by Paula Ellis, in Akron, Ohio, April 10, 2008
Good morning. Thank your for being here with us on this important day. I’m Paula Ellis, vice president for strategic initiatives at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
I welcome those of you here in Akron as well as those joining connecting to us from around the nation through the web.
I am joined by Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic, OneCommunity CEO Scot Rourke, and Knight Foundation Akron Program Director Vivian Celeste Neal. Each of us will say few words.
I am here today to announce the creation of the Knight Center of Digital Excellence.
It is fitting that we stand here today in Akron, the birthplace of the Knight newspapers, as we seek to bring what was the town square of the 1950s to what is the new frontier of our time — the internet.
From San Jose to Wichita to Miami we embark on an audacious journey to provide universal access to the citizens of all 26 Knight communities.
We are a national foundation with local roots where the Knight brothers had newspapers.
The Knight Foundation has committed $25 million over the next five years to bring the digital square to our citizens.
Fifteen million dollars of that will support the Knight Center of Digital Excellence to act as the glue for the effort. The Center will provide the technical support to each of the communities as our communities become ready to take on this challenge. The Center will also be a central repository for the knowledge we gain from this groundbreaking work in universal access.
From the center we will deploy non-profit consultants on behalf of the public.
We live in the Digital Age.
In a single year, we generate more than 161 billion gigabytes of information.
Thats three million times the amount of information contained in all the books ever printed.
More and more, we conduct our civic, social and business activities online. We connect and communicate digitally. The Town Square of yesterday has gone digital, and no one doubts the Internet is the on-ramp for global competition.
In every city and town, it is important to ensure that no one becomes a second-class citizen simply because he or she lacks access to the Digital Town Square. The foundation’s First Amendment roots tell you why we believe information is a core community value.
We believe that without access to the internet, you don’t have access to democracy.
Thats why we have also created a $10 million digital opportunity fund for Knight communities.
These funds will be available for challenge grants and seed funding to Knight communities, starting here Akron.
We believe the Knight Center of Digital Excellence along with this digital fund will enable our communities to start down the road of transformational change.
What is the center?
The Knight Center of Digital Excellence will be a resource center offering an array of online technology expertise for communities. Consultants will help them assess their readiness, and offer guidance on how to realize their hope of access for all.
We are honored that the Knight Center will be staffed and operated by OneCommunity, the award-winning nonprofit technology company located here in Northeast Ohio. We’ve been working with Scot Rourke and his folks on this start-up, and he’ll say more in a second about how the Knight Center works and what it offers.
We understand that this national effort can’t work without outstanding leaders in each of our communities who will champion this effort and help guide it to address each local communities needs.
In Akron, where such leadership exists, we are developing another model for digital inclusion. We are delighted to support this strong public-private partnership.
Here, to tell us more about the Knight Center’s work in Akron is Mayor Don Plusquellic.