We’re Building A Plan To Better Understand Local Digital Barriers
After three events and several one-on-one conversations we are starting to see clear next steps. Over time these steps will help to paint a clearer picture of the state of our digital economy and what we can do to create new opportunities and collaborate with each other.
Step 1: Narrow our geographic range to Burlington and Winooski (to start). As we fine tune the process we hope to expand to places to Colchester, Essex, Milton and more.
Step 2: Pull existing reports, statistics, polls and visualizations into a virtual library. This is a collective effort. People from institutions like universities, libraries and local government are helping locate important information that is helping to paint a picture of the digital ecosystem.
Step 3: Create an open source repository that will house existing content, documentation, and calls to action.
Step 4: Create a proposal that we can use to get support, create awareness and apply for funding to conduct a small-scale study of specific cities and neighborhoods.
Step 5: Create an anonymous survey that residents fill out online or in person to collect granular data about internet access and adoption. Host neighborhood specific focus groups.
Step 6: Assess and document results of the survey and focus groups in visualizations and easy to understand info graphics.
Step 7: Pull results together into a report that we can share and use to identify barriers to digital inclusion so that we can resolve them with programs, services, events, training and more.
We are seeking more contributions and suggestions as people in the area learn of this work. These steps will likely evolve in the coming weeks as we gain more insight. We welcome new participants to this project, so please get in touch and let us know if you have questions or want to get involved!
