Thousands of City of Calgary employees rely on their computers everyday for work, but like all technology in corporate environments, it has a limited lifespan.
Although those computers no longer meet the IT standards of the city, they still remain able to connect to the internet, access websites, and allow people to undertake most basic daily computer tasks.
That was the thinking that saw used City of Calgary computers being donated to qualified Calgarians under the fair entry program during a pilot in 2024, and that has now expanded into a full fledged program in 2025.
“One part of the digital divide is not having access to computers. And we thought, we have computers here at the city that are at the end of their life cycle, but they’re still good for the community,” said Luis Moura, Program Manager for Digital Equity/Partnerships and Regional Collaboration at the City of Calgary.
“We did a pilot, and there was a huge success. We delivered more than 300 computers, and now we are partnering and working with United Way and tech helps to expand that program and help more Calgarians.”
The aim, he said, was to deliver an additional 250 computers to individuals and families in need who are part of the fair entry program.
As part of the program’s expansion, he said, social impact organizations working with the United Way can now nominate Calgarians as well to receive a computer.
Savera Hayat, Director of Community Strategies at the United Way of Calgary and Area, said that the charity was working to deepen community impact to support vulnerable Calgarians=-=
“One of the strategies that we’re focusing on is supporting grassroots organizations and also Diversity Equity and Inclusion. And we know that for through digital equity, we can actually deepen the impact by providing those access to technology, digital literacy and aspects like that.”
She said that the United Way was working as a bridge between the City of Calgary, those social impact organizations, and non-profit Technology Helps who will be delivering the computers and supporting users through training.
More services going online means more need for digital devices
In Calgary, said Hayat, more services are being provided by non-profits online and that necessitated more access to computers and the internet for vulnerable Calgarians.
That gap has been observed by Charles Buchanan, CEO of Technology Helps.
“It is really anything that that prevents someone from being a full participant in the world today. So we live in a world that’s increasingly digital. Almost everything that one could do today to be effective or engaged requires requires computerization or digitization,” he said.
“So anything that’s keeping you from being a participant, whether it be a device, whether it be connectivity through networks, whether it be skills, whether it be support, whether it be the ability to engage safely, is something that’s holding people back.”
Technology Helps, he said, is re-purposing those City of Calgary computers for users, but also providing them much needed support and training.
“We are the arms and legs of the program. So the city provides the devices, my team takes them, we clean them up, and we give every device a Technology Helps sticker, so the families can call for technical support.”
That support he said also includes cybersecurity training, to keep people safe, especially as many of the people who receive a computer have never used one before.
“It’s a two sided coin. On one of them, it’s like a revelation. It’s like, the first time you’re getting glasses after being in the dark for a long time. So that is one thing. So yes, it opens a lot of doors… but it would be irresponsible of me not to talk about the risk that it poses.”
“We ensure that each family or that that we support is given basic cybersecurity education, and they’re invited to contact us for anything that might look suspicious. But it does open so many doors. Doors to sports to faith, to community engagement, to connecting with family, to doing so many things. I don’t see how one functions without a device these days.”
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