Description:
Location: Multi-Purpose Room
Date: Thursday May 19th, 2016
Time: 10:45-11:45 AM
Facilitators:
Karen Perry
Broadband Specialist
BroadbandUSA, NTIA
Karen Hanson
Manager, Partnerships and Interagency Affairs
BroadbandUDA, NTIA
Katherine Bates
Senior Program Manager
Urban Libraries Council
NTIA’s Community Connect Initiative is a part of the Administration’s broad ConnectALL Initiative. The Community Connect Framework and Tools will support communities with strategic assessment and planning tools to promote local priorities and advance broadband access, adoption, policies, and use.
The goal of the effort is to increase the number of communities assessing their connectivity impacts and investing to improve community broadband outcomes. The Framework and Tools will set the stage for communities to participate in a robust framework for broadband planning. NTIA is conducting extensive outreach to gather input from stakeholders across communities to help shape the Connect Framework and Tools. Attend the session to discuss:
- Broadband adoption is often defined as having a computer, basic digital skills, and a home broadband subscription. Should this definition change in an environment where millennials rely on mobile; more people have transient housing;, device options are exploding; and advanced skills are fundamental
- What are the roles of government and civic institutions in promoting digital inclusion and equity? What are the indicators and measures that define role-model programs? Is there a baseline level of support that all communities should provide?
- How should we define and discuss training in an age where basic digital skills are still important but content development management and creation skills are critical to economic advancement and civic participation?
Notes from session:
- Three pieces of the program:
- Connect Framework
- Framework is working on a better name. Contact Karen Perry if you have ideas.
- Four components:
- Access
- Adoption
- Policy
- Use (least developed section - probably won't get worked on until next year)
- Online Assessment
- Report & Recommendations
- will be seeking feedback about report structure in June/July
- Design of the program is meant to be aspirational but not prescriptive
- already received feedback from stakeholder meetings in September
- Wanting to put program in context of planning framework
- want to allow communities to in-depth conversations, assess where they are, and make steps for improvement
- Going to focus on tools