Oregon Health and Science University’s (OHSU) Health Equity team and Office of Digital Health held their first ever CO-LED (Community Organization Led Equity by Design) Summit. The CO-LED program brings together community and healthcare organizations using human centered design to solve multi-sector problems, like the digital divide. The summit celebrated the success of participants in Cohort 1, who developed a number of innovative and highly culturally specific digital literacy programs such as computer classes now being held by Adelante Mujeres and trainings by community health workers at IRCO. The City of Portland participated as a sponsoring organization of CO-LED, supplying tablets to the participants. The second cohort of CO-LED will launch in January 2025. 

This year's summit was focused on digital health as health services and practitioners are increasingly using digital platforms and virtual visits. Recognizing that these tools and form of service can be barriers for marginalized communities/lower income earners, health care practitioners and community organizations have moved to respond to these needs. 

Through this celebration of digital equity practitioners and health care professionals there was an opportunity to share and learn about the work and efforts being made to support health equity, and to work together to think about potential answers to the barriers being created by the increased use of technology to access healthcare services. 

It was amazing to learn about the work folks are doing such Adelante Mujeres and IRCO, as well as Dr. Darren Malinoski and the creation of web based donor registry, or Dr. Justin Keller and the development of the PointClickCare software, and how healthcare professionals have begun to build trust in communities by developing/supporting programs to respond to community needs. 

The City of Portland Digital Equity Team got to attend and talk to BIPoC small business owners to learn about challenges and needs around technology. Many small business owners don’t have funds to invest in technology and will continue to reinvest their revenue in inventory/supplies to keep the business going but have that difficulty of investing in technology, high speed internet, or developing digital skills to grow the business and often can’t compete with big business.  

2025 MHCRC Community Grants Cycle

Multnomah County Library is recruiting bilingual tech help volunteers who speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Mandarin, or Cantonese. Use your tech skills to assist library patrons with mobile devices, websites, e-readers, downloads, and general tech basics. Volunteers work one-on-one with patrons using a variety of devices. Interested? Visit Multnomah County Library for more information. Contact Volunteer Services by email at libvols@multcolib.org or by phone at 503.988.5731. 

Data Caps at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 

The FCC is currently inviting individuals to share their experiences with data caps. If you or members of your community have experienced having service limited, terminated, or have been charged fees for hitting a data cap, you can submit your experience to the FCC.

National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) ACP Loss Request  

AT&T recently admitted to improperly submitting approximately 4000 subscribers to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and its predecessor program the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB). The company agreed to pay back about $380,000 in addition to $1.9 million in civil penalties.  

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