Quality Places
Digital Ready Community
The Digital Ready Community program empowers communities to increase civic engagement, trust, and local government responsiveness by leveraging digital platforms. A team of Purdue specialists and educators guides the community in forming a digital asset group (DAG), inventory digital assets, and draft a community-wide digital engagement plan. Deliverables include the formation of the DAG, DAG’s operational agreement and a community-wide digital engagement plan. The program lasts 6-9 months.
Overview
Why Digital Ready Community?
The Digital Ready Community (DRC) program guides community stakeholders/local champions, including local government, to help the community leverage digital platforms to increase civic engagement and trust as well as become more responsive to citizen’s needs.
Who Should Be Involved?
Every community is different, but there is a similar set of stakeholders who should be considered when forming the group that participates in the program:
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- Emergency Management
- Police/Fire
- City Hall
- Parks Department
- Works Department
- IT Department
- Councilmen/Commissioners
- County Highway Department
- Treasurer
- Clerk
- Auditor
- Utilities
- Planning Commission
- Chamber
- LEDO
- Main Street
- Extension Educator
Goals of the DRC Program
It can be a challenge getting communities to become aware and motivated to leverage digital platforms to increase trust, responsiveness and civic engagement. Through presentations, hands-on activities and planning facilitated by our Purdue trainers, communities become equipped to:
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- Earn community’s trust and convey benefits of program
- Establish a digital assets group (DAG)
- Assess current online presence & reputation
- Discuss importance of online presence, netiquette, and legal considerations
- Design and implement a community-wide digital engagement plan
The digital assets group (DAG) is key for success of this program and consists of selected members of the community whose organizations have a form of online presence, such as a website, social media, blog, etc.
DRC Programming
Over the course of six-nine months, the digital assets group (DAG) and the Purdue team meet face-to-face for nine meetings and hold two webinars. Topics covered include:
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- Forming a digital assets group
- Program overview
- Trust 101
- Online assessment and vision
- Networking 101
- Internet safety and security
- Legal requirements
- How to write a DAG operational agreement
- Community survey
- Digital engagement plan and implementation timeline
Community Results
By the end of the program, you will have formed a digital assets group (DAG), drafted a DAG operational agreement, gained knowledge on digital awareness and drafted/implemented a community-wide digital engagement plan. We guide your community through each step of this process!
Fees
The program fees include the workshops, report and plan templates, customized survey instrument and unlimited communications access with the facilitators for program period.
Indiana communities: The program can be delivered in person or online.
In person program fee: $2,700
Online program fee: $1,500
Out of State Communities: The program is delivered online only for out of state communities.
Program fee: $1,600
Apply
To apply, complete this registration form.
Team
Annie Cruz-Porter
acruzpor@purdue.edu
Extension Specialist
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Emily Del Real
edelreal@purdue.edu
Engagement Specialist
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Roberto Gallardo
robertog@purdue.edu
Director, Purdue Center for Regional Development, and Community and Regional Economics Specialist, Extension
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Cheyanne Geideman
cgeidema@purdue.edu
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
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Tamara Ogle
togle@purdue.edu
Regional Extension Educator
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Jessica Wandless
jwandles@purdue.edu
Engagement Specialist
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Contact
To learn more about Digital Ready Community, please contact:
Roberto Gallardo
Director, Purdue Center for Regional Development, and Community and Regional Economics Specialist, Extension
robertog@purdue.edu
765-494-7273
