Community Technology Action Plan Youngstown-Mahoning County, Ohio: June 2017 Prepared as part of the Connected Community Engagement Program Connected Community Engagement Program: Youngstown-Mahoning County, Ohio Community Technology Action Plan The following organizations contributed their time and expertise as part of the Youngstown-Mahoning County Broadband Team: The Western Reserve Port Authority The Oak Hill Collaborative Eastgate Regional Council of Governments ACTION (Alliance for Congregational Transformation in Our Neighborhoods) Better Business Bureau of Mahoning Valley City of Youngstown Friends of the Mahoning River Intelligent Community Forum KO Consulting Mahoning County Educational Service Center Mahoning County Public Library Oak Hill MakerSpace OCCHA (Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana) Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association The Business Journal United Returning Citizens WFMJ TV WKBN TV Youngstown City School District Youngstown FreeNet Youngstown Vindicator Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce ~ 2 ~ Connected Community Engagement Program: Youngstown-Mahoning County, Ohio Community Technology Action Plan Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 4 Project Background ................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Current Community Technology Developments .............................................................................................................. 4 Project Focus Areas ................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Assessment Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 5 Challenges ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Priority Projects........................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Digital Equity ................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Connected Program Overview .......................................................................................... 9 Why Access, Adoption, and Use? ......................................................................................................................................... 9 The Connected Community Engagement Program........................................................................................................ 10 Process ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Connected Certification ........................................................................................................................................................... 11 Community Assessment ..................................................................................................... 12 Community-Wide Infrastructure ........................................................................................................................................... 13 Households ................................................................................................................................................................................. 24 Business and Economic Development ............................................................................................................................... 35 K-12 Education ............................................................................................................................................................................ 41 Libraries and Community Organizations .......................................................................................................................... 45 Talent/Workforce Development ........................................................................................................................................... 51 Challenges and Recommendations ................................................................................ 55 Current Projects ........................................................................................................................................................................ 55 Priority Projects......................................................................................................................................................................... 55 Challenges ................................................................................................................................................................................... 55 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................................................... 56 ~ 3 ~ Connected Community Engagement Program: Youngstown-Mahoning County, Ohio Community Technology Action Plan Executive Summary Today, technology plays a pivotal role in how businesses operate, how institutions provide services, and where consumers choose to live, work, and play. The success of a community has become dependent on how broadly and deeply the community adopts technology resources, which includes access to reliable, high-speed networks, the digital literacy of residents, and the use of online resources locally for business, government, and growth, job creation, global competitiveness, The purpose of this document is to summarize the results of a community technology assessment for Youngstown-Mahoning County and to provide the next steps for addressing any deficiencies or opportunities for improving the local technology ecosystem in order to advance economic, social, and educational opportunities for families, businesses, and institutions in the community. This Community Technology Action Plan was developed following a comprehensive community assessment performed by the Youngstown-Mahoning County Broadband Team as part of Connected Community Engagement Program. Using the Connectedsm assessment toolkit, the community team was able to examine the access, adoption, and use of broadband and related technologies in the community. One key output from this process is the Connected Community Scorecard, which is used to summarize the results of the community broadband assessment and relative standing of communities participating in this process. Through the work of the Youngstown-Mahoning County Broadband Team and information reflected in this document, Youngstown-Mahoning County achieved a score of 60.03 points out of 100 for overall broadband and technology readiness. While the results indicate that the community has made tremendous strides and investments in technology, priority projects were identified to help catapult the community to a new level of technology access, adoption, and use. This plan is a blueprint for leveraging technology to improve quality of life and advanced community and economic development. Below are the detailed results and recommended strategies for Youngstown-Mahoning County. Project Background The Western Reserve Port Authority applied for a broadband assessment for Mahoning County, Ohio. The County has a population of 238,823 with roughly equal portions in urban, suburban, and rural communities. It is part of Appalachia where much of the basic infrastructure to support broadband internet does not exist. It has urban areas experiencing severe distress, with Youngstown being primary among them. The urban areas have infrastructure to support broadband, but lack adequate internet access. A survey conducted by the public library of Youngstown and Mahoning County found that 55% of users said they lacked broadband access at that the problem for Mahoning County remains two-fold socioeconomic factors that affect broadband access at home and lack of access to the necessary infrastructure to expand much needed broadband resources. In conjunction with core partners, Oak Hill Collaborative and Eastgate Regional Council of Governments as well as other collaborators, the goal is to acquire significant data on Internet use and preferences as a basis for further, informed action and to organize interested and necessary entities in support of a common purpose, one that cannot be accomplished without a cooperative use of community resources. Current Community Technology Developments As part of our overall effort to improve the access, adoption and use of broadband in Youngstown and across Mahoning County for our residents and businesses, a number of technology-related projects and strategies have been developed and are currently underway in the community: in seven after- school programs. Mahoning Cou -Fi hot spots to patrons. -time information on bus and paratransit arrivals. Development of various apps by students with YWCA, Oak Hill Collaborative, and others. ~ 4 ~ Connected Community Engagement Program: Youngstown-Mahoning County,