next century cities

Content tagged with "next century cities"

Displaying 11 - 20 of 67

"Fiber" Freshens the Soul: Susan Crawford's New Book Delivers More Than Data

Susan Crawford has published the right book at the right time. Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution -- And Why America Might Miss It, makes a compelling case for local organizing around better Internet networks upon which the future will be written. 

The book revolves around several communities that will be familiar to anyone following community networks - cities like Chattanooga and Wilson, many of whom are members of Next Century Cities. Even people with only a casual interest in how to achieve the best Internet access will recognize some of the community names in Susan’s latest book. 

As someone who has tracked these networks closer than most, several of the anecdotes were new to me and sufficiently powerful that I - literally - had to restrain myself from cheering while finishing the book on a flight. So it works well both for someone unfamiliar with the technology or movement as well as for those of us who have worked from within it for many years. 

Susan dives right into the tech and marries it to the purpose:

Those hair-thin fiber strands, capable of carrying billions of phone calls simultaneously, plus advanced wireless communications that depend on that fiber extending into the last mile, will make possible virtually unlimited, cheap communications capacity wherever you are—which in turn will give rise to new businesses, new transport capabilities, new ways of managing our use of energy, new forms of education and health care, new ways of earning a living, and new forms of human connectedness. For these things to happen, both fiber and advanced wireless technologies need to be widely and competitively available. Without these basic pieces of open infrastructure in place, your country will be missing out on the future being lived and built elsewhere.

Speaking of purpose, this next paragraph is the type of prose that I think sets Susan apart from other writers on these issues.

Getting Your Community Broadband Ready Just Got Easier With Toolkit From Next Century Cities

On January 16th, Next Century Cities (NCC) launched a resource that will help communities of all sizes prepare themselves for the future. NCC's Becoming Broadband Ready: A Toolkit for Communities combines best practices and experiences from places across the country to assist local communities as they begin broadband projects.

Download the toolkit.

Ready, Set, Launch

In order to celebrate the new resource, learn about the content, and discover how the toolkit can be relevant to a range of projects, NCC hosted a launch event on January 16th. In addition to providing a demonstration that revealed the ease of using the toolkit, NCC brought community leaders to the event for a panel discussion. Dr. Robert Wack from Westminster, Maryland; Dan Patten from MINET in Oregon; and McClain Bryant Macklin from Kansas City participated on the panel hosted by ILSR’s Christopher Mitchell.

Panelists discussed the unique challenges they had encountered in their communities and how they overcame them along with the ways they addressed those challenges. In addition to issues that surrounded how they educated the community, panelists also talked about matters that influenced their choices of model, financial problems, and other issues. Below, you can watch the panel discussion, which include conversation on collaboration, information sharing, and other matters.

The Toolkit

Becoming Broadband Ready: A Toolkit for Communities is a comprehensive resource that covers considerations from early in the process to determining success throughout implementation. In addition to offering guidance with examples from across the country, the toolkit offers links to other resources, such as model ordinances, reports, podcasts, and organizations laser-focused on specific and relevant issues.

Reaching Across the Aisle on Tech Policy

Despite the ongoing saga of what has become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, elected officials and policymakers still managed to gather at Google’s Washington, D.C., office yesterday for the Opportunities for Bipartisan Tech Policy conference. The half-day conference, hosted by Next Century Cities, the American Action Forum, and Public Knowledge, aimed to identify areas of bipartisan consensus in the issues of rural broadband, data privacy, and spectrum policy and to discuss potential priorities for the new Congress.

Read about some key takeaways from the conference below. For the full experience, watch the video archive of the event.

Keynote Highlights

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s opening conversation with Deb Socia of Next Century Cities touched on many of the topics that would be discussed throughout the day, including rural and tribal broadband access, data privacy and consumer protections, and efficient allocation of spectrum. Commissioner Rosenworcel also pointed out the importance of working with states and localities to improve the accuracy of federal broadband availability data in order to better direct resources to underserved communities. (Learn more about how the FCC data overstates broadband access.)

In the second keynote discussion, moderated by Will Rinehart from the American Action Forum, Robert McDowell, former FCC Commissioner and Partner at Cooley LLP, and Blair Levin, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, spoke about the future of 5G and how to measure the success of broadband subsidy programs. When asked what his priorities would be if he were an FCC Commissioner, Levin replied:

“What I would do is free up the cities . . . I do think that city officials — they know more, they have the right incentives, and we’ve got to free them up. And the FCC is doing exactly the opposite"

Panelists Find Some Common Ground

Don't Miss These Livestream Events from DC January 15th, 16th

As you plan your week, make sure you have access to YouTube early so you can livestream the "Opportunities for Bipartisan Tech Policy" from 9 a.m. - 12:30 EST. The event, which will be streaming from Washington, D.C., is sponsored by Next Century Cities (NCC), the American Action Forum, and Public Knowledge

Check out the agenda for the event.

Distinguished Guests

In addition to keynote conversations from FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Senior Brookings Institution Fellow Blair Levin, our Christopher Mitchell will moderate a panel on rural broadband. The discussion on rural broadband will include input from:

 Other panels will cover the topics of data privacy and security, and spectrum. Representatives from institutions such as the Georgetown Law Center on Privacty and Technology, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and ALEC will also be attending; expect a spirited event. It’s a half-day filled with policy, described by Next Century Cities as: 

[B]ringing together members of Congress, community leaders, and policy experts. Keynote conversations and panel discussions will work to determine key policy goals and action steps for the new Congress, with a specific focus on rural broadband, digital privacy and security, and spectrum legislation.

You can watch the livestream here and follow the conversation on Twitter: #BipartisanTech

 

Vids from Connected New England Event Now Available

Hartford, Connecticut, was abuzz in early November with policy and tech experts discussing the connectivity situation there and in the region. If you weren’t able to attend, or didn’t have the chance to stream it live, you can now watch video from the event.

The day is divided into a dozen separate videos, so if you’re interested in a specific panel discussion or presentation, you can easily find what you’re looking for.

Next Century Cities hosted the event along with Connecticut’s Office of Consumer Counsel and they described the event:

This one-day event brought together broadband champions from federal, state, and local government, as well as community leaders and policy experts. Features included a mayors’ panel, successful models in broadband deployment, E-Rate and funding opportunities, 5G and small cells, as well as an update about the recent municipal gain ruling in Connecticut.

Welcome with Cat Blake:

State Rep. Josh Elliot

Richard Kehoe for Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Mayors' Panel

Successful Models Panel

Shoutout to Janice Fleming

Municipal Gain Update by Joel Rosenthal

Dividing Lines Premiere

Financing and E-rate Panel

Yes! You CAN be at Connected New England! Livestream it!

If you couldn’t make it to Hartford, Connecticut, don’t despair! The good people at Next Century Cities and the Office of Consumer Counsel have got you covered. They’ve set up a live link so you can watch all the great panel discussions and presentations from the Connected New England event.

You can watch the event below or follow this link to watch it directly on Vimeo. Special thanks to the Internet Society for sponsoring the livestream.

 

As a reminder, Gigi Sohn, former FCC advisor, and a Distinguished Fellow at Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, will deliver the Afternoon Keynote.

Additional panels will discuss:

  • Municipal Gain Update from the state’s Office of Consumer Counsel
  • 5G & Small Cells Panel - Josh Broder from Tilson will moderate
  • Successful Models Panel - Christopher Mitchell will moderate
  • Financing & E-Rate Panel - Deb Socia from Next Century Cities will moderate

Worth Reading: FCC Worsens Digital Divide

For all their attempts to tout their accomplishments, the current FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai is failing miserably at the their promise to shrink the digital divide in America. In a recent commentary in The Hill, policy and program manager for Next Century Cities Cat Blake explains how, rather than reducing the gap between Internet haves and have-nots, policy changes under the new administration is making the problem worse. Cat offers a few specific examples of policies and actions taken by the current FCC that have not only aggravated the problem of digital inclusion, but masked the realities of its severity.

Lifeline Under Attack

The federal Lifeline Program offers subsidies for phone and Internet access connections for low-income folks. Blake writes that this tool, one of the most effective in allowing people to obtain access to the Internet, is one of Pai’s targets — a big target:

Pai’s proposed changes would cut off approximately 70 percent of the 10 million program participants — including approximately 44,000 individuals in DC alone — widening the digital divide among the country’s most vulnerable populations. Lifeline is the only federal program that provides subsidies to disadvantaged Americans for 21st century communications services and it is relied upon by victims of domestic violence, military veterans, homeless youth and others to stay connected.

Broadband Deployment

Pai has continuously claimed that the current FCC has “taken significant steps to expand broadband deployment in previously unserved parts of our country.” While the 2018 Broadband Deployment Report offered a six percent increase in the number of people with access to broadband — increasing to 95 percent — Blake notes that the increase wasn’t purely due to deployment:

A Full Day, A Full Schedule at Connected New England in Hartford

The agenda for Connected New England has shaped up to be full of valuable information, which makes November 8th is a great time to visit Connecticut. If you live in the Nutmeg State, or one of the nearby states, the drive to Hartford will end with an impressive list of speakers and thoughtful panels. You can register here for "Connected New England: Local Solutions for Broadband Development," to be held at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

This one-day event will bring together broadband champions from federal, state, and local government, as well as community leaders and policy experts. We will feature a mayors’ panel, successful models in broadband deployment, E-Rate and funding opportunities, 5G and small cells, as well as an update about the recent municipal gain ruling in Connecticut. 

People, People, People

In addition to Hartford’s Mayor Luke Bronin, State Representative Josh Elliot will welcome attendees. Mayor Bronin will then join the Mayor’s Panel with his peers from New Haven, Stamford, and East Hartford.

You’ll recognize several of the voices participating at the event as some of the panelists include Community Broadband Bits podcast guests Fletcher Kittredge from GWI, Aaron Bean from Westfield Gas & Electric, and Tom Coverick of Keybanc Capial Markets.

Gigi Sohn, one of our favorite policy thought leaders, former FCC advisor, and a Distinguished Fellow at Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, will deliver the Afternoon Keynote.

Topic, Topics, Topics

Other panels include:

Make a Date for November Travel to Connecticut With Next Century Cities

Next Century Cities is busy organizing another get-together for broadband advocates, community leaders, and policy gurus. “Connected New England: Local Solutions for Broadband Development” will happen on November 8th in Hartford, Connecticut. Save the date!

In addition to Next Century Cities, the state’s Office of Consumer Counsel will also be hosting the event. The action will occur at the Legislative Office Building, 300 Capitol Avenue.

This one day event will bring together broadband champions from federal, state, and local government, as well as community leaders and policy experts. We will feature a mayors' panel, successful models in broadband deployment, E-Rate and funding opportunities, 5G and small cells, as well as an update about the recent municipal gain ruling in Connecticut.  

Keep your eyes open for registration information. If you’d like to be a sponsor, contact Cat Blake for details. You can email her at cblake(at)nextcenturycities.org.

Couldn't Make it to Pittsburgh? Vid of NCC Conference Now Online

If you couldn’t make it to Pittsburgh for “Making Connections” with Next Century Cities in July, you can still almost be there. The Internet Society has now archived the video footage of the event — speeches and panels — and made them available online.

Among the videos, we recommend Blair Levin’s keynote and the panel moderated by our Christopher Mitchell. In Blair’s speech he speaks about the importance of local authority as communities across the U.S. try to find the best way to deploy high-quality Internet access. Blair’s speech focuses on how smart cities and smart policy depend on learning and how the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Council (BDAC) is earning a failing grade. Through its imbalance in membership, misconceptions about the power of the telecommunications industry, and inability to negotiate properly it's placing too much power in the hands of already powerful ISPs.

The results won’t bring broadband to those who need it, won't facilitate smart city technologies, and seems designed only to confirm what they want to believe, which is that local communities should not have control over their own connectivity solutions. 

You can check out all the videos from the event here.

Read the text of the speech or watch video of Blair’s speech and the panel that follows: