Collaborative Framework for Advancing Digital Equity

Summary

A slide presentation titled Collaborative Framework for Advancing Digital Equity from the Washington State Office of Equity, presented by its Digital Equity Program Manager. It lists key accomplishments of the Digital Equity Forum, including an approved charter, a member application, added representation of prioritized groups and established workgroups. It describes three time-limited project positions: a tribal liaison, a communications consultant and an impact and accountability analyst specialist. It gives an overview of the State Digital Equity Council, created through coordination among Commerce, WaTech and Equity, and compares the council's state agency focus with the forum's community-centered, advisory role.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

Collaborative Framework for
  Advancing Digital Equity

          Katrina Tuggle
             She/Her
Digital Equity Program Manager
Washington State Office of Equity
  Building an Ecosystem for Digital Equity
• Digital Equity Forum: Leveraging Expertise and Action to
  Achieve its Mandate

• Hiring Time-Limited Project Positions for Digital Equity

• State Digital Equity Council: Guiding Statewide
  Coordination and Impact
    Digital Equity Forum: Key Accomplishments
•   1:1 Member Meetings: Built connections and gained insights.
•   Facilitator & Co-Chairs: Leadership in place to guide the DEF.
•   Charter Approved: Framework for operations.
•   Yearly Calendar: Planned activities and milestones.
•   Member Application: Expanded to ensure membership reflected prioritized groups.
•   Increased Representation: Prioritized groups added.
•   Workgroups Established:
    o Co-chairs
    o SMART goals
    o Workgroup leader meetings
    o Regular reporting at group meetings
                                Office of Equity Hiring
                          Time-Limited - DE Project Positions
              DE Tribal Liaison                 DE Communications Consultant:               Impact and Accountability
Role: Serves as the essential link           Role: Focuses on outreach,                         Analyst Specialist:
between tribal communities and state         relationship-building, and amplifying   Role: Focuses on assessing the
digital equity efforts, while also leading   the voices of those most affected by    effectiveness and transparency of
the facilitation of the Digital Equity       digital inequity.                       digital equity initiatives and AI
Forum (DEF).                                 Hired: To communicate the               programs.
Why We Hired: This role leads the DEF,       importance of digital equity, build     Why We Hired: To ensure that our
bringing stakeholders together to            trust with communities through          digital equity programs deliver real,
address digital gaps, while ensuring         trusted messengers, and highlight       measurable impact while maintaining
tribal voices and needs are integrated       successes and needs across the state.   transparency and fairness.
into state digital equity efforts.           This role ensures underserved           Impact: Provides critical oversight,
Impact: By incorporating tribal              communities' voices are heard and       ensuring our digital equity efforts and
perspectives and leading the DEF, this       uplifted.                               AI implementations are accountable
position ensures tribal voices are central   Impact: Enhances our connection         and beneficial to all communities.
to digital equity strategies, respecting     with diverse communities, helps us
sovereignty and driving collective action.   understand their challenges and
                                             successes, and ensures our programs
                                             are shaped by those they serve.
                  State Digital Council (SDEC) Overview
                                 Value Added by SDEC:

                                 Coordinating Efforts:
                                     • Aligns and integrates digital equity initiatives across state agencies.
   Creation of SDEC:                 • Reduces redundancy and ensures a unified approach.
                                 Policy & Strategy Development:
Coordination and collaboration       • Shapes state-level policies and strategies for digital equity.
    between Commerce,                • Ensures all residents have access to essential digital tools and resources.
                                 Resource Allocation:
     WaTech, and Equity              • Pools resources and funding to address digital equity gaps.
                                     • Maximizes the impact of available resources across agencies.
                                 Collaboration & Partnership Building:
                                     • Fosters collaboration between state agencies, community organizations, and
                                       stakeholders.
                                     • Drives innovation and enhances the reach of digital equity initiatives.
                                 Monitoring & Accountability:
                                     • Establishes benchmarks and metrics to track progress.
                                     • Holds agencies accountable for their contributions to statewide goals.
                                         State Digital Equity Council vs.
                                              Digital Equity Forum
State Digital Equity Council (SDEC)                                                                    Digital Equity Forum (DEF)
Focus: Primarily operates at the state agency                                                         Focus: More inclusive, bringing together a diverse
level, focusing on coordinating, guiding, and                                                         group of stakeholders, to discuss and address
                                                     Scope: The SDEC focuses more on state-level
implementing digital equity strategies across                                                         digital equity challenges from a broader, more
                                                     coordination and implementation, while the
various state departments and agencies.                                                               community-centered perspective.
                                                     DEF centers on community engagement and
Key Functions:                                       advisory functions.
                                                                                                      Key Functions:
Policy and Strategy Development: The SDEC is                                                          Policy and Strategy Development: It provides
involved in shaping statewide digital equity         Participants: The SDEC is composed mainly of     recommendations and guidance to state agencies
policies and strategies.                             state agency representatives and other high-     and policymakers based on the lived experiences
Resource Allocation: It helps manage and direct      level stakeholders, whereas the DEF includes a   and expertise of its members.
resources and funding to ensure they are used        broader range of participants from various       Stakeholder Engagement: The DEF serves as a
effectively to close digital equity gaps.            sectors and communities.                         platform for various voices, including those from
Statewide Coordination: The SDEC aligns and                                                           underserved communities, to share insights,
integrates efforts across state agencies to ensure   Function: The SDEC is action-oriented,           challenges, and needs.
a cohesive approach to digital equity.               focusing on making strategic decisions and       Community-Centric Initiatives: The DEF focuses
Monitoring and Accountability: The SDEC              implementing policies, while the DEF is more     on understanding and addressing the unique
establishes benchmarks and metrics to track the                                                       digital equity needs of different communities,
                                                     consultative, offering guidance and
progress of digital equity initiatives across the                                                     ensuring that state-level strategies are informed
                                                     recommendations based on community input.
state.                                                                                                by real-world perspectives.
Collaboration: It fosters partnerships among state                                                    Collaboration: DEF members often work in
agencies, community organizations, and                                                                smaller groups on specific digital equity topics,
stakeholders to drive collective action.                                                              such as accessibility, broadband access, or digital
                                                                                                      literacy, to develop targeted solutions.


File and source

File

2024-09-18_a32203_d273919_office-of-equity-collaborative-framework-for-advancing-digit.pdf

Size

227,436 bytes

SHA-256

b00aa3ebe09d74f11c3fe8ccc22d3138b399d833a380ab73998e1de31f49f154

Our copy

2024-09-18_a32203_d273919_office-of-equity-collaborative-framework-for-advancing-digit.pdf

Original

app.leg.wa.gov