The Accelerator - USA

In Year One of the project, ten CTCs will be selected via a competitive application process. They will receive services including assistance with programming and curriculum choices;assistance with technology, business, and marketing planning; and training for CTC staff and volunteers. They will also receive concrete resources, including cash or in-kind hardware equivalent to six to ten computers, software, and furniture; on-site staffing every week (ten hours) by members of the Accelerator staff for troubleshooting, program development, or direct work with end users; and resources for marketing, security, cabling, etc. Participating CTCs will match the funding provided by offering space, staffing, and management for the CTC. In Years Two and Three, these ten CTCs will receive resources for upgrades and continued staffing; they will continue their in-kind match. Also in Year Two, an additional fifteen CTCs will begin the process, receiving upgrades and continued staffing in Year Three. Thus over three years, 25 CTCs will be initiated or expanded; ten will have three years of participation and 15 will have two years.

Technology

This project will offer both services and tangible resources for CTCs in an effort to bridge the Digital Divide, a problem with some urgency. Creating CTCs at the typical pace with which new nonprofit organisations and/or programmes within existing nonprofits get started means that years will pass before CTCs are available everywhere they need to be. The Accelerator purports to proceed at a speedier pace in an effort to garner access to the technologies, networks, and training that will allow a wider population to participate in the digital culture and economy.