Lowell Internet, Networking and Knowledge (LINK)

CFWC will oversee the U.S. Department of Commerce-funded three-year project, Lowell Internet, Networking and Knowledge (LINK): Sustaining Broadband Access Across the Generations. Beginning in 2010, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, in partnership with community agencies, aims to expand broadband usage within Lowell and the Merrimack Valley. The overarching objective is to reduce the digital divide by increasing public capacity and access points for those who would not otherwise use broadband.

Nationally, low-income individuals, people who lack a college education, and seniors at all educational and income levels, have lower rates of broadband use. In an increasingly electronic marketplace, this gap deprives these individuals of equal access to job opportunities, employment training, educational opportunities, financial services, and health and wellness information.

The digital divide also produces negative externalities that affect overall society: higher unemployment rates, less educated/trained citizens, and higher health-care costs. Working with a diverse set of partners, LINK addresses contributing factors to the digital divide through an inter-generational approach that crosses class, gender, ethnic, and racial boundaries. By promoting broadband use while providing greater access, we will create sustained growth in regional broadband demand.

LINK will support community-based computer centers at the United Teen Equality Center (UTEC), the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell, Community Teamwork, Inc., three senior/disabled public housing properties in Lowell, and three Merrimack Valley senior centers. This will increase access to broadband for low-income youth, unemployed residents, young WIC mothers, and seniors. UMass Lowell students and young people at UTEC will train as instructors to help clients in these facilities. Furthermore, content modules, splash pages, and marketing material will be developed to make information on employment, training/education, health and wellness, and financial literacy more widely accessible. Parterning with Elder Services Merrimack Valley and utilizing UMass Lowell community health faculty expertise, specific content will be developed, informed by a survey asking seniors about reasons for their broadband usage/non-usage. For youth, specific health-related content will be developed in collaboration with our youth partners. Materials will be produced in English, Khmer and Spanish, reflecting the region's diversity.

In addition, a Merrimack Valley broadband awareness campaign will be launched with workshops, demonstrations at our partners' computer lab sites and content information distributed in public libraries, housing developments, businesses and through a range of media including public access television and foreign language radio programming at the University's radio station. Finally, UMass Lowell researchers will survey clients and document factors that increase or inhibit broadband use, linking use to socioeconomic and demographic variables. Findings will help others replicate this project in their communities.

LINK represnets an innovative effort that couples training, mentoring and outreach resources of the community with UMass Lowell's research, organizational, fiscal management, and evaluative capacity. UMass Lowell has worked with community-based organizations on a wide range of projects and has learned how best to collaborate in ways that leverage their partners' assets.

For more information contact Craig Thomas.