A Shared Space to Explore What’s Possible

Technology innovation for the public good starts with understanding people and the challenges they face. Community organizations bring that knowledge through their relationships and daily work. Technologists and innovators bring tools, expertise, and opportunities for experimentation. The Community Technology Action Network (CTAN) connects these perspectives to explore solutions grounded in community needs.

CTAN is a fluid consortium of direct-service community benefit organizations that learn together, share priorities, and identify opportunities for projects and collaboration. Convened by KC Digital Drive, the network gives members access to the region’s broader technology and innovation ecosystem.

Building Capacity for Collective Action

For organizations focused on meeting immediate needs, time to explore emerging technology or develop new partnerships can be scarce. CTAN creates space for members to think strategically about what is changing, what could improve their work, and where collaboration could help them achieve more.

The network helps members:

• Learn about emerging opportunities. Explore technologies, tools, and approaches that could benefit their organizations and the people they serve.

• Shape potential solutions. Bring community knowledge into project development so ideas respond to practical needs.

• Find collaborators. Identify shared challenges and opportunities to work with other organizations, technologists, and researchers.

• Connect with resources. Explore expertise, project support, and funding opportunities that could help promising ideas move toward action.

CTAN is also developing a transparent and equitable process for identifying projects, organizing the people needed to carry them forward, and pursuing resources. This approach gives members a voice in determining which opportunities to advance and how the work takes shape.

KC Digital Drive’s Role

KC Digital Drive serves as CTAN’s backbone, convening members and connecting their priorities with relevant people, ideas, and resources. We help organizations make sense of technological change, assess potential opportunities, and develop pathways for collaborative projects.

Through CTAN, community organizations can help shape the region’s innovation agenda while building their own capacity to put technology to work for the people they serve.

Members

23 direct-service community benefit organizations across the Kansas City region.