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Next B4DE Event This Tuesday: Building Connected Communities, Sustaining Momentum
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Lots happening for Digital Inclusion Week 2023, which kicks off this Monday. One free online event that will be of particular interest for digital equity advocates across the nation is the next National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) Livestream.
The popular virtual gathering will be held this Tuesday, Oct. 3, from 12 noon to 1:15 pm ET and will focus on the DIW-inspired theme: “Building Connected Communities: Sustaining Momentum.”
Attendees can still register here.
Building on the success of our previous events, we are excited to present another engaging agenda packed with practical insights and information digital inclusion practitioners can use while working in the trenches to bridge America’s yawning digital divide.
The agenda includes:
- The latest on the on-going efforts to save the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and the advocacy work being done to avert a major setback in boosting enrollment with the program’s funding on track to be depleted by next summer – without Congressional action.
- A series of lightning rounds on outreach initiatives geared to connect “covered populations” – defined by the Digital Equity Act as subsets of the population that have historically experienced lower rates of computer and Internet use, such as immigrant communities, older adults, and veterans.
- Also on the agenda is a telehealth presentation that will be led by Debra Socia, President and CEO of The Enterprise Center. That part of the B4DE event will focus on the powerful potential of telehealth and how it can be a leading driver of broadband adoption, especially as more people and policymakers begin to realize the promise it has to improve health outcomes and generate tremendous health care cost savings as telehealth has huge implications in enabling older adults to age in place and better monitor chronic health conditions. Socia will share insights on The Enterprise Center’s telehealth initiatives in Chattanooga.
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- Finally, to conclude the 75 minute event will be a keynote presentation by Joshua Edmonds, CEO of Digital C, the Cleveland-based nonprofit technology social enterprise. Edmonds will focus on the link between building appropriately-motivated physical networks and how infrastructure and digital equity work go hand-in-hand.
Like past B4DE events, the October live stream will once again be sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber and co-hosted by NDIA’s Pamela Rosales and ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director Christopher Mitchell.
Register here so you don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to learn, connect, and make a difference as digital equity advocates across the nation are leveraging an historic investment in the expansion of broadband access and adoption.
The livestream will be available (and later archived) on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter) with live viewer questions answered by the invited speakers and presenters. We recommend viewing it on YouTube where the live chat will be most lively. Other questions can be submitted using the #B4DE hashtag on X (Twitter).
To see the previous #B4DE Livestream below:
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