Can these 8 projects help squash Philly’s digital divide?

Can money be the much-needed catalyst to help Philadelphians outside the digital space have greater access to technology?

The first move from the Digital Literacy Alliance — a newly formed 19-organization collective backed by the Mayor’s Fund — seems to think it’s a good place to start: the initiative just gave $167,010 in grant money to eight nonprofits for projects in the digital literacy space.

From workshops to spot fake news (Mighty Writers’ winning proposal) to tablet training sessions for senior citizens (by nonprofit Generations Online), the first round of projects looks promising. Also of note is PhillyCAM’s “intergenerational, hands-on fellowships in media literacy.”

Our sister site Generocity has the scoop.

Congrats to all 8 #DigitalLiteracyAlliance awardees! What an
amazing way to bring #PHLTechAccess & #PHLDigitalLiteracy to the forefront! pic.twitter.com/lPKr6Jsv0l

— PHLInnovation (@PHLInnovation) June 6, 2017

“These grants allow the City to build on existing digital literacy initiatives, such as KEYSPOT, by giving organizations further opportunities to develop creative programs in their neighborhoods,” Andrew Buss, innovation director for the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation & Technology, said in a statement. “We have a nice mix of organizations and ideas in our first granting cycle.”

The telling word from Buss’ statement is “cycle” — the Alliance’s push to back a series of projects in Philly is where the most potential for long-term impact lies. As these projects start to take shape, check back for our report on how these resources are put to use.