By Herald Staff

Regional Opportunity Initiatives has launched a regional digital inclusion planning effort to advance broadband and connectivity across the Indiana Uplands region.

While progress has been made across the region through initiatives like Indiana’s Next Level Connections Initiative, geographies across the region suffer from limited access and quality. ROI’s Digital Inclusion Initiative is intended to help identify the information necessary for counties, communities and the region to accelerate efforts to achieve the digital resources, sometimes referred to as digital capital, necessary for regional prosperity and economic competitiveness.

Working in collaboration with each of the region’s 11 counties, ROI and the Purdue Center for Regional Development will create a comprehensive regional digital inclusion strategy that will identify strategies and tools to develop digital resiliency in the Uplands region. The digital inclusion plan will outline ways to improve infrastructure, internet speed, connectivity, access to devices, and digital literacy for each county in the region.

A vital component of this study is a Digital Capital Survey to assess home internet speed, computing devices, and how individuals use their digital devices.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and will be open through Monday, Nov. 16. It can be accessed here.