Lucas Turpin started a new role in 2022 focused on broadband and digital equity. Despite having a background in IT and networking, he realized that he needed to have a better understanding of community engagement and sustainability in this rapidly evolving landscape. To navigate these complexities, he found the Digital Inclusion Leadership Certificate program. This program offered valuable insights and tools to help him in his role. In this article, he shares how the program has impacted his approach to digital equity and community engagement. 

What motivated you to enroll in the Certificate program?  What challenges were you trying to solve?

I was asked by my leadership to take on a new role with a key focus on broadband and digital equity in 2022.  My work experience brought me up through the traditional IT helpdesk ranks and I have been engaged with networking for many years.  My whole professional work at Oregon State University (OSU) has allowed me to serve and work alongside our Extension Service professionals, so I have a good understanding of outreach programming rooted in equity and inclusion.  However, I’d never been responsible for putting it all together until then.  The Digital Inclusion Leadership Certificate (DILC) program was a great opportunity to hear from professionals in this space, fill in some voids in my own knowledge, and allow me time to think and see my path forward.

In what ways has the course equipped you with the skills needed to address the challenges of digital inclusion in your community or organization?

The course filled in some of my knowledge gaps around practical community engagement and sustaining it for the long-term.  I generally have a good grasp of the technical parts, but applying them to the community engagement aspects of the issue was new to me.  This course provides a great level of depth across all the necessary topics and the synthesis work does a nice job of applying the concepts in your own context.

Can you share a specific example or two of how the course content has been directly applicable to your work in digital equity or related areas?

OSU is kicking off our first statewide digital equity consortium, the Oregon Broadband Equity Consortium (OBEC).  https://oregonbroadbandequity.org and we’re working with our first community on the Oregon coast to lead them through digital equity planning that should result in the creation and launch of local programming that will positively impact their community.  

What aspects of the course content did you find most valuable, and why?

I was honestly concerned that a large chunk of the course (the tech side) would be boring.  However I found all of the content was very engaging.  While I didn’t learn a ton on the technology side, the context and history they presented around the technology was very helpful and new.  

For me the most valuable aspects of the DILC  were the synthesis work.  I was both given time to, and forced to consider all the aspects together, think deeply, and form clear facts, opinions, and stories to drive progress forward.  This began to let me see myself doing this work and where I fit in this field.  It also helped me see where I need a support team.

Digital Inclusion is a broad topic and practitioners can go deep.  This is a leadership course and I think it did a great job of presenting a reasonable amount of information across all the topics letting people fill their own knowledge gaps, and then synthesizing it all together giving me the confidence to play a servant leadership role for my communities.  

How has the course influenced your approach to creating plans and managing infrastructure for digital equity, especially in light of federal and state initiatives?

This course helped me pull all the threads together to see how to work with communities to help them weave their own digital equity tapestry.  This can not be cookie cutter work, but there are common frameworks, methods, and questions that can be used across any community to help find the way.  

I would also say there’s more clarity around how to design for sustainability in this space.  We’re on the brink of faster technological change than any other time in our past, and we need to make sure everyone has the opportunity and ability to keep up.  Digital Inclusion is not optional if we seek a just world, and I do!