Mr. Hardik Bhatt, Chicago's Chief Information Officer was the featured speaker at the February 28th luncheon of the Economic Development Council. In his speech "Towards Digital Excellence in Chicago: Crossing the Digital Divide with Wi-Fi and Other Programs" Mr. Bhatt spoke of four pillars of Digital Excellence for Chicago:

• Education
• Economic Development
• Digital Inclusion
• Government Services/Public Safety.

His statement - a call to Digital Excellence - reflects Chicago's penchant for big visions, and is to be applauded.

The City's Request For Proposals (RFP) for deployment of a citywide wireless (wifi) network was the first meaningful official public recognition and commitment with respect to addressing Chicago's Digital Divide, requiring vendors to incorporate a Digital Inclusion strategy in their proposal.

The concept of Digital Inclusion has gained currency as cities consider deploying wireless networks. It's a new spin on the Digital Divide. Inclusion is clearly a good direction, and the courage to bring social justice back into the public debate is welcomed - we need champions in the cause of Digital Literacy, Access & Equity - but Digital Inclusion is not enough. Chicago can set a much higher bar. We can make a bold statement about leadership in the global economy by promoting partnerships for Digital Excellence. If we position Mr. Bhatt's four pillars to support this vision of Digital Excellence, in the not too distant future, Chicagoans everywhere will be:

• Confidently using collaborative tools...

• Cultivating their voice by expression in media of their choice...
• Creating and extending tools to their own purpose.

This is not a task to be taken lightly nor dismissed for its difficulty or improbability. Will Digital Excellence be used as a gimmick to sell us a WiFi network, or will the City commence a public dialog on the merits of the proposals submitted? Today, the content of the proposals remain unknown and unavailable to the general public, hidden behind the veil of the city's procurement process, and the vendors withhold their Digital Inclusion plans from public scrutiny.

Through the CDAA we've been popularizing the notion of Digital Excellence since the City hearings on Closing the Digital Divide last September, when the Wireless RFP was released. We're glad Mr. Bhatt is on the stump for a big vision, but we hope he and others in the city can see that neither Digital Inclusion, nor the much preferred goal of Digital Excellence can be left to the vendors, that's not their expertise. The path to Digital Excellence must be grounded in community leadership and practical field expertise in digital literacy outreach and education.