Digital Inclusion Week. What’s It All About?

Digital Inclusion Week logo

More and more we hear phrases like “digital equity” and “digital divide”, but many of us aren’t aware of their real meaning and significance. Add to these terms “Digital Inclusion Week”, and some heads really start itching. What does it all mean?

As Digital Inclusion Week, Oct. 7-11, 2019, comes to a close, it’s good to remember we recognize this week in order to raise awareness and generate solutions that will make universal broadband access and increased digital literacy a reality. Digital inclusion consists of activities that ensure all individuals and communities have access to information technologies. Digital equity and the digital divide are integral parts of Digital Inclusion Week. Digital equity exists when all individuals and communities have the broadband infrastructure, education and tools they need to participate in society equally. The digital divide is the gulf between uneven access to those tools and necessary digital literacy skills.

CDT participates in a variety of digital inclusion efforts through the California Broadband Council. CBC is run by CDT’s Office of Broadband and Digital Literacy, which supports the Council by chairing it and managing the statewide ecosystem of individuals and organizations dedicated to closing the digital divide. We do this by working to bring broadband to unserved and underserved areas throughout California.

The importance of digital equity cannot be stressed enough, so why not make every week Digital Inclusion Week? You can help by doing your part to close California’s digital divide.