Last updated: 2/5/24. This article will be updated to reflect changes to the schedule or new speaker announcements.
Anyone else excited for Net Inclusion, coming up in just two weeks?!
If you’ve been to this conference before, you know it’s a massive gathering of people working towards digital equity from just about every sector imaginable. Last year we met adult education instructors, statisticians, elected officials, economists, broadband providers, criminal justice reform advocates, and even a professional dog walker, not to mention all the library workers. This year should be even bigger: NDIA expects more than a thousand attendees.
And more exciting news: for the first time, NDIA invited attendees to propose sessions and panels for this year’s conference. The schedule is jam-packed with presentations, and the speaker list is a who’s-who of digital inclusion.
Of course, all that means the agenda can be a little intimidating… We combed through the line up so you don’t have to! Here are the sessions most relevant for libraries:
Tuesday (2.13)
| Time slot | Title of session |
| 10:30am – 11:30am | ♿Accessibility Toolbox for Digital Skills Training Learn about the disparity in access to broadband service, devices, and digital skills training for people with disabilities, and feel more comfortable working with ALL people. 🎓Connecting Digital to the Adult Literacy Ecosystem How can organizations serving adult learners meet their needs by reinforcing critical digital skills and providing other means of digital inclusion? |
| Lunch | 📡What to Expect from the FCC in 2024 We’re likely to hear about E-Rate cost sharing for library hotspot lending and school bus wifi, two pressing current issues. Also likely on the agenda: ACP. |
| 1:15pm – 4:15pm | 🧭Digital Navigator Programs 201: Caring for Your Middle-aged DN Program For those with digital navigator programs wondering what to expect at the one year mark and beyond, from seasoned DigNav program coordinators. ♿How Can You Engage the Disability & Accessibility Ecosystems? Best practices to start engaging disability-focused organizations from square one. 🚶…or skip the afternoon sessions and visit the Charles Library on a Temple University digital inclusion walking tour! |
And if your library is interested in makerspaces, creative labs, or digital expression for teens, you’ll want to catch the PhillyCAM meetup. (Directions available in Sched.)
Wednesday (2.14)
| Time slot | Title of session |
| 10:30am – 11:30am | 🧭Framing Access: Digital Navigators & Libraries Examine the digital navigator model from an information seeking behaviors perspective. Featuring standout library leaders and catered specifically to librarians. 💸Modernizing the Universal Service Fund (USF) for Digital Equity Discussion of the future of E-Rate, ACP, and other USF programs including future hotspot lending, from thought leaders at NDIA, Benton Institute. |
| Lunch | 🏛️Maximizing Federal Funding & Keeping it Flowing We’re likely to hear what’s on the horizon for the nationwide Digital Equity Act Competitive Grant Program, probably opening this summer. |
| 2:00pm – 3:30pm | ⚖️Creating Digital Equity Programming for Prisons & Re-Entry Programs Technology access and training for incarcerated and re-entering people. No library speakers, but featuring experts in responding to the justice system. 🗣️Organized Advocacy: The Need for Local Coalitions & State Networks The role of digital inclusion coalitions and local organizations in coordinating efforts at advocating for program funding and other support. No library speakers. 🗣️Without Political Power, There Is No Path to Digital Equity Building and wielding influence locally and on a larger scale to push for political support to digital inclusion programs. No library speakers. |
| 4:00pm – 5:00pm | 🧭Getting Started: Best Practices When Developing Digital Navigator Programs Expert library leaders and other experienced program coordinators share guidance and advice for building a new digital navigator program. 🔬How Can Researchers Support Practitioners & Policymakers? Guidance for using data and recent research to design programs, track metrics, and assess your success with digital inclusion programs. |
A “Birds of a Feather” meetup for libraries was just announced – 4pm Wednesday, location TBD. (This article will be updated.)
Also, stay tuned for news on the Wednesday evening reception (and fight back those introvert tendencies – it’s worth the effort to meet new library/DE colleagues).
Thursday (2.15)
| Time slot | Title of session |
| 10:30am – 11:30am | 🧓Building Inclusive Intergenerational Technology Programs Intergenerational digital inclusion programs give libraries a chance to address isolation and loneliness while also building community digital skills. No library speakers. 🧭By Digital Navigators for Digital Navigators: A Panel of Peers Get into the grit of day-to-day business in a digital navigator program, and pose questions or hear advice from seasoned program coordinators. 📊Using Digital Skills Data to Tell the Digital Equity Story Find real data on digital skills in your community to structure responsive services and to build your advocacy case. National Skills Coalition (best data source on digital skills in the US). |
| Lunch | 🤬Digital Inclusion Work in Difficult Political Environments Candid discussion of charged environments where language around digital equity can be divisive. |
Planning to be there? Find us through the attendee chat on the Sched app or website! We’d love to meet up and deliver some Libraries4DE swag. 😉
See you there!
Don’t miss a thing.
Subscribe to the Libraries for Digital Equity newsletter to be the first to know about funding, trends, and exciting new work.
Libraries for Digital Equity 
How do I get my session added here? I’m a librarian and I’m speaking, but I don’t see it on the list.
LikeLike
Happy to add it! Send me the link via https://libraries4de.org/contact/ 🙂
LikeLike