Approach

The Knight Center of Digital Excellence helps you build the strategies and roadmap to connect your community. From identifying possibilities, to creating an information and communication technology (ICT) strategy, to planning for sustainability, the Center’s goal is to be a catalyst for transformation for your community through broadband applications and solutions. The Center’s Connected Community Team (CCT) is your “on-the-ground” support and guidance through a thorough approach:

  • Discover digital assets and opportunities;
  • Connect key community leaders and stakeholders for collaborative implementation;
  • Create an information and communication technology (ICT) vision and roadmap;
  • Fund projects through sustainable business models and multi-stakeholder investment;
  • Build digital capacity for civic transformation and global competitiveness;
  • Transform communities through 21st-century applications for citizens and commerce. 

Discover Digital Assets and Opportunities 

Because every community has different assets and resources, the Knight Center of Digital Excellence’s process begins with an evaluation of how these align to meet the most pressing needs of the individual region and deliver the greatest impact. Because local buy-in is critical for success, it’s during this initial phase that champions and local stakeholders come to the forefront.

Connect Community Leaders

In parallel with identifying your community's focus areas, the Connected Community Team helps locate and then collaborate with your community’s stakeholders. Ideally, this is a broad-based group of champions, whose contributions will touch as many community groups as possible. And to ensure that each stakeholder is fully vested in the process, the strategy reflects maximum return on investment for each.

Create a Vision and Roadmap

With the Connected Community Team's guidance, your community will develop an information and communication technology (ICT) strategy that maximizes economic and social impact. The most successful plans benefit as many community groups as possible, including government, private industry, nonprofits, education and health care institutions, and individual citizens.

We will help you devise an implementation plan that establishes the priorities and goals for your project, incorporating the our expertise in overcoming potential roadblocks.

Fund Projects Through Sustainable Business Models

The Center’s team is well-versed in developing business models to deliver sustainability for your ICT implementation. The Center will offer guidance as you seek funding from a variety of sources. This helps stimulate local commitment and accelerate project progress. For select Knight Communities, one source of funding will be the Digital Opportunities Challenge Fund.

Build Digital Capacity

We help you choose solution providers based on what's best for your community, not what's best for individual organizations, encouraging collaboration instead of competition. With expertise employing a multitude of network platforms (broadband, fiber, WiFi, WiMAX, etc.), the Center guides your efforts in building a network that meets the current and future needs of your businesses and citizens.

The Center also provides you with the online resources needed for support during the planning and building phases of projects, including an online collaborative workspace where stakeholders share ideas and update each other on initiatives.

In addition, the Resource Center contains an extensive collection of research, tools, and resources to help guide your efforts.

Transform Through 21st Century Applications

The Knight Center of Digital Excellence works with communities to develop technology strategies that overcome challenges to spur economic development and civic opportunity. Citizens enjoy improved quality of life thanks to the creation of programs in education, health care, government, public safety and other areas that utilize a comprehensive ICT strategy to grow 21st-century communities.