Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Circo backed the proposal announced at a digital divide forum today at the downtown library.
Google moved the city forward with high speed fiber but not all of it, and forces are gathering to attack the digital divide.
R. Crosby Kemper III, president of the Kansas City Public Library, today called for a two percent requirement on development tax incentives to fund digital literacy and access.
The Cerner Corporation is to get more than a billion dollars in tax incentives for its massive development planned in South Kansas City, Kemper said, and probably would not even oppose the two percent.
That program, he said, “could create a center for digital access within walking distance of every school.”
It would make the city a national leader not only in Internet speed but also access, he said.
It would be similar to the city’s successful one percent for art requirement for work on public buildings, Kemper said.
Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Circo backed the proposal announced at a digital divide forum at the downtown library.
The city just hired a manager for its art initiatives and there could be another to provide a central focus for the digital program, she said.
Circo, who term limits out this year along with five other council members, said up to nine new council members could be elected this year.
She urged the room full of advocates to approach those candidates.
‘Ask them where they are – what is their position on this,” she said.
“It’s a huge opportunity in the turnover,” she said, and could be a way to raise awareness so digital divide becomes the next big issue at city hall.
Kemper said the need is clear, that 70 percent of children in the Kansas City school district did not have computer connections at home, and 40 percent of the children have at least two addresses in the course of a year.
A Google study found that 17 percent of people in Kansas City do not use the Internet. Of that group, 41 percent of them think it is irrelevant, 46 percent of them are African American and 44 percent are seniors.
The meeting today included a release of summit findings on the digital divide and how to attack it. That report, more data, and volunteer sign up sheets can be found at the new site, digitalinclusionkc.org
David LaCrone, digital branch manager at the library, said, “We thought it was important to make the case, to have it there in perpetuity.”
The site also allows people to type in a zip code and find any public wifi access. Smart phones can also use it to find that computer access.
“The irony of using a digital tool to help solve the digital divide is not lost on us,” LaCrone said.
Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner, library deputy director, closed out with a battle cry: “Let’s walk together and let’s go to city halls, all the city halls, not just Kansas City.”
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