Center to Bridge the Digital Divide
Encyclopedia
The Center to Bridge the Digital Divide (CBDD) was a self-sustaining outreach unit of the Washington State University
Extension. Founded in 2001, the CBDD was an ICT4D organization committed to assisting under-served populations leverage information communication technologies
(ICT) to better their lives and achieve desired goals. Unlike traditional digital divide
initiatives, the CBDD’s strategic focus was not on gaining access to technology but on helping target communities achieve successful application of ICT.
The CBDD was a project-based non-academic unit working with rural communities in Washington State, Community Technology
Organizations in the State of Washington, as well as eleven African countries and Afghanistan
. This focus on domestic rural communities in tandem with developing countries is another special distinction that made the Center to Bridge the Digital Divide unique among its peers.
The Center's main offices were located on the Washington State University Spokane campus with additional offices on the main campus in Pullman, in Olympia, Kirkland, and Kabul Afghanistan.
's Cooperative Extension in 2001 with startup donations and a single employee, the CBDD grew to a mature organization with 15 full-time employees, hundreds of partnerships, and global initiatives. It has since been renamed, re-focused, and transformed into the WSU Extension Program for Digital Inclusion.
organization dedicated to bringing opportunities to rural communities in Washington State. An early initiative included a teleworking project aimed at bringing information based jobs to communities struggling with the loss of natural resource based jobs. In 2002, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contracted with the CBDD to facilitate the start-up of six High Tech High Schools in rural Washington. At this time the CBDD also expanded its role within University Extension by managing 4-H
technology programs throughout the state of Washington.
Beginning in 2007, the CBDD's projects were organized into three thematic workgroups:
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
Extension. Founded in 2001, the CBDD was an ICT4D organization committed to assisting under-served populations leverage information communication technologies
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
(ICT) to better their lives and achieve desired goals. Unlike traditional digital divide
Digital divide
The Digital Divide refers to inequalities between individuals, households, business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels in access to information and communication technologies and Internet connectivity and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information...
initiatives, the CBDD’s strategic focus was not on gaining access to technology but on helping target communities achieve successful application of ICT.
The CBDD was a project-based non-academic unit working with rural communities in Washington State, Community Technology
Community informatics
Community informatics , also known as community networking, electronic community networking, community-based technologies or community technology refers to an emerging field of investigation and practice concerned with principles and norms related to information and communication technology with...
Organizations in the State of Washington, as well as eleven African countries and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. This focus on domestic rural communities in tandem with developing countries is another special distinction that made the Center to Bridge the Digital Divide unique among its peers.
The Center's main offices were located on the Washington State University Spokane campus with additional offices on the main campus in Pullman, in Olympia, Kirkland, and Kabul Afghanistan.
History
Founded as a unit within Washington State UniversityWashington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
's Cooperative Extension in 2001 with startup donations and a single employee, the CBDD grew to a mature organization with 15 full-time employees, hundreds of partnerships, and global initiatives. It has since been renamed, re-focused, and transformed into the WSU Extension Program for Digital Inclusion.
Initial organization
The CBDD was originally conceived as a digital divideDigital divide
The Digital Divide refers to inequalities between individuals, households, business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels in access to information and communication technologies and Internet connectivity and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information...
organization dedicated to bringing opportunities to rural communities in Washington State. An early initiative included a teleworking project aimed at bringing information based jobs to communities struggling with the loss of natural resource based jobs. In 2002, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contracted with the CBDD to facilitate the start-up of six High Tech High Schools in rural Washington. At this time the CBDD also expanded its role within University Extension by managing 4-H
4-H
4-H in the United States is a youth organization administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture , with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." The name represents...
technology programs throughout the state of Washington.
International expansion
Expansion into international initiatives and the ICT4D community significantly changed overall makeup. In 2002 the Center contracted with USAID to develop and manage the $3.5 million NetTel@Africa project. NetTel is a capacity building initiative that has made it possible for universities in eleven African nations to train and employ telecommunications regulators and policy makers. Since the conclusion of the NetTel initiative, the CBDD has expanded the model to reform higher education in Afghanistan through the Afghanistan eQuality Alliances.Deeper integration into the University and State of Washington
In recent years, the Center to Bridge the Digital Divide was engaged in developing the Communities Connect Network, a statewide network focused on supporting and advancing community development in Washington State through the use of community technology. The Center also developed opportunities for university students to participate in service learning activities and international internships.Beginning in 2007, the CBDD's projects were organized into three thematic workgroups:
- The Rural Networks group - involved in programming designed to empower families, individuals and communities to successfully participate in opportunities enabled through access and use of information communication technologies.
- The Digital Futures Networks workgroup - tasked to work with culturally diverse communities with a special emphasis on research.
- The Global Networks workgroup - seeks solutions to challenges in developing nations through international alliances that expand capacity of higher education to meet knowledge and human resource needs.
Partnerships
Reliance on an extensive network of partnerships was a governing principle of CBDD activities. In addition to the nework of professionals within WSU Extension, the CBDD worked closely with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, The Northwest Area Foundation, The US Department of State, many leaders in Washington state's rural communities, thirty six African universities, government ministries in partnering countries, as well as organizations from both the public and private sector.Activities
Although projects comprise the CBDD's foundation, Center staff are engaged in a wide variety of activities. The CBDD director addressed W3C meetings on several occasions. CBDD staff are frequent contributors to conferences, professional journals, broadcasts, and private consulting.See also
- Digital DivideGlobal digital divideThe global digital divide is a term used to describe “great disparities in opportunity to access the Internet and the information and educational/business opportunities tied to this access … between developed and developing countries”...
- e-ReadinessE-readinessE-Readiness is the ability to use information and communication technologies to develop one's economy and to foster one's welfare.There are several benchmarking indices at the macro level, e.g., those calculated by the UNPAN, World Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit etc.Because what appear on the...
- ICT4DInformation and Communication Technologies for DevelopmentInformation and Communication Technologies for Development is a general term referring to the application of Information and Communication Technologies within the fields of socioeconomic development, international development and human rights...
- Knowledge divideKnowledge divideThe concept of the knowledge divide refers to the gaps in standards of living and economic development that exist between those who can find, create, manage, process, and disseminate information or knowledge, and those who are impaired in this process...