I’ve been hearing a lot of chat about online security on talk radio these days. The focus isn’t on cybersecurity in the sense of viruses or spam but on what we used to call information literacy in the library world – including the skills to discern misleading or false information up to recognizing a con happening the email request for money, even though it does look like it comes from your grandkid.

I used to present information literacy sessions to students when I worked at a University. I went on to do more with all ages (k through adult) when I did digital training in classrooms and community centers. Because of my background as a librarian, I recognized that understanding the veracity of an email or webpage was as import as learning the mechanics of how to send an email or use Google. But it gets hard because it’s a little like teaching a kid to drive. First you want them to turn, brake and look out the rearview mirror. The you work up to freeway and parallel park is near graduate work. But just as important, we also tell kids to lock the doors, don’t drink and drive, don’t walk to the car alone at night, don’t text and drive… There seems to be a greater, widespread understanding for the need to do that will tech skills too.

I was delighted to see recent research from the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society on Building Safety Into Digital Inclusion Efforts.

Author, Greta Byrum, looked at digital equity through a lens of prioritizing safety in use of technology by and around people and communities, especially traditionally marginalized communities. She came up with some high level recommendations…

My research points to four critical considerations for administering entities in view of the breadth, range, and variety of risk vectors for new, vulnerable, and traditionally marginalized groups.

1. Digital Equity Program Design Principles: Establish tenets for building DEA Capacity and Competitive Grant training programs and campaigns that invest in holistic and culturally aware training and community support solutions.

2. Workforce, Pipeline, and Capacity Development Programs: To expand the range of informed and culturally relevant safety support resources available, invest in and support training and employment of safety experts from vulnerable groups.

3. Procurement and Grantmaking Standards: Administering entities have a duty of care to protect beneficiaries as well as organizational sub-awardees in Digital Equity Act-funded programs and activities. Implementing these programs themselves will involve many risk vectors, including the security of devices, software, and databases. Administering Entities may adopt standards governing these factors and pass them down to contractors and prospective grantees.

4. Evaluation and Scoring: Available research methods to gauge safety and security among a population are often a reflection of sentiment—that is, the feeling that people have about safety or lack thereof. As U.S. states and territories rapidly compile digital equity data and Digital Equity Act programs mature, we have a critical opportunity to develop scoring and impact metrics in this category of digital equity barriers.