City of Tallahassee News Release:

The Digital Harmony initiative that provides Nims Middle School students with computers to further their education received the Significant Achievement award in the Web & E-Government Services category for cities with similar populations from the Public Technology Institute (PTI). The award was presented by PTI Executive Director Alan Shark at this year’s PTI Technology Solutions & Innovations Conference & Exposition, held May 12-14 in San Diego, Calif.

Digital Harmony was spearhead by Tallahassee City Commissioner Andrew Gillum and supported by the City of Tallahassee and local businesses and technology partnerships. The Digital Harmony project is a collaborative partnership designed to expand Internet access to underserved parts of the Tallahassee community. For the first two years, it provided every incoming sixth grader and new seventh (during the 2008-2009 school year) graders at Nims Middle School with a new three-year warranty desktop computer, free Internet access and online academic curriculum training on core class curriculum. The school holds ongoing training courses for parents and students on basic computer skills and school curriculum as well. The end of the 2008-2009 school year marked the end of the second year of the program.

The upcoming 2009-2010 school term is promising to be the biggest and most successful of the three year Digital Harmony project at Nims Middle School, with an expectation of more than 200 additional students. Allan Stamm, with Go Beyond Foundation and currently providing leadership for the Digital Harmony program, has launched an Adopt-A-Computer campaign to help meet the goal for each student to have home access to a computer. For more information, contact Stamm at Go Beyond Foundation at 850-894-1754.

“The City is proud to be a partner in this award-winning program,” said Commissioner Gillum. “As the world becomes more digitally savvy, it is our responsibility as a community to make technology resources and education available to our youth.”

More than 90 households in underserved areas in the Southside of Leon County received access to technology through the Digital Harmony program during its first year. Having the computers in the home enabled family members to tap into community-wide resources. Additionally, equipment was provided to the school’s computer labs. This increase in students’ access to computer technology helped the overall population to realize scholastic gains and benchmark mastery in both reading and mathematics.

“We understand how vital it is to get this technology in the hands of our youth,” said Don DeLoach, Chief Information Officer for the City of Tallahassee. “The marketplace demand for technological knowledge keeps growing, Digital Harmony is helping these students and their families build skills that can greatly benefit them now and in the future.”

PTI is a national, not-for-profit member-supported organization based in Washington, D.C. As the only technology organization created by and for cities and counties, PTI works with a core network of leading local government officials to identify opportunities for technology research, to share solutions and recognize member achievements, and develop best practices that address the technology management, governance and policy issues that impact local government.

For more information on Digital Harmony, please contact the Go Beyond Foundation @ 850-894-1754 or visit www.gobeyondfoundation.org or www.digitalharmonyleon.com.