PROJECT NARRATIVE

'01elo proposes the development of a community network and shared database, that brings together a diversity of community service non-profit organizations and individuals committed to exploiting information technologies and the NII, to serve O'ahu's in-need communities. It will build upon existing community assets to stimulate the facilitation of community-based processes designed to create social change and economic development. h will use multiple approaches of high-tech and high-touch to ensure participation by the organizations and populations underserved by information technologies. The outcomes will not just be consumer access to information but access that enables content creation. It is built upon the premise that if you develop the capabilities and skills of the community service organizations you will in turn reach the very people most likely to be underserved by information technologies.

Hawai'i has experienced a sustained economic depression for the last four years. When the real estate boom of the late eighties and early nineties went bust and the tourist market took a dive due to world-wide recessionary impact, the local economy experienced pressures never seen before. Unemployment remains above the national average at six percent. The State found it had underfunded mandated social services entitlements and required deficiency appropriations of :t;30.5 million this year. The Council on Tax Revenues has just projected a $256,600 shortfall for fiscal year '97-'98 and the Governor is calling for major cuts in all areas of government. The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 further reduces social benefits and demands the creation of an estimated 15,000 jobs.

Hawai'i has invested in stimulating technological solutions especially considering the need to diversify our economy and achieve the greatest social benefit. In this year's State of the State address, Governor Cayetano acknowledged in his list of priorities that "Hawal'i needs a first rate, state of the art telecommunications system. We have made great strides in building a good telecommunications network. However, it is not a question of our telecommunication capacity, rather it is a question of' "access'." (Appendix A)

The trend of increasing telecommunications capacity has not been consistent throughout the community. Non-profit organizations (NPOs) have not kept pace with technology at the same rate as the private corporate sector, schools or government. In a recent survey, Hawai'i's NPOs indicated that they have outdated technology, have not deployed internal computing networks, are not connected to the Internet and feel their staffs are ill equipped to take advantage of information technologies (IT). Most applications of IT remain in the administrative offices and are rarely deployed in direct assistance to clients. While a number of ISPs have made low-cost courtesy accounts available to NPOs, they are typically limited or restricted offers. Less then 25% of the NPOs surveyed have taken advantage of these offers.

This condition of an increasing technological gap will continue based upon current trends and

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current public policy. As resources are cut in the non-profit sector, staff development, outreach, educational initiatives and IT are among the lowest priorities and therefore the first to get the axe. The recent Telecommunications Act provided a mechanism to ensure affordable tele-communications service to schools, libraries and medical centers but did not provide any support for community service 1N-POs. Currently, there are no initiatives to systematically address this problem. Clearly, community service organizations have become information "have nots."

Case in point, ASK-2000 a statewide informational referral agency has been cut dramatically

reducing referrals to community services almost in half. (Appendix B)

Solution

When looking at all of these seemingly disparate concepts they could appear to be isolated needs. Taking a step back and evaluating cause and effect relationships, it becomes clear that they are linked and call for a more integrated, efficient and community-based information infrastructure.

Hlnet will connect the Aloha United Way Building, which houses 10 major NPOs, including the Hawai'i Community Services Council (ASK-2000 database) with '0Ielo and two computer training centers to support application development, data transfer, updates, sharing and access to the Nil.

HInet will also connect two computer training facilities and provide a central server, support and connectivity for at least thirty additional NPOs who are committed to embracing information technologies and cooperating in the development of shared databases.

A series of applications will be developed by first transforming the ASK-2000 database into a shared client/server application accessible and more importantly maintained via the Web. This will include creating and expanding legal self-help materials with direction from Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i and the Hawai'i State Bar Association. The YWCA will be responsible for developing content related to women's issues, the Hawai'i Youth Services Network will take on responsibility for content related to youth issues and the State Department of Labor will provide access to employment listings. '01elo will develop additional information applications with CyberCom, Inc. and Oceanic Cable, including a calendar of community events and a database to facilitate the recruitment and placement of community volunteers.

An economy of scale will result from this network, content and application development. The cost savings, technology and experience can then be shared with other NPOs. Additional NPOs will be selected based upon criteria established by a community benchmarking project. (See Appendix c) Hawai'i Community Services Council (HCSC) and '01elo will conduct organizational and technological assessments to determine the strengths and readiness of the selected NPO. '01elo will then provide a limited number of hours (in most cases up to two hours) in technical assistance to connect the NPOs existing IT investment and/or coordinate the acquisition of additional assets.

To address computer training needs, the existing ALU LIKE training site will be used and 'Olelo

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will create a training facility within its production and training facility, '01elo will also utilize its video production expertise and resources to create a series of training videos for distance learning, A two-pronged approach for end-user training will be initiated (Appendix D). Individuals identified in basic worker training skills workshops, and staff of selected NPOs will be trained on various skill sets required to access, interrogate and contribute to Internet/Intranet based applications. Classes will be delivered in computing centers, to NPOs via distance learning on the Cable Access channels and the Internet. ALU LIKE students will be trained to assist in the testing and maintenance of the developed databases.

NPOs will be offered a menu of services for basic content development including 1) Do it
yourself, 2) Limited assistance provided by volunteers, 3) More advanced development on a fee-
for-service basis. Once content is developed, donated PCs recycled by ALU LIKE's Basic PC
Trouble Shooting and Upgrades classes will be made available to organizations for clients to
access their services and other Internet resources,

Finally, fax-on-demand, text-to-speech conversion and integrating '01elo's cable channel video
bulletin board technologies will make the database accessible by more conventional means.

Outcomes

Within the grant period we expect the development of HInet to enable the seven partners and
their respective branch locations to use technology to deliver services, resulting in greater
efficiencies. We also anticipate that the public sector, especially those with no prior technology
experience will gain a better understanding and acceptance of technology. HInet will achieve the
following measurable outcomes:

* Seven NPOs and their 46 respective branches will use technology on a daily basis to
provide direct client services by accessing and using the shared database, making on-line
referrals and demonstrating and encouraging clients to explore self-help services.

* The ASK-2000 database will be 90% current by having partnerlng agencies responsible for
regular updates.

* ASK-2000 on-line queries from NPOs will increase by 65%.

* ASK-2000 on-line queries from the public will increase by 65%, resulting in 15%o increase
in self-referrals.

* 690 members of the public will receive in-class basic training on use of the Internet, e-mail
and information searches. Secondarily, 80 individuals will be placed in jobs.

· 80 % of NPOs on O'ahu will be aware of the availability and function of HInet,

Secondary outcomes include general awareness, positive modeling of private and public sector

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collaborations, the creation of forums that promote community communication and civic reengagement with community- and issue-specific chat environments, list serves and news groups, and learning outcomes on the transition of an analog video based Cable PEG .Access Center to a hybrid analog/digital media center. HInet will seek to replicate itself within O'ahu and statewide to the Neighbor Islands by including more organizations in the development process within and beyond the grant.

Replicability/lnnovation

Other communities with PEG Access or Community Media organizations can use a similar planning and implementation approach as most PEG Access centers offer similar services and mechanisms for funding as '01elo, although the amounts differ. This proposal is innovative in the kinds of groups brought together in a collaborative effort, with the focus being on utilizing "have-not" NPOs to transfer knowledge and make the NII accessible, as a part of delivering services and working within a community-based planning structure for establishing outcomes, benchmarks and social change.

Technical Approach

By using a combination of three high speed dedicated lines and a relational database running on a Unix platform we are providing our partners and their clients with an unencumbered pathway for accessing and downloading existing information. At the same time, because we are employing Web-based technology the partners and their clients have a direct method of intercommunicating with this relational technology, i.e., the ability to add or update data from any location. In essence, we are using the power of the Internet to empower people in the pursuit of their life goals, In terms of scalability, running Oracle on this platform allows for systemic growth naturally, as it, as well as the platform, is highly scalable. By employing a strict schedule of data backup with the added capacity of disk mirroring we assure a high degree of confidence in data integrity. By "firewalling" our main server we are guaranteed a high level of security and privacy for our client base. The server site is air conditioned 24 hours a day and, in addition to the UPS a backup generator automatically provides power in the event of an outage. Realizing the Internet is not universally available, portions of the database will be made available to the public by providing a "faxback" system as well as voice response technology.

Applicant Qualifications

'Olelo brings to this project a history of helping individuals and organizations create content. '01elo: The Corporation for Community Television is the non-profit organization established to manage the Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) Access facilities and channels on O'ahu, Our mission is to facilitate diverse content and provide equitable access to production and distribution resources for O'ahu residents. 'Olelo receives revenues from franchise fees to fulfill its mission. It has developed outreach initiatives, training programs, production services and cable distribution services with a $3 million annual budget. 'Olelo maintains a 19,000 sq. ft. video production facility for public uses on a daily basis. In 1996, over 15,000 hours of programming

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was featured on five PEG Access channels serving 250,000 households, and over 235 individuals were trained in basic video production. Working policies that ensure equitable access have been developed for program distribution dealing with intellectual property rights and illegal content issues. 'Oleic provides grants to the State Department of Education and University of Hawai'i for distance learning applications. 'Oleic also provides grants to the City and County of Honolulu and in-kind technical assistance grants to the Hawai'i State Legislature for gavel-to-gavel coverage of governmental proceedings. 'Oleic developed its own video bulletin board application with off the shelf PCs and multimedia software. 'Olelo began internetworking in 1993 when we connected our offices to our legal services provider and subsequently to ALU LIKE, Inc. 'Olelo is interconnected with fiber cables to I 1 sites for live interactive video feeds and a two-way feed to Oceanic Cable.

Budget and Implementation Schedule

We are requesting TIIAP assistance for $$655,899, and will be using in-kind, matching and other funding sources to match the grant in the amount of $662,848. See Budget Information for the budget detail. This 24-month project will begin on October 1, 1997 and end on September 30, 1999. See Appendix E for the project time table.

Sustainability

This project will continue beyond the grant period by using new and existing staff and interns for most functions. '01elo has recently undergone a major reengineering, which resulted in the creation of a seven-person team. of Community Project Managers to provide in-community services, including training and production support. ALU LIKE, Inc., is pursuing an Intern Demonstration Project, with the University of California at Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, which we hope will allow us to internally produce interns who are technically trained in hardware installation and software applications. This state-of-the-art training will allow the interns to perform task as community service volunteers in return for the training. Extensive data entry will also be required for the ASK-2000 database and the ALU LIKE, Inc., Hawal'i Computer Training Center has committed to providing manpower for input tasks. 'Oleic will provide ongoing maintenance and location costs for the server and incorporate training in their regular services.

Community Involvement

Partnerships

The strength of HInet lies not only in its use of technology but also in the way that collaboration is used as a planning and implementation strategy. 'Olelo has explored the use of technology with O'ahu's non-profit community since inception in 1989. HInet is the result of these explorations. All partners are committed to setting on an advisory board which will meet quarterly and will develop content for the network. The decision making process has been and will continue to be consensus based, outcome focused and open to new participants. The following is a list of contributions of the seven HInet partners. Background information on these organizations is provide in provided in Appendix F.

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Aloha United Way will contribute support to create content for the 65 United Way members, leadership in outcome-based measurement and support for connectivity at 200 No. Vineyard Boulevard where 10 NPOs are located. ALU LIKE, Inc, will provide technical consulting, technical trainers, data input, job development applications and equipment use. CyberCom will provide development of a master community calendar. Hawai't Community Services Council will assist in project assessment, access to the ASK-2000 database and provide initial data quality control and system design. Hawai'i Youth Services Network will contribute youth agency

content and access and provide evaluative support to HInet. Legal Aid Society of Hawai'l will

instruction and referral services.

provide legal self-help information including forms, step-by-step services. 'Olelo: The

Oceanic Cable will provide free dial-up and installation of cable

Corporation for Community Television will contribute staff support to market Hlnet, provide technology training to organizations (their staff and clients) and provide office space, video production and cablecasting services. Young Women's Christian Association of O'ahu will contribute office space and information resources for women.

Involvement of the Community

'01elo's role in the community is to provide the tools and environment that promote public discourse and dialogue. '01clo is not driven by specific content or issues, and instead is driven by the process of furthering community communications. Community participation and collaboration have been an important part of forming HInet. In addition to meeting with individuals and organizations representing the public, private enterprise and govemnent, 'Olelo has actively participated in a number of technology initiatives. Examples of previous community partnerships are listed in Appendix O.

The development of HInet to date as well as the continued success of the project depends on input from the many voices that make up our wide and diverse community. Continued discussion and exploration on how to broaden and improve the use of technology will continue even beyond the scope of the grant period.

Support for End 'Users
-..v. The primary end users are NPOs, with their clients being secondary end users. As previously
asserted, the non-profit community is at a significant technical disadvantage in their ability to
participate and contribute to the Nil. In addition to lacking funds to invest in technology, staff and
volunteers who provide direct client services do not have the necessary skills or experience to use
technology effectively. HInet will provide for both of these issues. Connectivity and software
applications will be developed to support the NPOs and technical training and support will be
provided. To better understand the shared benefits of HInet, imagine this:

A single mother in need of child care services visits her neighborhood YWCA. While

there a YWCA staff member uses a desktop computer to find appropriate child care

options for the client, at the same time the Y representative lets the mother know that

there are other services she might be interested in, including support groups listed in a

community calendar, Interact newsgroups and volunteer postings all related to single

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parenting. The client is then shown how to use the technology so that in the future she can
use the computer located in the lobby for public use.

Assessing community needs and strengths have been critical in the development of HInet and will continue to drive the project. Through a process of continual improvement, HInet staff will provide client-centered development throughout the life of the project. New partners will be added to the project through '01elo's community outreach efforts. Public awareness and participation will come from the NPOs and '01elo through community-based promotion and outreach. Efforts will be focused on providing training and encouraging the use of technology by offering pertinent and value-added services such as self-help and self-referral services.

Privacy

Confidentiality will be paramount for any publicly accessible work station requiring user login and password systems assigned by the system administrator. Passwords will be changed every 90 days and deleted when a person is terminated. Passwords will not show on the monitor so that they cannot be copied. Network resources will be supervised by the Project Director and located in a secure facility, Virus protection and data encryption will be installed network-wide, Personnel will not be able to save to the system hard drive,

As mentioned previously, non-profit community organizations are technology "have-nots." The seven HInet partners operate in a paper and telephone world, using computers only for administrative or back office functions. Most of these agencies do not have the most basic of Internet connections or Web presence, This would not be an issue if these agencies were not facing critical economic and social challenges,

HInet will provide non-profit organizations with technologies that will maximize their ability to meet the community's demand for services, A three-point plan will be employed to ensure long-term benefit to the agency and, ultimately, to the public they serve,

1) Development of client-centered applications will support the infrastructure to
promote intra-agency information sharing and use of technology for the direct
delivery of services,

2) Acquisition and installation of the necessary equipment and connections will make

it possible for community organizations and their respective clients to use

technology to access information.

Ongoing technology training and support to community organizations and to the
public is needed to increase the level of understanding about what is possible
through technology and to de-mystify it in the eyes of the technology illiterate,

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The segment of the public most lacking the resources and opportunities to learn about and use technology are disenfranchised individuals and families relying on public assistance, with low incomes and limited educational and employment experience. HInet will provide training and access to technology to those people who might otherwise not have such opportunities through the organizations that currently serve them best.

Funding support is needed to affect positive and lasting change in the nonprofit and public sectors and to promote greater use and acceptance of technology. If not for Federal funds, the participating NPOs would not be able to create the infrastructure or development necessary to establish shared databases or connectivity to the Nil. Their minimal resources would be spent establishing non-connected information resources available only to their own organization.

Evaluation and Dissemination

Evaluation Design

HInet's success will be measured by how well previously defined outcomes have been achieved. Success indicators include how many agencies use technology on a daily basis to deliver services, how many individuals from the public are trained and make use of technology and how many online referrals are made. In addition to gathering quantitative information, we will also seek qualitative data to determine how effective the process was in increasing use and acceptance of technology. A combination of focus groups, on-line feedback and phone surveys will be deployed to assess the project. Details on these methodologies can be found in Appendix H~

The use o£ independent research professionals will ensure objective and Constructive results the data collection and summary. A research specialist from Hawai'i Community Services Council will help design on-line questionnaires. Ward Research will conduct the independent survey and focus groups. Data will be formally summarized and used to revise HInet as necessary. The final report will also be made available to other interested organizations and communities.

Plans for Dissemination

In keeping with the dominant theme of collaboration that has driven HInet, efforts will be made to share the lessons learned from HInet with other organizations and communities in Hawai'i and beyond. Information will be made available upon request and will be actively disseminated through publishing articles, a speakers bureau and the creation of an informational video and Web site. Additional details on dissemination can be found in Appendix I.

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