The Oklahoma Eagle

With Oklahoma’s workforce ranking 43rd in the nation in home access to personal computers and internet services, the City of Tulsa is taking a leading role in elevating local digital literacy in our community. Mayor Taylor has announced a partnership with One Economy, a global non-profit organization that uses technology to help low to moderate-income families improve their lives and enter the economic mainstream. One Economy, known for the Bring IT Home to America initiative, will bring broadband access to over 700 households in Tulsa by providing resources and technical assistance for a two year period. To improve our workforce, education and quality of life, Mayor Taylor is introducing three steps that the City of Tulsa will take to improve the digital divide.
“Bring IT Home Tulsa is a public/private initiative that delivers not just opportunity, but a measurable impact in reaching and elevating the technology foundation of Tulsa”, said Mayor Taylor. “This will enable our citizens to build better life skills, career opportunities, learning capacity and educational attainment at an affordable value for families.”
Bring IT Home to Tulsa – Bring IT Home to Tulsa will provide affordable and no-cost in-home broadband internet and community based technology access to traditionally underserved communities through the AT&T, AccessAll program and a unique collaboration with One Economy Corporation, Habitat for Humanity affiliates and other low-to-moderate income housing providers. One Economy has been in Tulsa for nearly six months conducting focus groups and building partnerships with Allegiant Benefit Inc., AT&T, CAPTC, Habitat for Humanity, Office of the Mayor-City of Tulsa, One Economy, Nordam, Tulsa Housing Authority, Tulsa Public Schools and Workforce Tulsa.
The approach taken by AT&T, AccessAll, is combining computer equipment, internet access, training and public purpose online content, and has already proved effective in a pilot program conducted by One Economy. Based on a comparison with a  national study of internet users conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life project, participants in One Economy’s Digital program are using the internet nearly twice the rate of other low-to-moderate income Americans and improving job performance, health outcomes and community connection through engaging in specific online activities, via enrolling in web-based courses.
Tulsa Beehive – The Tulsa Beehive, www.thebeehive.org, set to launch in early 2009 is an online portal that connects people to informing, engaging, multilingual information about health, money, education and family. The site that will also offer links to job services, resume building, insurance information, family and community education, housing and financial management tools.
Pilot Employee Technology Assistance Benefit – The Employee Technology Assistance Benefit enables working families to elect to contract with Purchasing Power to buy affordable new name brand home PCs through payroll deduction. Tulsa companies may elect to contract with Purchasing Power to provide this benefit to their employees. The Employee Technology Assistance Benefit is available to any individual despite any credit impairments. Nordam and City of Tulsa are both offering this option to their employees.
“Bring IT Home Tulsa will give area residents the technology and information they need to make their communities better places to live, work and learn,” said Howie Hodges, Senior Vice President at One Economy Corporation.”
In 2009, Mayor Taylor will host a summit on workforce and community technology to review case studies of the impact made by this program to each company’s goals of this process.