Eleven Technology Matching Fund recipients aim to close digital divide The Seattle City Council approved $320,000 in funding for community-led projects that increase digital literacy. The Technology Matching Fund grants were awarded to 11 projects that will reach an estimated 3,000 residents, increasing their access to technology and digital skills training. “Access to technology and digital literacy is an equity…
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Artificial Intelligence Must Serve Everyone
Tech companies and persons with disabilities gathered on the 16th November in Vienna to debate how not to leave persons with disabilities behind technological breakthroughs. The purpose of the event was to take the opportunity to discuss how new technologies embrace human diversity, and how technological solutions can be designed for all, including for persons with disabilities. It is an…
Read MoreFostering a Smart City Society of Smart People
Former Mayor Megan Barry in the spring of 2016 convened a working group to outline and coordinate Nashville’s efforts to better integrate technology with the city’s infrastructure as well as other parts of government and public life. The group’s work led to the delivery to Mayor David Briley in late April of a final community report called “Connected Nashville: A…
Read MoreThe Smart City As An Inclusive City: Seven Steps To Tackling Digital Exclusion
Although the quantity of people using technology in their everyday lives is constantly rising, a relatively high percentage of the world’s population remains digitally disengaged or even technologically illiterate. In the European Union alone, nearly a third of people don’t use the internet on a daily basis; only half of all Europeans aged 16 – 74 use social networks or…
Read MoreThoughtful Leadership Is the First Step Toward Equitable Smart Cities – StateTech
Thoughtful Leadership Is the First Step Toward Equitable Smart Cities Smart city solutions could be contributing to the digital divide. Local and conscious solutions can bring equity back in focus. Brooks Rainwater is the senior executive and director of the National League of Cities’ (NLC) Center for City Solutions. Rainwater drives the organization’s research agenda, community engagement efforts, and leadership…
Read MoreWITH THE GROWTH OF SMART CITIES, HOW DO WE BUILD SMART CITIZENS TO MATCH?
With the growth of smart cities, how do we build smart citizens to match? Date Published: 1st March, 2018 When you work in a certain sector, there’s a tendency to assume everyone thinks like you; has the same knowledge. If you work in social media, you might presume everyone’s on Twitter, if you’re a footballer, you might expect everyone to…
Read MoreAs The World Goes Digital, Is There A Hack For Inequality?
BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In the fashionable Poblenou district of Barcelona, hipsters and entrepreneurs rub shoulders with homeless people and immigrants, as the city authorities try to reduce digital inequality. The futuristic Media-TIC building is one of several venues around the city where disadvantaged people can sign up for free courses to improve their online literacy skills under a…
Read MoreAustin Free-Net and the Digital Divide @austinfreenet
What is the Digital Divide, and why should I care? It’s hard to imagine that in a city like Austin there is still a large segment of the city that has no idea how to use a computer; however, even in this high tech mecca, the digital divide exists. The digital divide is a term that describes the disparity between…
Read MoreWill Smart Cities and IoT Divide Us or Bring Us Together?
Government is transforming applications, contracts, and payment portals to all be housed online. This is incredible, but only if you have all three legs of the stool — the internet in your home, a computer beyond a smart phone, and the digital literacy training to help you use these tools to access the resources needed. As Pittsburgh develops as a technology city…
Read MoreSan Antonio Launches Smart City Committee On Digital Inclusion and Innovation
San Antonio officials announced Tuesday night it had formed a new standing committee to address technology and innovation. break According to Mayor Ron Nirenberg, the innovation and technology committee will take on smart city goals, strategy for growing the cyber security industry, digital inclusion initiatives, open data and expanding municipal broadband access all under one roof. “We’ve been working in…
Read MoreInnovation, Inclusion and the Smart City Workforce of the Future
Showcasing for the first time late last month, the Smart Regions Conference brought together a diverse group of leaders to discuss opportunities in Smart Cities. Rhonda Binda (Venture Smarter), Bjorn Simmons (Wyzerr), Michael Beck (Code for Kids), Austin Lee (Northern Kentucky University), Jason Miller (Centric Consulting), and Seema Shah (LaGuardia Community College) collaborate on Innovation, Inclusion and the Workforce of…
Read MorePittsburgh Roadmap to #Inclusive Smart City Innovation
This project was completed in Pittsburgh, the city of bridges. Residents of the city may cross multiple bridges on a daily basis. Yet, they rarely think about the bridge as they cross it or ponder how different their lives would be without it nor do they analyze what went into building that bridge. Even so, bridges are extremely important. They…
Read MoreNet Neutrality Accessibility and the Disability Community
Net Neutrality, Accessibility, and the Disability Community Let’s face it, social media can be a troll-infested, fetid dumpster fire polluting our timelines. There are days when I don’t want to be online. As I try to practice self-care, I invariably return to the Internet because it is my second home, my playground, my workshop. Net neutrality is important to me…
Read MoreDespite its promise technology often fails to help disabled users
Advances in speech recognition, wearable technology, and mobile apps have offered welcome improvements for many people who are disabled. Yet while new technology is often praised for aiding communication for those who are blind and deaf, innovations can sometimes have unintended effects, hindering communication and access to information for those with disabilities.
In a talk at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard titled Disability, Technology, and Inclusion, Elizabeth Ellcessor, assistant professor in the Media School at Indiana University, Bloomington, and Meryl Alper, faculty associate with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, discussed some of the hidden downsides of tech for the disabled.
Ellcessor began by questioning what is meant by “accessibility…”
Read MoreInfrastructure Advancement of the Year | @LinkNYC
The “digital divide” — economic or social inequality in regards to technology — is a stubborn challenge in today’s smartest cities. Offering all citizens affordable access to broadband and other common connective infrastructure is not a simple feat, and will often create hostility between governments and their constituents.
CityBridge, a group of tech and connectivity companies including Intersection, Qualcomm and CIVIQ Smartscapes, is working to bridge this digital divide in the nation’s largest city with an advanced, scalable and aesthetically appealing Wi-Fi kiosk network: LinkNYC.
Read MoreSmart City Initiatives in Africa: Policy for INCLUSION
This year’s theme for World Cities Day, “Innovative Governance, Open Cities,” emphasizes the implementation of the global New Urban Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the creation of livable, sustainable cities conducive to inclusive growth and development. Smart cities in particular can be key tools toward achieving these global goals. The International Telecommunication Union defines a smart…
Read MoreCriticism of India’s #SmartCities Mission is mounting | @Citiscope
DELHI — The development of “smart” cities was one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first initiatives upon taking office in 2014. Launched the next year, the stated focus of the Indian government’s Smart Cities Mission is “on sustainable and inclusive development, and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a lighthouse…
Read MoreWhy Does Mainstream Indian Smart City Discourse Leave Out Disability and Digital Inclusion?
India’s crusade for digitisation and digital inclusion has failed millions of Indians with disabilities. Will the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act change that? There is a need to ensure equality in the digital realm. Credit: Reuters One of the strongest mandates of the newly enacted Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 is on the issue of accessibility. The public…
Read MoreNYC launches #smartcity youth education program under innovation lab @NYC_CTO
New York City’s first Neighborhood Innovation Lab is coordinating new smart city efforts, organizers announced Friday. The city announced that the lab — based in the neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn, since March — will start a tech education program to teach digital skills to youths, while also installing smart trash cans for efficient pickups and solar powered smart benches to charge devices, detect foot traffic and…
Read MoreAuditors say city’s website needs improvement @Austin Monitor @mayoradler
Auditors say city’s website needs improvement. The Office of the City Auditor has found that although the city’s website, AustinTexas.gov, offers residents numerous online services, the website does not meet accessibility guidelines, so it is difficult for people with certain disabilities to find and use those services The audit findings were released and accepted at Wednesday’s City Council Audit and…
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