About the City of Houston's Digital Inclusion Initiative:

Improving the quality of life for all Houstonians

The skills necessary to work, prosper and participate in current society are intrinsically bound up with the ability to use information and communication technology (ICT) tools. Yet, many Houstonians have yet to witness the significant social, civic, educational and economic benefits of the information age. Note some of our education, health, employment and community challenges documented below:

Education

• It is fair to say that many Houstonians do not receive training in the basic computer skills and literacy they will need to hold jobs with a future. One in 4 Houston area students does not graduate from high school; 29.6% of Houston area adults 25+ years of age do not have a GED or high school diploma.²
• Twenty-nine percent of Americans are not online and this population is disproportionately, low-income, has low educational attainment and older⁵. With 23% or 446,529 low income Houstonians⁴; 30% or 586,453 with no high school diploma³; and, 8% or 164,207 of our population is made up of seniors 65 years and older³, the cost of leaving these groups disconnected becomes an issue of economics and there is a significant opportunity to create positive change for our City's future.

Workforce

• In the continuing shift to a knowledge based economy, computer competency and access are critical issues. The sources of wealth today have less to do with control over natural resources, for which Houston and Texas were so favorably positioned, and more to do with human resources.¹
• It is also important to note for communities that are connected, broadband enables wealth and opportunity. A recent study found that for every one percentage point increase in broadband penetration in a state, employment is projected to increase by 0.2-0.3 percent per year. For the entire U.S. private non-farm economy, this suggests an increase of about 300,000 jobs.⁹

Business and Economic Development

• Small businesses are an important driver of U.S. economic growth and employ over half of America's private sector workers, produce over half of America's non-farm private sector jobs and create roughly 75% of new private sector jobs.⁶ Less than half of all small businesses had an online presence as of 2006⁶. With approximately 187,124 businesses in Houston, that represents a significant number that are not able to seize the opportunity for increased productivity, profitability and competitiveness that the Internet and information communications technologies afford.⁸
• We also know that Houston is having to compete in the global marketplace to attract and retain both employers and smart, highly-skilled, highly-educated employees. Having amenities such as a technologically savvy and accommodating city is among the things both those groups look for when deciding where to locate either their businesses or themselves.

City of Houston Digital Inclusion Initiative

Houston has a unique opportunity to reshape its technological landscape and serve as a catalyst for positive change in support of a digitally empowered and inclusive city through its digital inclusion effort entitled Wireless Empowered Community Access Network (WeCAN).

The vision for WeCAN is first about creating a digital future for all Houstonians by fostering an environment that affords everyone equal access and opportunity to pursue and take advantage of ICT tools, in order to develop the digital knowledge, awareness, and skills necessary to participate in the 21st century society. It is second about ensuring Houston remains a leader in using information and technology to achieve our economic, environmental, social and cultural goals.

The citywide initiative will:

• Include an aggressive education and awareness campaign that focuses on developing value and understanding to accelerate the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT);
• Include community resource portals, ICT-based development opportunities and expansion of technology public access locations;
• Leverage the full ecosystem of technologies, providers, vendors and institutions to achieve success;
• Allocate and distribute resources guided by a working body of stakeholders from business, education, health, community and government; and,
• Require individual and organizational investment consisting of a resource match (monetary/inkind), development training and volunteerism.

Fulfilling this vision requires an undertaking commensurate with its ambitious scale and scope and will call for a comprehensive, sustained commitment and coordinated effort involving the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Our goal is to leverage the $5 million dollars we received as a result of EarthLink's contractual default through public and private matching grants, contributions and other offerings to maximize the opportunities and benefits that will be enabled as a result of this Initiative.

The City of Houston will benefit as a whole through the opening of new markets, the addition of new resources to the economy and society, increased productivity and income, reduced poverty costs, improved relationships between government and citizens, stronger communities, and increased population of self-sufficient, contributing members of society.

Strategy & Timeline

Through preliminary community needs assessment, 25 high need neighborhoods have been identified across the city. As a starting point, a total of 10 super neighborhoods will be launched over the next two years beginning in March 2008, in locations that will include community based organizations, schools and city facilities.

The Gulfton Super Neighborhood will serve as the first of the 10 super neighborhoods and will be considered the pilot launch. Technical and program support models for training and equipment will be developed as part of the pilot. Targeted locations within neighborhood based on criteria such as organizational capacity, accessibility, and programs, will be identified resulting in up to 150 public access locations across the ten designated neighborhoods.

The city will work in partnership with community stakeholders that includes citizens, community based organizations, corporations, and educators, to create awareness, enable, develop and implement sustainable, high value programs and services in support of digital inclusion.