DEE Roadmaps

Guiding Tech-Based Economic Development

A Digital Economy Ecosystem (DEE) is an interconnected system of people, programs, and structures working together to develop a tech-based local economy focused on digital skills, jobs, talent, and innovation.

What is a Digital Economy?
Activity that results from billions of daily online connections among people, businesses, devices, data, and processes.

What is a Digital Job?
Anything involving the performance of an information-based task using information and communications technologies like computers, smartphones, the internet, and databases. Digital jobs exist in almost every economic sector, from retail and finance to healthcare and agriculture.

How We Do It

Through a partnership with South Carolina Office of Rural Health (SCORH) and grant support from USDA, we work with progressive rural communities with committed local leaders and engaged organizations to develop custom DEE Roadmaps that serve as economic development tools. The process of creating these guides includes 10 critical steps.

Train local broadband champions
Interview local leaders
Develop a roadmap “Dream Team”
Evaluate foundational elements, direct drivers & key assets
Explore challenges & opportunities
Create a vision & mission
Determine strategic approach based on leading assets
Develop an execution plan
Develop success metrics
Develop budgets & resources

Over 6 to 12 months, we guide communities to create custom roadmaps through regularly scheduled work sessions dedicated to research, gap assessment, asset leveraging, goal setting, and action planning. Once the roadmaps are complete, community leaders have a robust strategic plan to guide them toward awareness building, fundraising, and project implementation.

Center on Rural Innovation (CORI)

SCRIN follows a formalized structure created by the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), an economic development engine founded in 2017 by Vermont-based Matt Dunne. Dedicated to building an inclusive and equitable financial future for rural America, CORI helps small towns devise digital economy strategies that support innovation, tech entrepreneurship, workforce development, and tech job creation in the places they call home.

Since its inception, CORI has helped more than 30 communities advance and execute their ecosystem strategies, created a national Rural Innovation Network, and raised millions in federal funding and matching dollars through the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s highly competitive Build to Scale Venture Challenge grant.

Why We Do It

Despite what many people think, not all rural communities are the same. From broadband and industry to quality of life and engaged leaders, every small town in South Carolina faces a unique set of challenges. At the same time, each has myriad assets to leverage for tech-based economic development.

Some towns have Main Streets; some don’t. Some have thriving schools; others don’t. Whether high-speed internet is widespread or not, rural communities have more capabilities for innovation and prosperity than they realize.

At SCRIN, we help communities kickstart programs and initiatives that support workforce development, remote-work jobs, co-working spaces, entrepreneurship, networking programs, and local innovation. We connect people to opportunities that can help them flourish in the hometowns they love.

For us, it’s all in a rural day’s work.

DEE Community Benefits