SCC-IRG Track 2: The “Community Tech Workers”: A Community-Driven Model to Support Economic Mobility and Bridge the Digital Divide in the U.S.

信息和通信技术使个人能够申请医疗保健和住房等福利，将食品杂货送到家中，安排/参加医疗保健预约，以及申请就业。然而，在获取、使用和自我效能方面的数字不平等反映了线下的社会经济不平等，并对当今日益依赖技术的社会构成严重威胁。数字鸿沟是一个多维度的现象，它指的是三个层面的差异：第一，谁能接入互联网；第二，谁会使用互联网；第三，互联网的实际使用情况。许多弥合数字鸿沟的努力都失败了，因为它们只解决了第一级（例如，提供公共Wifi、计算机、计算机实验室），而没有持续的入职和培训支持。该项目旨在通过利用和培养当地专家（2级）的数字素养，为社区（2级和3级）提供数字支持，解决密歇根州东南部的数字差距问题。受变革性社区卫生工作者模式的启发，这项工作提出了“社区技术工作者”（CTW），这是一种社区驱动的“培训培训师”方法，旨在促进社区的数字素养。参与者包括底特律东区的一个公共住房管理局、一个为伊普斯兰蒂公共住房社区的难民提供服务的难民安置机构、一个由当地劳动力发展机构和行业代表组成的咨询委员会，以及一个由个人组成的指导委员会，该委员会参与了与提高数字熟练程度和公共卫生有关的外联、教育和干预工作。该研究将(1)开发并验证一种评估社区数字能力的调查工具措施；(2)制定初始CTW培训计划；(3)评估ctw在每个社区的培训、学习经验和影响；(4)获取和评估CTW模型的经济价值。该调查工具将扩展现有的测量个人数字能力的评估，以创建一种新的工具来测量社区颗粒大小的数字能力。该工具将在两个群体中进行验证，然后用于衡量CTW活动对两个群体的长期影响。CTW培训活动将通过与参与者的访谈和对培训课程的观察来评估。将通过参与式共同设计会议提出关于建立一个记录CTW熟练程度的证书系统和建立一个促进就业机会的市场系统的建议，这些信息可用于为工作推荐和零工申请的整合或开发提供信息。最后，将收集成本数据，对CTW模型进行成本效益分析，以探索其进一步的可扩展性。这项工作的次要成果，包括为本地居民提供免费培训，使他们获得成为CTW所需的技能，并在未来为选定的科技工作者提供临时就业机会，以及与本地的资讯科技就业机会建立联系。将该模型纳入多个社区将有助于发现创建公平的社会技术基础设施的通用需求，这些基础设施可支持社区数字能力并扩大当地机会。这种对CTW模型的开发和部署的系统观点与NSF智能和互联社区（S&amp；CC）计划的目标非常一致，该计划旨在加速科学和工程基础的创建，使智能和互联社区能够带来新的经济机会和增长水平，安全和保障，健康和保健，可及性和包容性，以及整体生活质量。该项目还得到了“改善本科STEM教育计划”的支持，该计划旨在支持具有更广泛社会影响的高潜力项目，包括改善参与STEM教育的学生和教师的多样性，教师的专业发展，以确保采用新的有效的教学技术，满足学生不断变化的需求。以及促进机构合作研究与开发的项目。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Information and communication technologies allow individuals to apply for benefits like health care and housing, to have groceries delivered to their homes, to schedule/attend healthcare appointments, and to apply for employment. However, digital inequalities in terms of access, use, and self-efficacy reflect offline socioeconomic inequalities and pose a serious threat to today's increasingly tech-reliant society. The digital divide is a multidimensional phenomenon that refers to three levels of differences: first, in who has access to the Internet; second, who has skills to use the Internet; and third, how the Internet is actually used. Many efforts to bridge the digital divide have failed because they only address the first level (e.g., providing public Wifi, computers, computer labs) without continued onboarding and training support. This project aims to address digital disparities in Southeast Michigan by leveraging and building the digital literacy of local experts (level 2) to provide digital support to communities (levels 2 and 3). Inspired by the transformative Community Health Worker model, this work proposes "Community Tech Workers" (CTW), a community-driven, "train the trainer" approach that promotes digital literacy in communities. Participants include a public housing authority in Detroit's Eastside neighborhood, a refugee resettlement agency that serves refugees in a public housing community in Ypsilanti, an advisory board consisting of local workforce development agencies and industry representation, and a steering committee of individuals who are involved in outreach, education, and interventions related to increasing digital proficiency and public health.The research will (1) develop and validate a survey instrument measure to assess community digital capacity; (2) develop an initial CTW training program; (3) assess the training, learning experience, and impact of the CTWs within each community; and (4) capture and evaluate the economic value of the CTW model. The survey instrument will extend existing assessments for measuring individual digital capacity to create a novel instrument that measures digital capacities at a community grain size. This instrument will be validated across two communities, and then be used to measure the impact of the CTW activities on the two communities over time. CTW training activities will be evaluated via interviews with participants and observations of the training sessions. Recommendations for a credentialing system to document CTW proficiency and for a marketplace system to promote employment opportunities will be elicited via participatory co-design sessions, information which can be used to inform integration with or development of job recommendation and gig work applications. Finally, data on costs will be collected to generate a cost-benefit analysis of the CTW model, to explore its further scalability. Secondary outcomes of the work include providing local residents with free training to obtain the necessary skills to become a CTW, and in the future, temporary employment for selected tech workers and connections to local IT employment opportunities. Incorporating the model across multiple communities will help uncover generalizable requirements for creating equitable socio-technical infrastructures that support community digital capacity and expand local opportunities. This systemic perspective on the development and deployment of the CTW model aligns well with the goal of the NSF Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) program, which is to accelerate the creation of the scientific and engineering foundations that will enable smart and connected communities to bring about new levels of economic opportunity and growth, safety and security, health and wellness, accessibility and inclusivity, and overall quality of life. This project is also supported by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program, which seeks to support projects that have high potential for broader societal impacts, including improved diversity of students and instructors participating in STEM education, professional development for instructors to ensure adoption of new and effective pedagogical techniques that meet the changing needs of students, and projects that promote institutional partnerships for collaborative research and development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.