Looking to fill digital divide, City of South Bend releases Digital Equity Roadmap

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Roughly 25% of South Bend residents do not have access to at-home internet, and about 15%-20% do not own a computing device.

The City of South Bend is looking to fill those gaps and released its Digital Equity Roadmap.

“As soon as you’re talking about wealth and equity— you also kind of have a digital divide too,” said Kathy Schuth, the executive director of the Near Northwest Neighborhood. “We see it more every day, that you need an app, you need an online form, you need access to internet for school.”

But now, South Bend is on the road to digital equity.

“We define digital equity as access to affordable and reliable internet, access to affordable and reliable devices, and also empowering residents with the skills needed use said technology,” said Madi Rogers, director of civic innovation for the city.

The city released the Digital Equity Roadmap as a plan to target areas that are offline.

“We know that there are a large percentage of our population who don’t have access to anything online,” Rogers said.

Rogers said lots of progress has been made to get all of South Bend connected to the internet.

“We have at this point doubled our open Wi-Fi footprint and look forward to tripling that within the next few months,” she said.

But, she admits, there is still a long way to go.

“So, we are falling a bit behind our peer cities," Rogers said, "but what this Digital Equity Roadmap does is outline not just the resources out there that we know of, but the city’s plans to expand upon those resources and try to fill that gap within the next few years.”

One city resource you can take advantage of if you're without Wi-Fi is the affordable connectivity program.