At several of the BarCamp sessions at the Future of Civic Media conference Knight held with M.I.T., attendees spoke about using mobile technology and video and audio communication to bridge the digital divide.
The Web was thought to be the great leveler, but how about for people who don’t have a computer, or can’t read web site text?
In one BarCamp session on media and information in the developing world, 2007 Knight News Challenge Winner Ethan Zuckerman of Global Voices said the developing world is better wired for mobile technology than it is for Internet use on computers. His smart phone works faster in Ghana than it does in the U.S.
Editor’s note: Scott Piepho is an Akron blogger; below, he walks us through the new Akron headquarters of the Knight Center of Digital Excellence. The video was shot by Knight V.P. of Communications Marc Fest and edited by webmaster Robertson Adams.
High tech gear and a fruit salad of furniture colors meet turn-of-last-century architecture as the staff of the Knight Center of Digital Excellence settle in to their Akron headquarters. Three weeks ago the center took over the seventh floor of renovated downtown office building, hosting a grand opening event that brought together Knight Foundation program officers from around the country.
The Knight Center offices serve as work space for the staff of the online Resource Center and as a home base for the members of the Connected Communities Team (CCT). Two of the CCT Program Managers – Todd Adams and Jim Nice — work out of Akron. Team director Karen Archer Perry works from her home in New Jersey and Lynda Goff, the newest member of the team, works out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The center headquarters gives the team space to meet and collaborate. This week all four were in town to touch base and share ideas.
“We are doing something new; we are trying to create a new model,” explains Ms. Perry. In each community the team is trying to encourage connectivity projects developed and ultimately owned by the community. Team members take time to compare notes on how that model works in different communities with different needs, assets and cultures.
In any organization with a strong field staff, calling them home can be a challenge. The new Knight Center offers an appealing place to come home to. The building retains much of its classic interior. The elevator opens into a hallway wainscoted in marble – complete with a built-in drinking fountain. Original wood-grained doors (metal as it turns out – first of their kind in Akron) include textured glass and still-functioning transoms.
But beyond a hallway which could double as an Eddie Capra movie set, the office space is funky modern. Two-drawer filing cabinets on casters double as ottomans topped with brightly upholstered pads. Meeting room chairs and cabinet tops were ordered in each color offered – a first, which prompted the manufacturer to visit and take pictures of the prismatic cheeriness.
Most of all, the office is full of light, with gaping window offering views of northern downtown and beyond, across the Cuyahoga River valley. “It’s a big difference being in this building,” notes Perry. “We had no windows in the Cleveland offices.”
The center continues settling in and melding the old and the new. The latest delivery is a state-of-the-art smart board that staff are now learning to use. The next should be a map cabinet – Program Manager Jim Nice still likes paper maps.
The Milledgeville Union-Recorder ran a story yesterday about the new Milledgeville Municipal WiMax Network, part of a universal access initiative at Knight Foundation.
Milledgeville Program Director Beverly Blake made clear Knight’s commitment to connect individuals in physical communities through this initiative:
“The Knight Foundation does not come into a community, say we have this great opportunity, realize it and then walk away,” Blake said. “Milledgeville made this happen, we’re here to help you build this plan for the future.”
Find out more about the Digital Access Initiative here; the Milledgeville article is here.
Questions or thoughts on the Milledgeville Munical WiMax Network?
In a recent speech, Knight CEO and president Alberto Ibargüen announced a new media innovation strategy and four projects that are part of this strategy.
You can read the entire speech here; abbreviated descriptions of the four projects (they share similar names) are below.
The Knight News Challenge funds ideas that use digital media to deliver news and information to geographically defined communities.
This is a yearly contest about the future of local news delivery (and includes projects in a range of media areas such as mobile, video, and microfunding).
The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, in partnership with the Aspen Institute, will propose public policy that will facilitate meeting those needs.
This is a new group with fifteen members that will make recommendations in 2009 about core community information needs.
The Knight Center of Digital Excellence is a not-for-profit consultancy to help communities across the United States ensure digital access to every citizen.
This is sometimes called “universal access,” and the goal is to accelerate digital access projects across the U.S.
On Monday, the first round table for the new Knight Center of Digital Excellence, was held in Miami. The new center was formed to accelerate digital access projects across the U.S.
The Miami round table group included representatives from local nonprofits, Knight Foundation staff, and members of new Knight Center team, which is staffed and operated by OneCommunity. (Details on the KCDE’s creation in the April press release.) Round table events in other cities will introduce the new center and its goals to those areas.
Lorenzo Lebrija, Knight Foundation program director for Miami, shared how communities can start to be involved with the new center:
And lively questions from the audience followed a panel presentation:
Find out more about this media innovation initiative here, and look for more information on this blog in coming months.
What questions do you have about the new Knight Center? What needs do you think it should address first?
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