Closing the gap between tech haves, have-nots

[Brian High]

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   Silicon Valley Breaking News 
   Posted at 3:46 p.m. PDT Saturday, May 22, 1999
   
Closing the gap between tech haves, have-nots

   BY JAMES J. MITCHELL
   Mercury News Staff Writer
   
   DURING the last three years, the Digital Clubhouse Network, based in
   Sunnyvale, has developed a series of innovative programs aimed at
   narrowing the gap between high-tech haves and have-nots.
   
   Several thousand people, including seniors, the disabled and
   youngsters from low-income families, have entered the digital age,
   thanks to Digital Clubhouses in Sunnyvale and New York City. The
   organization has done so well that it's a finalist for a
Computerworld
   Smithsonian award, generally considered the Academy Awards of the
   information technology industry.
   
   Now the DCN is preparing to expand its program dramatically in
Silicon
   Valley, in Northern California and around the country. If the DCN,
its
   corporate partners and many volunteers succeed, they'll show the
world
   that the benefits of technology need not be restricted to a
relatively
   small elite.
   
   The Digital Clubhouse in Sunnyvale has already proved that, albeit on
   a small scale.
   
   One of its successes, called Kids on the Web, allows elementary
   schoolchildren who don't normally have access to computers to learn
to
   use the Internet. Another is a program that helped World War II
   veterans and women with breast cancer create touching digital stories
   about their experiences. A third is a program that teaches disabled
   and at-risk teens how to create Web pages, and exposes them to
   leadership and interpersonal skills needed for success in school and
   on the job.
   
   Perhaps most impressive, the DCN has developed systems that allow the
   technology-rich to share their bounty -- of knowledge and products --
   with the technology-poor. Most instructors are volunteers -- and many
   are youngsters who learned computer skills at a clubhouse. Most of
the
   equipment and software at the clubhouses was donated by companies
like
   Mitsubishi Electronics Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Adobe Systems
Inc.
   
   NOW the DCN is pushing the envelope a bit further. This summer it
will
   bring residents of two Santa Clara County low-income housing projects
   to the Sunnyvale Clubhouse to learn about technology and how to set
up
   small clubhouses in their housing developments. The clubhouses should
   be outfitted by fall, says Warren Hegg, co-founder and CEO of the
DCN.
   If these two clubhouses work out well, Hegg would like to replicate
   the process.
   
   His most ambitious goal is to open clubhouses in other states. But
   that would require a dramatic increase in funding.
   
   Up to now, the DCN and its clubhouses have been operated largely by
   volunteers. Companies have been generous with their products, and one
   executive donated $500,000 in stock for an endowment. But cash has
   been scarce. Hegg estimates that to undertake his national campaign
   he'll need at least 10 partners willing to contribute $100,000 each a
   year for three years.
   
   The DCN's efforts to help the technologically disadvantaged and its
   way to do so have touched a nerve in the business community.
   
   For the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, an early and
   consistent backer whose mission is to help people with disabilities
   through technology, it was "love at first sight," says Rayna Aylward,
   the foundation's executive director.
   
   Cisco, which has several employees who work at or advise the
Sunnyvale
   clubhouse, is pleased at the impact the clubhouse is having on
   people's lives. "It's a wonderful program," says Maideh Radpour, the
   company's senior manager of community investment.
   
   With that kind of support, the DCN may well have a chance to fulfill
   its dreams.
   To contact the Sunnyvale Digital Clubhouse, visit its Web site
   (Digiclub), send e-mail to Admin at digiclub.org or call (408) 481-0880.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   Contact James J. Mitchell at jmitchell at sjmercury.com or (408)
   920-5544. The fax number is (408) 920-5917.
   
     )1999 Mercury Center. The information you receive online from
   Mercury Center is protected by the copyright laws of the United
   States. The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing,
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