Digital Empowerment Council Holds Nat'l Confab
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - Members from the Alliance for Digital Equality (ADE) leadership team participated in the Fourth Annual National Conference on Health Disparities in Philadelphia, last week. At the conference themed, “Reducing Health Disparities Through Strengthening and Sustaining Healthy Communities,” ADE highlighted the role that new and emerging technology can play in strengthening and enhancing the current “medical model” of health care as moderators and participants in panel discussions.
The conference was planned in conjunction with the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust and the Tri-Caucus Health Taskforce chairs and focused on how to address the age-old disparities that persist and exact an extreme toll on the quality of life and economic resources, in order to build viable, healthy communities.
“As our country continues to grow resulting in a greater, more diverse population, we are faced with an increased need to ensure all Americans are provided with the greatest possible standards of living, regardless of age or socioeconomic status,” said Julius H. Hollis, ADE Founder and Chairman. “I believe that fully incorporating digital technology into our health care system – as well as our education system, our workforce, our government, etc – is the key to empowering all Americans to live the best lives possible.”
ADE also launched a Digital Empowerment Council (DEC) in Philadelphia at the conference. The launch is part of a greater, national effort that will continue in cities across the country to ensure that all Americans – regardless of their race, ethnicity or income – are empowered to join the digital revolution. The Philadelphia DEC will bring together elected officials, consumers and the business community to educate minority communities about the importance and benefits of broadband usage.
“Digital technology opens the door to any number of life changing applications that need to be available to all Americans, said Shirley Franklin, ADE Senior Advisor and panel moderator. “It is critical that we continue to work together, with our Digital Empowerment Councils paving the way, to put affordable broadband access into the hands of those typically left behind and then arm them with the skills necessary to become users – so that we as can achieve our full potential.”
Representing ADE at the conference were Julius H. Hollis, ADE Founder and Chairman; Shirley Franklin, ADE Senior Advisor; David E. Rivers, ADE Board Member, Assistant Professor and Director of the Public Information and Community Outreach at the Medical University of South Carolina and Conference Organizer; Earlexia M. Norwood, M.D., ADE Board Member and Physician-in-Charge of the Henry Ford Medical Center-Troy, and the Northern Region Division Head of Family Medicine for Henry Ford Health System (HFHS); Rodney Ellis, ADE Board Member and Vice Chairman of The Tagos Group, LLC.; and Dr. Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto, ADE Board Member and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and a Faculty Fellow at Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research.
