hop/Political TV talk show on Oakland’s Soul Beat television. Davey D sits on the advisory board for civic organizations like Black Youth Vote as well as Rock the Vote. Davey D was also the guest curator for the Rock N-Roll Hall of Fame Hip Hop Nation Exhibit when it came to San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center in June of 2001. Davey D has been a featured speaker at high schools, universities and community centers throughout the country. He speaks on topics ranging from Hip Hop to Politics to bridging the Digital Divide.

Get to Laney College early on Friday – you do not want to miss a beat!

The Oakland Digital Inclusion Summit is this Friday, February 15th! Be sure to register if you haven’t already. For more information, check out the following links:

- Digital Inclusion Advocacy Toolkit

- ODIS Press Release

- ODIS Flyer (also available in Spanish)

- Other ODIS Materials

You can also now view the ODIS Program Overview here .

Eloise Lee spoke with Be the Media and Media Action Marin about digital inclusion and the upcoming ODIS in January. Check out the video here. Entitled Community Internet for All: Internet Access as a Public Utility, this show was the first part of a two-part series on community-driven Internet initiatives. The second part of the show, covering various community Internet solutions around the US, will be taped at ODIS on February 15th.

Eloise Rose-Lee, Broadband Project Manager and ODIS Organizer from Media Alliance, visited the KPFA offices on January 18th to spread the word about ODIS. You can listen to her discussion here.

Eloise spoke with First Voice, a co-sponsor of ODIS, about the use of digital technology in community empowerment. First Voice is a program of KPFA. The mission of First Voice is “to facilitate community building and creative empowerment through healing, creative expression, and the adaptation of information technology. The ‘First Voice’ exists deep within ourselves, it is the consciousness or intuition that leads the way.”

Three other Oakland-based groups that promote digital inclusion among their programs are the Women of Color Resource Center, Covenant House’s Cov Records, and the East Bay Asian Youth Center’s (EBAYC) Streetside Productions.

The Women of Color Resource Center (WCRC), founded in 1990, promotes the political, economic, social, and cultural well-being of women and girls of color in the United States. By integrating digital technologies in their programs on peace & solidarity, economic justice & human rights, popular education & leadership development, and research & social analysis, the WCRC promotes digital inclusion among its members and constituents.

Covenant House International “is the largest privately-funded agency in the Americas providing shelter and other services to homeless, runaway, and throwaway youth.” A project of Covenant House, Cov Records is a community-based music and video production center in Oakland. Through Cov Records, youth learn music production, sound engineering, video production, and promotional marketing skills. “Hundreds of youth artists come to the center to produce their solo-artist CDs, create music videos, and organize community arts shows.” In 2006, Cov Records organized Stop the Violence shows in Oakland in coalition with Art in Action and Silence the Violence. In addition to music videos, Cov Records youth have also created documentary films about youth rappers in Oakland. One of these films, Eyez of the Streetz, explores youth homelessness in the Bay Area.

The EBAYC Streetside Productions program trains juvenile offenders and at-risk youth in video production. Using digital technologies as a medium for self-expression and community engagement, often in the form of digital storytelling, the program empowers youth in critical self-reflection, investigating truth and knowledge, developing technical skills, and producing and distributing a self-directed product. Here’s a video of some of their work:

Look for these groups and more at the February 15 Oakland Digital Inclusion Summit!

Information and communication technologies are the tools people use to transfer information back and forth, whether that’s via equipment like a telephone or via electrical bits across the Internet superhighway. Without the human communication and creativity, however, those technologies are meaningless. While access to these technologies is crucial for breaking down barriers, people need to be able to apply the tools to their lives to take part in the information exchange. 

Digital storytelling is one way that many people are applying ICTs to their everyday lives. Digital storytelling is the practice of using digital technologies to help people tell their personal story. Digital storytellers, who are traditionally without a technical background, often produce their work in an intensive workshop. Digital storytelling can be viewed as a form of therapeutic self-expression.

Berkeley-based nonprofit Center for Digital Storytelling is a national leader in the field of digital storytelling, providing training, project development, and research in this area. The organization focuses on “large-scale projects for community, educational, and business institutions,” but also offers workshops for individuals.

“Corresponding directly to the extension of civil, economic, and political rights in the larger civic society, the community artist imagined the extension of technical and aesthetic training in the arts as a civil right. They focused their efforts in providing access to all sectors of the population that were seen to be underserved by the traditional education and vocational training systems. The art they create with these communities of individuals was a synthesis of their vision as a cultural animator and the unique gifts, voices, and ideas of the participating members in their projects. At times these projects specifically address social conflicts and political issues as the subject of the art making, at other times, the emphasis was on personal voice and the development of identity, esteem, and resilience in the individual.”

The Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) began as a gathering of media artists, designers, and practitioners who studied the interaction of narrative with the digital media technologies that were emerging in the early 1990s. Since then, CDS has trained over 10,000 people across the world using the Digital Storytelling Workshop. Their portfolio of projects includes programs in the areas of oral and local history, community building, education, public health, youth services, and cultural identity. In 2002, CDS launched the Digital Storytelling Association, an international association of digital storytellers.

One of the clients/beneficiaries of the Center for Digital Storytelling is The YOUTH Training Project in Oakland. This organization sponsors biannual digital storytelling workshops for current and former foster youth through its Foster Youth Voices initiative. The stories are used to guide child welfare workers in meeting the needs of the youth living in their care. Check out Sade Daniels’ story below:

For more information on digital storytelling and the Center for Digital Storytelling, including how you can get involved, visit the organization’s website at www.storycenter.org.

Oakland is full of awesome organizations that give all they’ve got for the wellbeing of their community. These organizations recognize the importance of digital inclusion in their mission, whether that means incorporation of digital inclusion activities in their programs or full dedication of their mission to digital inclusion. We at ODIS headquarters are psyched to see so many of Oakland’s community organizations signing up to speak, present examples of their digital inclusion activities, host a booth, or simply attend the ODIS in February. One such organization who will be speaking and hosting a booth at the Summit is Eastmont Computing Center.

Eastmont Computing Center (ECC), directed by Tony Fleming, is a community technology organization that provides direct training, education, and free computer and high-speed broadband Internet access to over 300 East Oakland residents per week. ECC delivers high-quality, technology-focused employment training to members of Oakland’s under-served communities, provides technical assistance designed to create community technology centers throughout Oakland, links Oakland’s under-served communities to advanced technology applications and infrastructure to enhance community-building and economic development, and catalyzes action on community technology issues in Oakland.

“Since 1998, ECC (a project of OCCUR) has offered many innovative programs in technology literacy and training to the residents and organizations in East Oakland.” Their “employment-focused, cutting-edge technology training has been a model for community technology centers worldwide.” ECC delivers CNA, MCSE, and A+ employment certification to underserved communities, as well as provides technical assistance in community technology startup and ongoing operation. ECC’s Intel Computer Clubhouse provides a safe, welcoming environment for after-school activities focusing on the “creative discovery and skill-building in the areas of graphic design, web design, robotics, multimedia, video editing, digital storytelling, computer programming, and music production” for 10 to 18-year olds. ECC reaches out to all ages, though. Check out TechSoup’s video on ECC’s senior citizens program:

One of ECC’s current projects, in collaboration with EBALDC, OHA, and One Economy Corp., is to create a “hub-and-spoke architecture of learning centers serving community and residential stakeholders through a connected network of shared resources, best practices, key goals, and vital objectives.” The first phase of the project will be launched in Oakland’s former “6-9 Village,” now renamed Lion Creek Crossings. The “Lion Creek’s Neighborhood Network Center” will serve as a national model “for placing computer access and training in residential developments.” Look for the official Grand Opening of the Lion Creek Neighborhood Network Center in February 2008!

To learn more about Eastmont Computing Center and how you can contribute to the organization’s mission, visit their website at www.eastmont.net.

A terrible chasm divides communities in the United States into those that have access to high-speed Internet and those that do not. This problem exists across regions and cities, isolating communities from the information super-highway and crippling sustainable growth. From Oakland to Ocotillo, California faces a bold challenge to bridge this digital divide and ensure that all Californians have access to affordable Internet technology and the training needed to customize that technology to meet their local needs. 

Media Alliance – in partnership with the City of Oakland, OTX West, the Community Technology Foundation, and the California Consumer Protection Foundation – gladly accepts that challenge. On February 15, 2008 we will bare it all – displaying in full force the opportunity that lies before the city of Oakland in furnishing neighborhoods with little to no access with reliable, affordable, and relevant high-speed Internet. We hope that you will join us at the Oakland Digital Inclusion Summit (a.k.a. ODIS) in paving the next steps to achieve this bold and achievable goal.

To capture the full potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) like the Internet, initiatives must not only promote access to technology, but must also incorporate digital inclusion in their strategy. This means that communities must have access to the hardware, skills, resources, and technical support necessary to make ICTs like the Internet meaningful to daily life. In addition, these tools should be affordable, reliable, and available in the first language of the community. This ensures that the community is indeed empowered by a local and practical technology rather than encumbered by a new external or luxury good.

 Right now, we have an incredible opportunity to advocate for digital inclusion. Over three hundred cities, towns, and counties across the United States are pursuing greater access to Internet technologies for their communities. We will highlight some of these and other digital inclusion initiatives, like CUWiN, as we approach ODIS in February. It is crucial that these initiatives include digital inclusion programs that live up to the potential to bridge the digital divide, and not simply accepting or dismissing these divides as fact.

 The good news is that community advocates are already creating sustainable digital inclusion programs. For example, various advocates have convinced their elected officials that when public resources such as utility poles and streets are being used to set up new high speed Internet projects, municipal governments must guarantee that the public receives significant and meaningful benefits. Look for examples of these community advocates on digi-I within the next few weeks.

 Working towards a just and democratic society is an ongoing struggle, and technology provides no “magic bullet” solution for alleviating poverty, racism, or other problems we experience on a day-to-day basis. However, digital inclusion programs that put underserved community members’ needs first and that are managed in a fair and thoughtful manner can make a difference in how we are able to participate in the world around us. Digital inclusion programs move us closer to ensuring all community members have the resources, skills, and support to advance social, political, and economic equality.

To learn more about digital inclusion, check out A Digital Inclusion Advocacy Toolkit and Bridging the Digital Divide.

In the next post, look for more information about Oakland digital inclusion initiatives and the upcoming ODIS!