Digital equity has become a priority for local government since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and partnerships play a critical role. Collaboration can help government entities build capacity for a variety of IT areas.
The city’s new digital inclusion plan, released last week, builds on its digital inclusion road map, a strategic plan created in June 2021 to consider, “How can we build on what we’ve already done?” according to Estefania Zavala, digital equity and economic inclusion officer in the Technology and Innovation Department.
What has already been done is wide-ranging, including COVID-19 response programs that leveraged CARES Act and American Rescue Plan Act funding to distribute Internet-enabled devices. Officials launched a digital inclusion hotline in 2020, which is still available today to help people navigate resources. And, because the city had been working on a digital inclusion initiative prior to the pandemic, Zavala said Long Beach was well positioned for the work made necessary by the pandemic; strong relationships with community-based organizations that serve marginalized populations have already been forged.
This is the foundation for the work ahead. Long Beach recently released a bid to find potential partners for digital inclusion services. The city is also assessing its as-needed RFP for digital inclusion services, to augment city partnerships. And its focus will shift, partially, from device access to digital literacy.
“All of that is also in partnership and anticipation of our Digital Equity Act grants,” Zavala said.
Several other projects are underway; the city recently applied for the California Public Utilities Commission’s California Advanced Services Fund Broadband Adoption grant to support two, Digital Equity and Inclusion Coordinator Raul Vazquez said.
Should the application not be approved, the city would seek other funding, Zavala said: “What’s really exciting about being in digital inclusion right now is that there are tons of different funding sources becoming available.”
One project, Cambodia Learn and Earn, is focused on digital literacy programming for public libraries, using community-specific curriculum tailored to meet specific needs. The other is focused on expanding public Wi-Fi at a local park.
The city conducts its work in digital inclusion with an eye on racial equity, Zavala said, noting that public Wi-Fi at parks plays a key role in improving equity and inclusion. Areas of the city disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic have been prioritized for public Wi-Fi installations.
And leaders updated the city’s digital inclusion resource guides to be offered in multiple languages: English, Khmer, Tagalog and Spanish. Partnerships with community organizations ensure when residents call the city’s digital inclusion hotline, they can be referred to groups that host digital skills training to meet the needs of different populations.
“We’re really focused on making sure that we are working with our partners, co-creating strategies to move forward so that we are as competitive [and] as attractive to these Digital Equity Act grants as we can be,” Zavala said.
The city of Long Beach, she said, convenes the various organizations and stakeholders committed to digital inclusion. The new plan was created through this collaborative model; and Digital Equity Act funding will also happen by collaboration.
COLLABORATION AT LARGE
Collaboration is a major part of the city’s broader technology strategy, Long Beach Technology Partnerships Officer Ryan Kurtzman said.
The 2023 Long Beach Collaboratory (LB Co-Lab) program enabled officials to work directly with community members to understand neighborhood-level problems and develop solutions.
Collaboration also played a role in a city initiative to improve user experience. User testing and research are standard practice in the private sector, Kurtzman said, but not always in the public sector.
Late last year, Kurtzman said, the city developed a civic user research playbook to outline best practices. It offers information for staffers to use to improve the request for proposals process, to ensure technology vendors are adequately evaluated.
Since then, the city teamed up with the U.S. Digital Response to launch a learning cohort focused on user experience. The 10-week program, which focused on user experience testing related to five city projects, concluded in July and generated more than 2,500 survey responses from community members, Kurtzman said.
The resident-led city Technology and Innovation Commission is another example of the city’s collaborative mindset. It includes seven city residents and has helped inform the city’s approach to creating the generative AI guidance introduced in January.
In June, the city launched a Digital Rights Platform, which helps the city communicate with the public on their rights, relative to city tech initiatives and implementations.
These types of public engagement, the city’s Administrative Analyst and Smart Cities Communications Fellow Lesly Figueroa said, reflect a larger trend.
“Our world is shifting,” she said, highlighting the need for increased communication and information sharing between the city and the public. “The more that we connect with residents, the more we learn from them, too.”
