How Chattanooga is leveraging digital inclusion to open its innovation district to all

Given the challenges confronting emerging innovation economies, district leaders are faced with a difficult, but important question: How can we advance place-based, innovation-driven economic development while ensuring more people reap the benefits? In 2015, stakeholders in Chattanooga (TN) launched a digital-equity initiative, Tech Goes Home (adapted from the successful Boston model), to coincide with the launch of the Innovation District. The Enterprise Center, a nonprofit economic development partner to both the city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County, leads the program, which works with local partners to provide community members with 15 hours of digital skills training, a new device (e.g., a Chromebook or iPad), and assistance acquiring low-cost home internet. The program, which in four years has served over 4,500 residents, is designed to remove fear and instill agency for those caught on the wrong side of the digital divide. Just as important, it is meant to make Chattanooga Innovation District a place where everyone—particularly those who have previously been excluded from such spaces—feels welcome. Supporting residents through relationships, networking, and agency to engage on their own terms—the fundamental work of digital inclusion—is one way forward in a world dictated by both geography and connectivity.

[Geoff Millener is the Digital Equity Officer at The Enterprise Center]