ZeroDivide BTOP Mash-Up Cut-Up Smash-Up
[Source: ZeroDivide, by Tim Wu, August 23, 2010]
A blog post by ZeroDivide's Tim Wu
ZeroDivide received two federal stimulus funding awards totalling more than $2 million. We've been interviewed about these awards from Honolulu to Seattle, as have our terrific local funding partners in the six states where we will implement our work. The awards cover two pretty different types of work, both of which highlight ZeroDivide's expertise in working with underserved communities - but in different ways and for different target populations.
It isn't always easy to explain this work. And it's often pretty technical. So I thought it might be fun to do a quick compare-and-contrast through a different lens. And so....drum roll, please...I'm proud to present ZeroDivide's BTOP awards in Mash-Up Cut-Up Smash-Up format! Okay, so what does that mean? In web development, Mash-Up refers to an application or web page that combines data or presentation from different sources to create new services. In music, the terms refer to different ways to combine pre-existing tracks (like laying lyrics from one song over the music track of another) into an entirely new song, or splicing the tracks from two different songs together. In literature, a Cut-Up is the re-arranging of a pre-existing book or text to create a new text with new meaning. Cut-Ups were made most famous by Beat Generation poet Burroughs (William S., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs).
Without further ado, the ZeroDivide BTOP Grant Awards Mash-Up Cut-Up Smash-Up:
ZeroDivide received $1,384,242 for our "Generation ZD Digital Literacy Program." This program will form a new generation of broadband users among underserved youth who otherwise have limited or no access to digital and information technology in the home. We are going to implement "Gen ZD" through a partnership with seven community anchor institutions in six Western region states. At the end of the grant period, over 140,000 low-income, disadvantaged youth will have developed better broadband application and usage skills.
ZeroDivide received $686,157 for our "Tribal Digital Village Broadband Adoption Program." The TDV program will increase broadband adoption from the 17% current baseline usage to 70% (about 4,800 new broadband users) among 8,900 members of 19 Native American tribes in rural Southern California. Native Americans currently have the lowest level of broadband adoption of any ethnic group in the continental USA. The increased adoption will be accomplished through outreach and public awareness campaigns, digital literacy training, content creation, and the establishment of sustainable business models.
"Gen ZD" directly addresses the fact that our increasingly complex and technology-driven world has exacerbated the social and economic inequalities already experienced by low-income, disadvantaged individuals, particularly youth. Access barriers such as availability, cost, and lack of relevant content combine with social barriers created by race, physical capacity, and economic status to further impair broadband adoption rates within these communities. ZeroDivide has more than a decade of experience and proven results which demonstrate that for young people, the ability to develop and distribute their own content - whether it be a website, video, game, blog, or podcast - provides significant incentive to engage in, learn about, and sustain broadband adoption and application skills.
"Gen ZD" has three major components - broadband digital literacy skills curricula development; content distribution; and capacity building and sustainability for the community anchor institutions. The project advances the BTOP statutory objectives of 1) providing broadband education, awareness, training, access, equipment, and support to community anchor institutions, job-creation facilities, and vulnerable populations; and 2) stimulating demand for broadband.
The TDV project seeks to address the fact that only 5-8% of Native Americans living on tribal lands have residential broadband access. Geographic isolation and cultural differences make tribal communities especially vulnerable to disparities in broadband adoption and deployment. Telecommunications companies have little incentive to deploy internet into these areas due to the limited (if any) financial return on their investment. And residents themselves have severe barriers to adoption, including affordability, lack of training opportunities, perceived lack of relevance to their lives, and lack of linguistically and culturally appropriate content. ZeroDivide will address these issues through a four-component adoption strategy: an outreach and public awareness campaign; basic and advanced digital literacy training curricula and implementation; the creation of relevant content; and sustainability measures. The program is designed to be comprehensive in its targeted attack on the various cultural, economic, and physical barriers to adoption; community-led through its partnership with the 19 tribal entities; and inculcate the infusion of technical capacity building and technical assistance support such as metrics/data collection/evaluation; business development; financial reporting; fund development; and disability accessibility. This project advances the BTOP statutory objectives of 1) providing improved access to broadband service to consumers residing in unserved and underserved areas of the country; 2) providing broadband access, education, awareness, training, equipment, and support to community anchor institutions and organizations serving vulnerable populations; and 3) stimulating demand for broadband.
The "Generation ZD Digital Literacy Program" partners are Access Humboldt and the Community Media Access Partnership in California; Akaku: Maui Community Television in Hawaii; Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Fe in New Mexico; Portland Community Media in Oregon; Reel Grrls (that's not a typo, thank you) in Washington; and Spy Hop Productions in Utah. These seven groups will be supported in their disability accessibility work by the Alliance for Technology Access.
The "Tribal Digital Village Broadband Adoption Program" partners are the 19 Native American reservations that encompass the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association.
"Gen ZD" will serve youth who reside in Humboldt and San Benito Counties of California; Maui County of Hawaii; City of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Multnomah and Washington Counties of Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; and the King, Snohomish, Skagit Island, and Pierce Counties of Washington state.
The TDV program will work within the geographic region that is owned by the tribes of SCTCA, primarily located in San Diego County, California, and stretching from southern Riverside County southward 150 miles to the US-Mexico border.
"People must have affordable, sustainable access to broadband technology to meet their basic education, health, and vocational needs," said ZeroDivide President and CEO Tessie Guillermo in commenting on the BTOP awards. "We are proud that the Federal Government has chosen ZeroDivide as a partner in addressing these critically important disparities."
"An opportunity for 'self-empowerment' is the easiest way to describe access to such a valuable resource. It's life changing," said Matthew Rantanen, Director of Technology at SCTCA.
"We are extremely excited to partner with ZeroDivide," said Cece Hughley Noel, Executive Director of Portland Community Media. "We have something tangible to offer African-American and Latino young people living on the other side of the digital divide."
Links
To read the ZeroDivide press release
Press Release from White House Announcing Recovery Act Investments in Broadband Projects
Press Release from Gov. Schwarzenegger on Award of $200 Million in Broadband Grants for California
To hear radio interviews featuring ZeroDivide's Chief Community Investment Officer Laura Efurd comment on what the funds mean for communities, click on the following links:
KQED's radio broadcast on California Broadband Projects Get Stimulus Dollars
KPLU's report on Stimulus Money Funds Film Classes for Girls
