“The number one threat to community economic development today is digital exclusion, so if you do not address that today, it is going to be really hard for you to not only catch up, but just to start getting some traction in this digital age.” These are the words of Roberto Gallardo captured in this special NCBM podcast by Chris Mitchell when he traveled to Raleigh on February 10 to attend the Reconnect Forum, sponsored by NC State’s Institute for Emerging Issues. Roberto Gallardo is the Assistant Director of the Purdue University Center for Regional Development and a digital inclusion expert who has studied the intersection of infrastructure development and digital inclusion. Roberto is well known for crunching the numbers which expose which demographics are most hurt by digital exclusion. In this podcast, he draws from his work in Mississippi and Indiana and describes how to use local champions to make digital inclusion programs sustainable, how to use and frame the data to gain political support, and to tailor your digital inclusion plans to local demographics, among other topics.
