East Hartford Celebrates Digital Inclusion Week
East Hartford, CT— During Digital Inclusion week that lasts from October 3 to October 7, 2022, East Hartford is proud to join with organizations and individuals across the country to celebrate this year’s theme: “Turning Our Moment into Movement.” Nationwide, Digital Inclusion Week activities are geared towards raising awareness of solutions addressing home internet access, personal computing devices, and local technology training and support programs.
CT Libraries & Partners for Digital Equity, a project of the Connecticut State Library, will mark Digital Inclusion Week with a statewide event titled Advancing to Digital Equity in Connecticut: Amplifying East Hartford voices and panel discussion. The event will be held on October 5 from 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM at Hartford Public Library’s main branch at which East Hartford community stakeholders will be featured.
The event will begin with a keynote address by Tracie D. Hall, Executive Director of the American Library Association and the first African American to lead the association since its founding in 1876. Hall has written and spoken widely about digital inequity, the role of libraries in disrupting the socio-economic divide, as well as the need to eradicate information redlining and information poverty.
Following Tracie’s keynote, a panel will amplify the voices of the Connecticut residents most affected by digital discrimination and redlining. Hall will join a discussion led by experts in the field, including Dr. Nasreen Al Omari, East Hartford Adult Education instructor and East Hartford Public Schools parent; Yadira Jeter, career navigator for East Hartford CONNects; and Rafael Rodriguez-Cruz, Greater Hartford Legal Aid attorney and convener of the East Hartford Community Partners group. Other panelists will include Juan Fonseca Tapia, Center for Leadership and Justice; Elisabeth E. N. Michel, Hartford Healthcare; Homa Naficy, Hartford Public Library; Robert Gagne, Hamden Public Library; and Lamond Daniels, City of Norwalk.
Register here for the Advancing to Digital Equity event, which is open to the public and free of charge.
CT Libraries & Partners for Digital Equity is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Connecticut State Library. Visit their website for more information about this statewide initiative.
Over the past year, East Hartford made great strides towards digital equity with two initiatives: East Hartford Fiber City and East Hartford Public Library’s Get Online program.
- Infrastructure: East Hartford Fiber City
In May 2022, East Hartford FiberCity® broke ground on a town-wide fiber optic network that will offer the fastest Internet speed in Connecticut. Built as an Open Access network, it will allow for multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs), enterprises, and carriers to connect to the network, broadening competition and choice. East Hartford FiberCity® is being built town-wide, meaning it will pass by each and every home and business, enabling everyone the opportunity to connect, closing the digital divide.
- Adoption: East Hartford Public Library’s Get Online program
But infrastructure is only a partial solution. Many households in East Hartford and statewide lack computers and/or the skills to use them. Libraries have long been centers for Internet and device access as well as digital skills instruction, and this past year, East Hartford Public Library extended services with the establishment of an innovative digital navigation program, Get Online. This program was made possible through a $100,000 grant for an 11-month pilot project to help residents lacking good internet connections and computers, and in need of digital skills training, to get help from trained digital navigators at the library. With a focus on parents and caregivers of school-aged children, the pilot provided adults with the tools necessary to support their children with schoolwork as well as to meet their own needs.
At the conclusion of the pilot phase in September, 150 devices (tablets, Chromebooks) had been distributed to East Hartford households, many of whom were also connected to free or affordable Internet via the Affordable Connectivity Program. Personalized digital skills goals included setting up a LinkedIn profile, learning how to more efficiently use e-mail, hosting a meeting on Zoom, and formatting a resume, among others.
Beyond the pilot, East Hartford is investing in digital inclusion through the opening of a new branch, the Wickham Library, renovated with ARPA funds and home to a full-time Digital Inclusion Manager, a year-long ARPA-funded position created to maintain this important program.
For more information about East Hartford Fiber City or the East Hartford Public Library, visit the Town of East Hartford’s website: www.easthartfordct.gov. Get Online, the library’s digital navigation program, was funded by Connecticut State Library Division of Library Development (DLD), which awarded $394,600 to 4 Connecticut public libraries for digital navigation pilot projects via direct grants made possible through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds awarded to Connecticut by the Institute of Museum of Library Services (IMLS).