Now that we have your attention…
…here’s our Plan for Digital Excellence
I call upon all who view themselves as technology and social justice advocates to seize the moment afforded by the recent attention to Digital Inclusion: let’s raise both the public discourse and the practices of our field to a new level.
We’ve been doing heavy lifting trying to meaningfully connect our communities for a long time without sufficient resources or recognition. We know better than anyone else that the Divide persists and we’re glad it’s being noticed (again). We hear Digital Inclusion trumpeted as the virtue of every network proposal, but we can’t allow ourselves to be used in the selling of these networks, and we can’t let our communities be sold short. We want the connectivity, yes, but unless we as a people assert what we require of our networks we’ll be looking back upon another missed opportunity.
What we really want is a fundamental change in communications and technology policy at every level of social organization. We the people are a lot more sophisticated than we give ourselves credit for… and than we are credited with by others who hold themselves above the people.
It’s time for us to state clearly who we are, what our values are and what we know is needed at this moment in history. Let your actions speak louder than your words, certainly, but get your story out there. This holds for all who seek social justice and have dedicated themselves to working locally. Your direct work with your community is important, but so is the shaping of our collective life through shared words, images and ideas. We must make time for both.
I warmly thank Sascha Meinrath for helping to further this conversation.
We’re all ready to move Beyond Digital Inclusion.