Bonnie, I agree that in Digital Divide and other language "success has many parents, and failure is an orphan," including "ownership" by public and political figures who seek to communicate widely about "what's to be done."
Digital Divide is the "problem" that just about everyone understands to some degree in their own terms everywhere in the world. As with other "meta message" language, it needs to be translated into meaningful terms for many audiences. In Illnois since 2003, a number of public officials, civic enterprise and community network leaders (including the Illinois Community Techology Coalition which recently celebrated its 2nd statewide conference in Springfield during November) have worked to "define a solution methodology" in terms of definititions of "technological skills" (basic ICT skills sufficient to use Internet and electronic tools, similar to basic reading and math skills) or "digital literacy" similar to basic handwriting analog literacy that is understood to be important throughout the world. Digital literacy is understood by many public officials as "vital" for economic development, digital government productivity and consumer society. For example, all citizens need to be able to access a consumer-friendly FirstGov.gov (national) and linked state website, similar in feel to a home page or information kiosks. Thus, digital literacy means second-nature confort in using Internet linked tools, whethe! r through a basic $100 TV or Laptop, Information Kiosk or Library or Telecentro Workstation, given that human nature finds that about 1/2 of any population will work with a keyboard and about 1/2 prefers a 6/8 choice Information ATM Kiosk format, a channel-changer or other hand-held device. As part of the conference in Springfield, Illinois' Lt. Governor Pat Quinn issued a Declaration on the value of Digital Literacy and Community Technology Centers. Michael Maranda is preparing a press statement including the full Declaration, and including citation of Illinois State Library Director Anne Craig who gave remarks on The Future of Digital Literacy, including via 4,000 libraries in Illinois, linked with international definitions of ICT skills. It would be interesting to hear how the term "digital literacy" is used in many settings around the world. Layton Layton E. Olson, Esq. Howe & Hutton, Ltd. 20 N. Wacker Dr., Suite 4200 Chicago, IL 60606 312-263-3001 Fax: 312-372-6685 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.howehutton.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 2:05 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [DDN] timeline of the digital divide In a message dated 12/3/05 10:54:25 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Digital Divide became the more common term > > when interest in the problem went beyond educators and attracted the > > attention of the business community.. At that point, it seemed to > > me, the emphasis went from providing access to technology to > > providing connectivity. > One of the things we learned while working on the NIIAC, was not to claim ownership of ideas, terms and initiatives. It is said that the best ideas in Washington are often discarded based on partisanship, so we learned to float an idea, a term , and a project without contribution of who first used it. Al Gore liked to talk about how his father helped to create the links that created the infrastructure for the highway system that became the interstate and the series of highways that criss cross the US. He also talked about the differences in transportation as a divide. But remember it was the time of the biggest divide between Republicans and Democrats to the point where the government was shut down and our work had to be sponsored by a private person. Newt Gingrich was knocking on the door. Actually he espoused a lot of the initiatives we proposed, but in his own way. I have seen a lot of people claim the honor of proposing the resources that are those that connect schools to the information highway. Only a few of us know who proposed those initiatives as well. The point was that we wanted the ideas to come to fruition. I laugh when I see various people get awards and accolades for things that they never initiated , but it is part of the process , to float an idea and to let others carry the ball in Washington so as not to get it mired in partisanship. Bonnie Bracey Sutton [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
