What We’re Doing
Achieving universal computer ownership will not happen through any single activity, program, or organization. It depends on good, usable technology reaching people, the organizations that prepare and place it, and the policies and decisions that determine whether any of that happens at all. Digitunity works across four connected areas, Supply, Distribution, Influence, and Integration, to make computer ownership possible for everyone.
Digitunity’s field-level Theory of Change maps what has to change across the broader system. These four areas show where Digitunity is currently operating within that system now:
Four Areas of Work
1. Supply
Increasing the flow of usable technology
Every day, computers leave first use as businesses, institutions, and government agencies upgrade or retire equipment. Much of that technology still has years of useful life left, but it needs a practical pathway to reach communities rather than remaining in storage or moving directly to recycling or disposal.
Digitunity connects organizations retiring technology to qualified refurbishers and community partners that can prepare and place it responsibly, helping to make reuse and donation practical and secure options for technology leaving first use.
2. Distribution
Strengthening the organizations and infrastructure that help computers reach people
Community organizations and refurbishers do the essential work of serving the technology needs of their constituents. They understand local needs, hold trusted relationships, and manage the practical work of placement, day in and day out.
Digitunity strengthens the relationships, tools, and infrastructure behind that work, helping these organizations operate more reliably and at greater scale. Digitunity’s role isn’t to distribute computers directly; it’s to build the conditions that let others do so consistently and effectively.
3. Influence
Changing the policies, practices, and decisions that shape computer ownership
Whether retired technology reaches people in need isn’t determined by availability alone. It depends on corporate IT asset disposition policies, funding priorities, and institutional practices.
Digitunity uses research, field expertise, and tested models to influence those decisions, working directly with businesses, government agencies, funders, and policymakers to make leveraging retired IT assets for community benefit a more established part of institutional practice.
4. Integration
Connecting the work across sectors
Activities within Supply, Deployment, and Influence don’t occur independently. Progress in one area depends on progress in the others.
Digitunity connects organizations, expertise, and resources across all three, coordinating efforts that no single organization could sustain alone. This is where Digitunity’s role as a national intermediary comes into focus.
Why These Areas Have to Work Together
A larger supply pipeline doesn’t solve the problem on its own if there are no organizations able to prepare and distribute computers. Community organizations can’t meet local needs if usable technology never reaches them. And policy or institutional change matters because it determines whether resources move at all.
Digitunity works across these four areas to connect the people, resources, and decisions needed to make computer ownership possible for everyone.
Be Part of the Work
Whether you’re a business with retired equipment to contribute, an organization working to place technology locally, or a funder invested in systems change, there’s a role for you in this work.