KnightComm: Strengthening journalism, communities and democracy in the digital age » Geek Corps

National Broadband Plan Debuts

Amy Garmer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:46:10 +0000

Finally, it’s here – the National Broadband Plan. Released yesterday by the Federal Communications Commission, the National Broadband Plan mandated in last year’s stimulus legislation lays out a broad, aspirational and ultimately attainable vision for achieving universal broadband service across the United States. With the release of the Plan, the national conversation on the information needs of Americans in the 21st Century takes a giant step forward.

The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy stands squarely behind the goal of ensuring universal access to high-speed Internet service in this country, having recommended that the nation “set ambitious standards for nationwide broadband availability and adopt public policies encouraging consumer demand for broadband services” (recommendation #8). The FCC’s Plan picks up right where the Knight Commission report recommended.

The Plan defines the end point and a road map to get there. The robust debate that now ensues will decide how far we go and what path we take to get there. Information and communications technologies are so much a part of everyday life, there is no shortage of areas to capture public interest and attention in this debate. Economic opportunity, education, healthcare, energy and environment, government performance, civic engagement and public safety — all are covered in the National Broadband Plan.

The Knight Commission has said, “Information is as vital to the healthy functioning of communities as clean air, safe streets, good schools and public health.” Broadband is increasingly the way we access that information in the digital age. The Commission encourages everyone to get involved and be heard in the conversation and debate. The information issue is everyone’s issue.

Personal Stories of Broadband Highlight Digital Inclusion Summit

Amy Garmer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:00:03 +0000

Florence Pearson and her daughter Equanna (Photo credit: FCC)

The personal stories of individuals whose lives have been enhanced by access to broadband services or impacted by lack of broadband access formed an emotional centerpiece to the America’s Digital Inclusion Summit held in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. The Federal Communications Commission organized the event in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to preview the recommendations in the forthcoming National Broadband Plan. The event provided an opportunity to showcase a variety of ongoing programs from around the country that expand opportunity through promoting access to broadband and digital skills.

The Summit featured an impressive bipartisan parade of key government leaders in the area of communications policy, all making the case for national policies that will deliver affordable, universal broadband service to every community in the country and endorsing government partnerships with the private, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors to get us there. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen headlined the program that included FCC Commissioners Meredith Attwell Baker, Mignon Clyburn (who delivered an impassioned keynote address) and Michael Copps, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, U.S. Representatives Lee Terry (R-NE), Edward Markey (D-MA), Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Lafayette, Louisiana’s City-Parish President Joey Durel, and Knight Commission Co-chair Theodore B. Olson.

Mr. Olson provided a broad overview of the recommendations and report of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy which was acknowledged by several speakers as an important document that is helping to reframe the ways in which policymakers and the public alike think about information, communications and media and their relationship to the health of communities and democracy.

Despite of the array of government luminaries on hand, the real power of the event came from the six private citizens from across the country whose simple yet compelling stories of personal struggle and growth grounded the discussion of broadband technologies, broadband service speeds and FCC broadband research in the everyday reality of individual Americans.

Here were real people with real needs to educate their children, find jobs, support families, care for elderly parents, make healthcare decisions and help others in their communities. In keeping with the theme of the day, the Voices of Inclusion included:

Rhonda Locklear, a housing specialist from Pembroke, North Carolina and member of the Lumbee Tribe, who described the heartache of watching her sons struggle with the impediments of dial-up Internet service to access educational resources when so many of their peers enjoy the immense competitive advantages of broadband. She said she fears her kids’ chances for a better future are at risk.
Garrison Phillips, an eighty year old Korean War Veteran from New York, who attended a computer training class designed especially for seniors through an program called Older Adults Technology Services (OATS). He can now maintain daily communication with the caregivers of his 103 year old mother, stay in touch with friends, maintain contact with his agent to occasionally pick up an acting job, and conduct research from the comfort and safety of his own home that enables him to pursue his interest in writing.
Florence Pearson, education director of a Head Start program in New York, a mother and a grandmother, who overcame her fear of using computers to gain more control and independence over her work and her life. She remarked how important it is for her children to see her overcome the barriers of fear and discomfort with technology and to be proud of her for it.
Alex Kurt, an AmeriCorps volunteer and technology skills trainer in St. Paul, Minnesota, who shared insights from his experience teaching computer and Internet skills at the Rondo Library. He said that, as successful as AmeriCorps’ Computer Technology Empowerment Project (CTEP) is in the Twin Cities, he and his colleagues are doing little more than damage control because CTEP is not big enough to attach the problem of digital literacy at its roots.
Irwin Aviles, a resident of the Bronx, NY, who at the age of 47 lost his job and found it difficult to find new employment that would enable him to support his family given his age and technical work experience. He found help through Per Scholas, a program that provides a free education, including financial literacy and career development, as part of its Computer Technician Training Program. Having been out of school for over 30 years and with no PC experience at the start of his training, he earned A+ Certified Computer Technician that enabled him to land a job with Time Warner Cable as a journeyperson for IBEW Local #3 in New York City. He said he would not be where he is today, with good job prospects for the future, if it were not for the Per Scholas program helping him gain the broadband skills needed to function in the digital economy.

Rep. Becerra added to the personal voices of inclusion when he spoke about taking long car trips with his parents across the Sonoran desert in Mexico and seeing the occasional dwelling with a single antenna protruding from the roof. The antenna was the means by which the residents could stay connected to the rest of the world and, he said, represented the same yearning to stay connected and participate fully in society that his bilingual daughter is experiencing in school today as a new classmate with very limited English skills reaches out to her as the means of getting connected to the rest of the school community. “Broadband is about making that connection,” Rep. Becerra said.

The draft broadband plan makes a number of recommendations on increasing broadband adoption to the FCC, Congress and other branches of government and the private and non-profit sectors. These recommendations include:

Improve digital literacy for all Americans

Public funding for a Digital Literacy Corps to conduct skills training and outreach in communities with low rates of adoption, while building workforce skills for Corps members
Increase the capacity and knowledge in libraries and community centers to provide digital literacy training
Creation of an Online Skills Portal, containing free, age-appropriate lessons from the technology and education sectors that users can access and use at their own pace

Show how broadband is relevant

Public funding for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to support public-private partnerships
Private and non-profit partnerships in national outreach and awareness campaigns
Targeted support for seniors

Make broadband more affordable

Expand to include broadband in two FCC programs that currently help make voice telephone service more affordable, known as Lifeline and Link-Up
Consider use of spectrum for a free or very low cost wireless broadband service

Improve focus on measurement, best practices and state and local initiatives

Use remaining Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA) funds to enhance state and local broadband initiatives and planning
Augment this with increased focus on evaluation and assessment of all adoption programs
Creation of a Best Practices Clearinghouse for practitioners to share lessons on how to improve broadband access, adoption and utilization

The FCC is set to deliver the National Broadband Plan to the Congress on March 17.

As an adjunct to the main event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., many people participated via webcast. In Akron, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Philadelphia, people gathered to watch the national webcast and convene local discussions about accelerating broadband adoption in their city or state.

Digital Literacy Skills Essential to Closing Broadband Gap

Amy Garmer — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:40:01 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission released its National Broadband Plan Consumer Survey, Broadband Adoption and Use in America, which found that affordability and lack of digital skills are the main reasons why 93 million Americans — one-third of the country — are not connected to high-speed Internet at home.

The survey findings reinforce the growing body of research that finds digital literacy skills are critical to bridging the gap between those who are able to fully participate in the information age and those who live as second-class citizens in informed communities. While the cost of Internet connectivity was cited by 36% of non-adopters as the reason for not having Internet access at home, issues related to digital literacy came in second, with 22% citing this concern. Other reasons for non-adoption included relevance of Internet content (19%), other reasons outside of these categories (11%), combination of the above (4%) and lack of availability (5%).

“We need to tackle the challenge of connecting 93 million Americans to our broadband future,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “In the 21st century, a digital divide is an opportunity divide. To bolster American competitiveness abroad and create the jobs of the future here at home, we need to make sure that all Americans have the skills and means to fully participate in the digital economy.”

John Horrigan, who led the survey for the FCC, presented the findings at an event at the Brookings Institution. Video of the event, which included FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, is available at the Brookings website.

The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy strongly supports the idea that people need tools, skills and understanding to use information effectively. Finding that “funding to meet this goal is an investment in the nation’s future,” the Commission has recommended that digital and media literacy be integrated as critical elements for education at all levels through collaboration among federal, state and local education officials (recommendation #6).

Enhancing the information capacity and digital literacy skills of individuals isn’t limited to traditional educational institutions, however. The Commission recognized that digital skills are skills to be acquired and honed over a lifetime, and that other community institutions, organizations and individual citizens have a role to play. Along these lines, the Commission has recommended that communities fund and support public libraries and other community institutions as centers of digital and media training, especially for adults (recommendation #7).

Additionally, young people have a special role to play in times of great change and should be engaged in developing the digital information and communication capacities of local communities (recommendation #12). The Commission referred to the potential for creating a domestic version of the Geeks Corps, an international nonprofit that works to expand access to the Internet around the world. There are several examples of such projects happening in the United States already, including the Digital Arts Service Corps and the Public Media Corps in development by the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC).

As the nation awaits the FCC’s release of its National Broadband Plan, the Consumer Survey provides a reality check for the hurdles that will need to be overcome in fostering healthy, informed communities.

Senior Public Media Officials Meet to Create New Public Media Corps

Amy Garmer — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:20:55 +0000

The National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) will bring together leading programming executives, producers and developers in San Francisco on November 16-17 for a ”Convening of Partners” to create a Public Media Corps. The PMC is similar to the Knight Commission’s recommendation for creating a “Geek Corps” to engage young people in developing the digital information and communication capacities of local communities. (For those of you who found the name ”Geek Corps” too pejorative, the Public Media Corps has a nicer ring to it.) The PMC is designed to drive adoption of broadband in persistently underserved communities. Participating institutions include Arizona Public Media, the City of Oakland, Denver Open Media, Frontline West/Berkley, ITVS, KQED, Native American Public Telecommunications, New America Media, One Economy Corporation, Public Broadbasting Atlanta, WGBH Boston, WTTW Chicago and Zero Divide.

PMC aims to impact 3 million Americans in 15 media markets over a 2 year period. The targeted populations include five communities of color — African-American, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander and Native American — and seniors. Two hundred PMC fellows trained in community engagement strategies will evangelize about the life-enhancing benefits of broadband technologies and promote digital literacy and broadband connectivity via a growing universe of public media.

The potential is high to leverage relatively modest investments and resources for results that scale. Read more about at http://publicmediacorps.org/.