Transmission Project

Community Technology Network creates opportunities for people to learn 21st-century skills.

Despite an overall increase in Internet and computer access in 2009, only about 62% of those with incomes of under $25,000 have a computer at home, and disproportionate numbers of these individuals without access are elderly or Latino. This digital divide impacts a person’s ability to apply for jobs, access valuable community information, network with others and have the skills needed to maintain a job in today’s work places.

Community Technology Network (CTN) works to bridge the digital divide through programs that support and enhance digital literacy in the Bay Area’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.

CTN initiates and manages partnerships with organizations that have computer centers to equip low-income San Francisco Bay Area residents with the technological tools and resources they need to explore educational, professional and social opportunities in and beyond their communities.

CTN facilitates interaction and support between community technology leaders and practitioners to leverage, develop, and improve upon curricula and services. In this communal work flow, practitioners develop innovative resources, explore ideas, and disseminate information directly to colleagues. CTN collects this valuable information and shares it with community technology practitioners throughout the world.

While C-CAN,The Community Computer Access Network is no longer active, the Technology Literacy Collaborative has taken up the work of this important initiative.

Please visit the TLC website to find out about programs and projects in the Twin Cities (MN) that address Digital Inclusion. http://tlc-mn.org/

Byte Back’s mission is to improve economic opportunity for low-income residents of the Washington DC area by providing computer training and employment readiness skills.

The goals of Byte Back are to:

Provide high-quality computer courses to unemployed and underemployed residents of Washington, D.C. and the surrounding communities.
Supply job readiness assistance including preparing for job interviews, developing resume writing skills and assistance with job search.
Assist unemployed and underemployed residents in obtaining employment that pays a living wage.
Offer deeply meaningful volunteer opportunities to professionals, employees in the technology industry and program alumni.

Break Away Technologies is a 501(c)(3) organization located in the Jefferson Park area of Los Angeles that was founded by Joseph Loeb in 1992 after the civil unrest in South Central Los Angeles. We are committed to our community and its residents and focus our efforts and resources on bridging the digital divide. We believe that digital technologies are tools that real people in real neighborhoods can use to connect with jobs, health services, essential information and services, and to power their futures in the emerging marketplace

The lead organization: PIFVA, founded by filmmakers in 1979, mission is to strengthen, promote and serve Philadelphia’s independent media community through programs which provide opportunities to learn, mentor, produce and screen work, advocate for the community and network. PIFVA is dedicated to increasing the creative capacity of Philadelphia media artists, promoting public appreciation of independent media making, and encouraging the talent and ability of the region’s creative community of filmmakers.

We support through grants and services, media makers who work to effect social change. We assist in sustaining their work.

Some of project goals are:

To increase access to new communication and information technologies.

To enable media makers access to tools to create work

To breakdown the digital divide, the gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology and those with very limited or no access at all.

To emphasize political change and increase political and social awareness and to raise awareness of the need for media literacy and a more public, democratic access to media.