NAMIC One Step Closer To Narrowing Digital Divide.

The multi-sponsored Neighborhood Technology Center (NTC), established earlier this year as a joint effort by the NAMIC Foundation & NAMIC to bridge the digital divide, graduated its first class during a ceremony Thursday, September 27th at the Johnson Center of Santa Ana College. Certificates were presented to over 200 adults who attended and completed the 8-week course work program since the Center’s grand opening last April.

The graduates, who were mainly Hispanic Americans ranging from 19 to 70 years old, included adult immigrants, single parents, seniors, and unemployed workers. They all participated in the pilot project, and for most, this was the first time any had attended formal higher education training.

“When we started the Digital Bridge Alliance, the collective online penetration of African and Hispanic Americans hovered around 12%. New statistics show that the penetration of these same groups has grown to 40%, which is very promising. The digital divide itself, however, only narrowed slightly because the other groups that were ahead continue to grow as well. We hope that our contribution at this Digital Bridge Project site has contributed to the narrowing of the divide…and will continue to make strides towards narrowing it,” Patricia Andrews-Keenan, President, NAMIC.

The NTC project, which is housed at the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF), consisted of eight-week modules held during the day and evening. Classes were offered to local residents free of charge and delivered in English and Spanish. Courses included Computer 101, How to Use the Internet, and Microsoft Word and Excel basics.

Several graduates were able to apply their newfound skills immediately. Messrs. Juarez, Dominguez, Leon, and Gallegos, are all workers from local Metal Crafters, Inc., a company that builds prototype cars in Fountain Valley, attended the computer classes at the NTC, showing up in their work overalls. They knew they had to be more computer literate and were unable to find a safe and language-friendly environment to learn in until they heard about the Neighborhood Technology Center at MAOF. After completing the courses, Mr. Gallegos, who is the manager of the surfacing department, is now able to interface with their automated payroll system on the Microsoft Excel application.

“It was profound to see the impact of this NTC Digital Project site on the community,” said Nancy Hom, NAMIC Foundation Board Member/co-chair of the Digital Bridge Alliance and founder of AhaPlanet.com. “At graduation, people came in their Sunday best and were proud to say they’ve become part of the Information Age. This was a very fine day for NAMIC and the cable industry.”

Major Digital Bridge Alliance sponsors of this NTC included Adelphia Cable, eMachines Inc., AhaPlanet.com, the Santa Ana Community College, Technically Speaking, and others. Lifetime Television and HBO donated graduation premiums for the class at this event.

The Neighborhood Technology Center at MAOF was the NAMIC Foundation & NAMIC’s first Digital Bridge Project site, followed by a second site in Chicago at the NAACP Center. Additional sites are in the works.

Established by the NAMIC Foundation and NAMIC, the Digital Bridge Alliance’s mission is to leverage member core competencies to close the digital divide, the gap between information age “haves” and “have-nots”. To date, 50+ Alliance partners from cable networks, cable companies, broadband and high tech companies have been successfully united.

For more informationat at http://www.digitalbridgeproject.org