The summit is in DC, but is available via webcast. Here’s info the event…
February 07 2013, 8:45 AM – 5:00 PM EST
445 12th Street, SW, Commission Meeting Room (TW-C305), Washington, DC 20554
Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Services Announces Feb. 7 Broadband Summit: Broadband Adoption and Usage – What Have We Learned?
The Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Services is holding this summit to identify and discuss best practices learned from broadband adoption programs and academic studies/surveys, and how implementation of these best practices can close the broadband adoption gap among Americans – particularly low-income households, racial and ethnic minorities, seniors, rural residents, residents of Tribal lands and people with disabilities. Additional details regarding the agenda will be available here prior to the event.
Attendance – This workshop is open to the public. In order to ensure space availability and expedite the security check-in process, please submit name and company affiliation ahead of time by sending an email to susan.fisenne@fcc.gov. All attendees are advised to arrive approximately 30 minutes prior to the start of the workshop to allow time to go through our security process.
Webcast – Please send an e-mail to susan.fisenne@fcc.gov to pre-register for the webcast. To view the webcast, go to www.fcc.gov/live on the day of the event. Viewers may submit questions by e-mail to livequestions@fcc.gov.
I hope to watch via webcast and will take notes. I found some compelling reasons to attend in a blog post by Angela Siefer on WebJunction…
On December 19, 2012, the FCC announced the selection of 14 broadband adoption Lifeline pilot projects. Noteworthy for those of us who care about broadband adoption but are not broadband service providers:
- The FCC is only funding the discounted or subsidized broadband service fees. All other costs including digital literacy or home computers are not covered.
- Only Eligible Telecommunication Carriers (ETCs) were eligible to apply. Many partnered with experienced broadband adoption community-based organizations. The grants are not clear who is covering the costs of digital literacy training or home computers.
- All funded projects include a research component. The FCC is most interested in learning “which variations in the broadband service offerings result in higher adoption rates among low-income consumers. We have selected a diversity of projects that will study the effects of varying subsidy amounts, end-user charges, access to digital literacy, data usage limits, choices for broadband speed, access to equipment and other important variables affecting broadband adoption.”
As one of only two federal agencies working on broadband adoption, it is important that those in the field working on broadband adoption attend the FCC Broadband Adoption Summit. Also noteworthy is that there are currently no other national events planned focused upon broadband adoption.
Attend. Be seen and be heard.