Our Mission at DDAD
We believe that all people deserve: broadband-or-better Internet access; the education required to use computing, telephony, and networking technologies; and the ability to own said technologies without fearing financial hardship.
We strive to lower and eventually eliminate the barrier to entry for Internet-based business, for personal, recreational, and artistic use of the Internet, and to serve historically and currently disadvantaged and under-served communities.
For our offerings, we accept program participants who qualify solely on a standard calculated household income basis. We do not discriminate based on: income source, race, gender, orientation, occupation, national origin, geographic location, disability, age, family status, parental status, or political beliefs.
What are the three activities that are required to close the Digital Divide?
1) Address and solve physical gaps in broadband Internet fiber infrastructure for home access
Companies that serve static wireless, satellite, multi-WAN, and cellular home Internet solutions are good, but no telecommunications connection will ever be better than a wired one. We strive to build fiber access points for all homes, especially in areas like Thermal/Mecca, Sky Valley, Desert Hot Springs, and Blythe that are under-served or entirely lacking for fiber.
The Desert faces a unique challenge with its extraordinary heat - fiber infrastructure above the ground tends to deteriorate much faster as a result. We only provide non-fiber solutions in the meantime if the area we are trying to serve needs a lot of work to get fiber there.
We intend to far exceed the minimum 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload standards. Let’s get high-speed fiber to every home in America.
2) Educate students, teachers, and other qualified individuals in software, hardware, and network usage with a focus in remote education software
Following the 2020 pandemic, public and private schools alike took to using remote education software to continue the education of students who were unable to attend school due to closures and disease restrictions. Granted, the situation was unprecedented, but it turned into a total nightmare for both students and teachers.
Most of those students fell so far behind because the software they used just did not provide the features needed to keep their attention or interest in the subject matter at hand. Students in a variety of different situations can distance learn with the right tools and the right leadership.
We want education to be powerful, impactful, and joyful. We collaborate with the leading edge in educational software to give students and teachers exactly what they need.
Good education starts in the home and continues in class.
3) Connect qualified individuals to low or no cost computing and telephony equipment
With how connected the world seems to be, it is devastating and hard to fathom that some people have never been able to afford a computer, a tablet, or even a smart phone without assistance. We respect the programs that have come before us that have provided equipment, but anyone who has ever used a government-provided phone has typically had a negative experience with the device itself.
We do things differently here at DDAD. We partner with companies that are able to donate to qualified individuals some of the best computer and smartphone equipment on the market. We believe everyone should enjoy their technological experience for business or recreation alike.
Everyone deserves the opportunity to have the best. No one should be left behind because of poor socioeconomic planning decisions.