Digital Inclusion week 2022

This week, October 3-7, is Digital Inclusion week in the United States.   It's celebrated here and there here in Canada (Toronto Library is running events). This year's theme is Turning Our Moment into Movement.

I've written about Digital Inclusion and it will be a core part of my work for the foreseeable future. In part because we're just not doing enough coordination work in Canada on the topic. In part because the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector has become aware of the issue and that we have a role to play to address it.

In my article about the search for digital inclusion networks in Canada, I should have remembered that the First Nations Technology Council is building an Indigenous Digital Equity Strategy exists.

They are in the midst of a process we can learn from built on "strategic planning, community leadership, and the development of future-proof solutions that centre Indigenous voices in the design of our collective digital futures. After over a decade of listening to Indigenous Peoples across BC, we know that a strategy that lays out reasonable, actionable, and attainable interventions and actions is necessary to overcome systemic discrimination and the policy and regulatory roadblocks that are preventing digital equity from becoming a reality. The First Nations Technology Council will co-create an Indigenous Digital Equity Strategy as a focused, strategic response that will achieve digital equity and nurture long-term resilience and self-determination for our communities."

It should have been on my mind, including the related OCAP data principles: "First Nations principles of ownership, control, access, and possession – more commonly known as OCAP® – assert that First Nations have control over data collection processes, and that they own and control how this information can be used."

The Ontario-based Alliance for Healthier Communities is running a (paid) webinar series this week: Virtual Privacy Officers’ Professional Learning Event (PLE): Healthcare Privacy – Where Are We At? Looks interesting.

I'm going to spend the week writing and sharing information and articles about digital inclusion, with a focus on our sector. I'll share on my site and on LinkedIn, so let's chat there if you find what I'm sharing interesting. I encourage you to share what you or your organization is doing about Digital Inclusion. This is a good week to do that. The  hashtags that will be used during the week are #digitalequityNOW, #DIW2022.