iCalifornia Campaign Launched Today in Sacramento

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The iCalifornia campaign is a collaborative initiative that will promote and foster digital literacy and digital citizenship in California. I attended the kickoff and was very impressed by the quality of leadership and the level of commitment that is being brought to bear on the critical question of how can we act to ensure all citizens can benefit by being digitally literate.

The foundation of this effort is based on the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Leadership Council Action Plan Report entitled Digital Literacy Pathways in California.

While the effort is broadly and comprehensively targeting the general population, students and their families benefit by achieving digital literacy. The goals of the campaign include:

  • Helping workers compete successfully in a global information and knowledge economy.
  • Helping individuals develop their capacity to read, write, do math, problem solve, work in a team, think critically and use ICT for education and workforce preparation, employment success, civic participation, health care and access to entertainment.
  • Enhancing the learning environment to support teaching methods that engage and challenge learners of all ages.
  • Giving all Californians the opportunity to fully participate in the educational, civic, cultural and economic sectors ofCaliforniasociety by providing accessibility to and appropriate skills for fully utilizing government, education, workforce, health care, business and other services.

The kick off breakfast was hosted by the LINK AMERICAS Foundation, the California Technology Agency and the California Emerging Technology Fund, and sponsored by Google, Verizon Foundation and Intel.

Distinguished speakers included:

Brenda Kempster, Executive Director of LINK AMERICAS Foundation; Gregg Descheemaeker, Manager California Public Sector Intel; Carlos Ramos, Secretary of the California Technology Agency; Rob Lindstrom, Editor of Literacy 2.0; Sunne Wright McPeak, President and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund; Stacey Aldrich, The California State Librarian; Christina Gagnier, CEO of RealPolitech.