More than half the households in five neighborhoods in south St. Petersburg lacked connections to high-speed broadband internet as recently as 2019. That puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to education, employment and healthcare, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the City Health Dashboard.
“One of my dreams, and COVID proved it, is that internet is a utility like water, that everybody should have,” said Alison Barlow, executive director of the St. Petersburg Innovation District and co-lead of the Digital Inclusion Working Group. “How we get to that point and make it affordable is a challenge.”
There is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but the Digital Inclusion Working Group, co-led by Barlow and Veatrice Farrell, executive director of Deuces Live, have several ideas. One of them is a center to assist people in signing up for a new federal program that provides financial help to households struggling to afford internet service during the pandemic.
To learn more about this collaboration read the recent St. Pete Catalyst Article.
Over the last few months I have used this space in the newsletter to create a picture of what it takes to foster innovation. November 2023 newsletter: Innovation is a team sport. It requires diverse perspectives and experiences to find a creative solutions. It requires courage to try things out and be willing to learn what won’t work as much as what will work. It requires tenacity to keep going and going and going.
Thank you to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (JHACH) for sponsoring and hosting our inaugural Morning Sparks: Innovation X-change breakfast. The event was kicked off by Alicia Schulhof, President of JHACH, and followed by an overview of the topic - Artificial Intelligence - by Dr. John Licato of USF's Advanced Machine and Human Reasoning Lab.
Kudos to the Volunteers of America Florida, City of St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County for the recent opening of the new downtown apartments, located in the Innovation District called Innovare. Innovare’s 50 apartments provide stable homes for individuals and families who earn 60 percent or less of the Area’s Median Income (AMI), including many who are transitioning from homelessness.