About

What We Do

The Knight Center of Digital Excellence assists communities in creating technology strategies to drive economic development and civic opportunity. The Center’s leadership and on-the-ground support work with community leaders to explore innovative approaches that meet the unique challenges of competing and thriving in the new economy. 

Our collaborative approach helps civic leaders identify community assets and challenges, leading to the building of a 21st-century roadmap to success.  We explore digital delivery platforms and goals for economic and workforce development, education, health care, social services, public safety, and e-government/e-democracy.  

What’s unique about the Center’s approach is our focus on sustainable business models based on a community’s assets and needs.  By bringing together the public and private sectors early in the process, we work to build consensus for the vision, requirements, outcomes, operating model and return-on-investment.  We focus on initiatives with widespread support and impact. 

Who We Are

The Knight Foundation has partnered with OneCommunity, an internationally recognized leader in creating connected communities, to bring the Knight Center of Digital Excellence to life and make universal access an obtainable reality. The Knight Foundation and OneCommunity announced the creation of the Knight Center of Digital Excellence in April 2008. Watch the announcement here.  

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's funding of the Knight Center of Digital Excellence creates the first national, nonprofit resource center, initially dedicated to addressing the needs of Knight's 26 communities across the country and then expanding to help advance the vision of creating universal access across the United States. Knight has pledged up to $25 million over the next five years to accelerate digital access projects in the 26 U.S. communities where the Knight Brothers owned newspapers.

The Knight Center of Digital Excellence is headquartered in the original Knight community of Akron, Ohio.

The Knight Communities