Southern Indiana Business Report
BLOOMINGTON – Regional Opportunity Initiatives has selected six projects in five Radius Indiana counties to receive Digital Towns 2.0 funding to improve digital equity and inclusion in the Indiana Uplands.
Greene County
Organization: Do What Is Good, Inc.
Project Description: Do What Is Good, Inc. is a faith-based organization focused on rural community development in Indiana. Grant funds will allow churches to provide digital literacy workshops and assist residents in accessing reliable devices and Internet connectivity.
Lawrence County
Organization: Lawrence County Economic Growth Council
Project Description: Grant funds will be used to create a comprehensive website for community residents, job seekers and employers that will function as a central hub to make connections for employment, education and training resources, and high quality early learning/childcare.
Organization: StoneGate Arts & Education Center
Project Description: Grant funds will support the StoneGate Digital Support Service program through digital skill-building classes, a coworking space for remote workers, and access to digital and media services equipment and training expansion.
Martin County
Organization: Town of Shoals
Project Description: Grant funds will be used to deploy six mesh networks to provide free, high-speed Wi-Fi access to high-traffic public spaces.
Orange County
Organization: Orange County Economic Development Partnership
Project Description: Grant funds will support digital literacy training courses for adult learners to enhance their employability and productivity in the workplace.
Washington County
Organization: Washington County Community Foundation
Project Description: Grant funds will be used to install and provide public Wi-Fi at Salem Community Park.
ROI launched its Digital Towns grant program following the development of digital inclusion plans in 2023. As part of the planning effort, each of the 11 counties in the Indiana Uplands worked collaboratively to analyze data and develop recommendations for improving local broadband connectivity, access to computing devices, and digital literacy.
“Even before the pandemic, our predominately rural communities were seeking support to help residents and individuals thrive in our increasingly digitized society,” said ROI President and CEO Tina Peterson. “Each of our 11 counties eagerly worked independently and collectively to identify how best to decrease the digital divide locally with practical strategies for improved access and literacy.”
Borrowed from a framework developed in Ireland, “Digital Towns” are defined as geographic and information spaces that adopt and integrate information and communication technologies in all aspects of town life.
Four grants were awarded in the first Digital Towns round, and six grants were awarded in this second round.
“We’ve been incredibly impressed with the quality of applications we’ve received for the Digital Towns program,” added Peterson. “We wish we could award funding to all of our community applicants, but we are proud to support six innovative projects in this round and are encouraged by the progress being made regionally to create a more digitally inclusive Indiana Uplands.”