What Do We Mean When We Say ‘Digital Equity’ and ‘Digital Inclusion’?

[Commentary] In May 2016, digital inclusion practitioners, advocates, academics, Internet service providers, and policymakers gathered in Kansas City at Net Inclusion: The National Digital Inclusion Summit and a funny thing happened on our way to the library: we discovered we were speaking different languages. We were gathered to discuss current and potential local, state, and federal policies aimed at increasing digital equity. But we realized there were a number of working definitions of ‘digital equity’ and ‘digital inclusion’ being used by summit attendees. In the weeks since meeting face-to-face in KC, a working group of us affiliated with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance began meeting online in an attempt to reach consensus definitions for these terms. After many discussions the working group came to think of “digital equity” as the goal – and “digital inclusion” as the strategy to reach the goal.
[Angela Siefer is the Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance]