Beyond Bridging the Divide: The Case for Integrating Technology in Our Communities
(1/1/2004 – 5/30/2006)
In 2000 the Illinois Community Technology Fund (ICTF) was established through a lawsuit to address the potential negative impact that the SBC/Ameritech merger (Docket # 98-0555) could have on citizens in rural and low-income areas of Illinois. In an effort to bridge the digital divide, 76 organizations throughout the state of Illinois received ICTF grants between the years of 2000 and 2001 to provide technology services to Illinois residents representing a broad spectrum of ages and populations.
After the disbursement of the grants, the Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) at Loyola University Chicago was invited to collaborate with ICTF to evaluate the effectiveness of the grants. During the evaluation period, 68 of the original 76 organizations provided information on the services offered during the grant period through site visits, interviews, questionnaires, focus groups and reports. The purpose of this report is to highlight important evaluation findings as well as discuss the potential policy implications of the evaluation results.
A policy report was also developed that articulates the importance of ‘integrated funding’ – supporting both technology and programming rather than solely focusing on providing technological hardware.
Reports:
Research Team:
A. Kerr, Graduate Fellows
A. Sharma, CURL
D. Van Zytveld, CURL
M. Williams, Community Fellow
K. Baumgartner, Community Fellow
T. Kellam, Community Fellow
A. Araujo, Undergraduate Fellow
M. Hellwig, Community Adviser
J. Joslin, Graduate Fellow
Community Partner: