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NACAA Convenes Digital Divide Briefing
November 21; Washington DC
On Tuesday, November 21, 2000, NACAA hosted a special Information Technology Policy Briefing ("Overcoming the Digital Divide") to educate and inform Washington policymakers and others interested in technology issues about the critical role Community Action Agencies are playing in bridging the digital divide. Community action professionals from around the country showed first-hand both the challenges and successes in their efforts to bridge the digital divide in their local communities. Among the key players in the efforts to close the digital divide attending the briefing were representatives from government (including officials from the Federal Communications Commission, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. Department of Agriculture), other national nonprofit organizations (including the National Governors' Association, The Alliance for Public Technology, The National Association for State Community Services Programs, and OMB Watch), leaders from industry and the philanthropic world (including representatives from PowerUp, The Interactive Technologies Group, and The Benton Foundation), and members of the community action network (including The Quin Rivers Agency for Community Action and The Montgomery County Community Action Agency). During this informative three-hour session,attendees heard from leaders of the community action network about CAA efforts—and challenges—to help low-income people adapt to a world that isincreasingly reliant upon technology. Presenters included NACAA executive director John Buckstead, NACAA's director of research and principal author of Information Technology for Community Action Agencies and Their Low-Income Clients Robert Clark, NACAA board member Oscar Harris (executive director of the Central Florida Community Action Agency ), and executive directors from CAAs around the nation: Beatty Brasch from the Lincoln Action Program in Lincoln, Nebraska; Ron Logsdon from Audubon Area Community Services, Inc. in Owensboro, Kentucky; Al Sax of the Hampshire Community Action Commission in Northampton, Massachusetts; and Paul Skaff from Multi-County Community Action Against Poverty, Inc. in Charleston, West Virginia. Among the issues examined were technology outreach and access to low-income communities, resource procurement, and the challenges of effectively reconciling issues related to managing multiple databases for reporting and funding purposes. This briefing was "Webcast" on EXBTV, a C-SPAN-type on-line Web site that focuses on in-depth coverage of the White House and executive branch, including key hearings, press briefings, and interviews with Washington movers and shakers. For more information about this Information Technology Policy Briefing ("Overcoming the Digital Divide"), please contact Judy Mason, Policy Analyst.
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