Broadband Committee holds Public Meeting on Staten Island’s Broadband Connectivity

WHO: New York City Council Member Gale A. Brewer, the Broadband Advisory Committee, Staten Island public school students, CUNY College of Staten Island professors and their classes, parents, nonprofit leaders, small business owners and senior centers
WHEN: Thursday, March 5, 2008, 11am-3pm
WHERE: CUNY College of Staten Island (Building 1P)
Recital Hall, The Center for the Arts
2800 Victory Boulevard
Staten Island, NY 10314
BLOG: http://nycbroadband.blogspot.com/

Coming on the heels of successful public hearings in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens where hundreds of people attended, the New York City Broadband Advisory Committee will hear from policy experts, Staten Island residents and business people in a Public Meeting of the Broadband Advisory Committee in Staten Island. During this official hearing on the borough’s Broadband status, the City Council seeks to answer the following questions: How important is affordable Broadband to businesses and to under—served communities? How will high—speed Internet connections improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers and their families?

“New York is the most dynamic city in the world. But when it comes to the Internet, we’re working to catch up to other jurisdictions,” said Council Member Brewer, Chair of the New York City Council’s Committee on Technology in Government. Brewer sponsored Local Law 126, which created the NYC Broadband Advisory Committee. “I am excited to work with the Mayor’s Office in making New York a place where you don’t have to pay to go slow. We need affordable high—speed Internet connections to bring in jobs, help schools, and make the city safer.”

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project in May 2008 Survey, 32% of American households are still not using the Internet at all and “those with less education, those with lower household incomes, and Americans age 65 and older are less likely to have embraced broadband than those who are younger and have higher socio—economic status.” Seeking to address these same imbalances, Broadband Advisory Committee Chairperson, Shaun Belle, and CEO of Mount Hope Housing Company said, “Understanding the challenges to Broadband connectivity for the average New Yorker is a primary focus of the Broadband Advisory Committee; exploring and potentially implementing solutions to address these challenges will be the basis of our future planning.”

Andrew Rasiej, an Advisory Committee Member and the Founder of the Personal Democracy Forum and MOUSE said, “These hearings are critical to focusing broad political attention and building consensus for the need to guarantee all New Yorkers an opportunity to participate in the 21st Century economy.” As of February 2009, President Obama’s stimulus plan includes $7 billion in broadband infrastructure development to ensure the American economy is competitive in the long run.

The New York Broadband Advisory Committee was created by Local Law 126, a bill sponsored by Council Member Gale Brewer. The purpose of the Committee is to advise the Mayor and the City Council on how to bring affordable high—speed Internet connection to all New York City residents, nonprofit organizations and businesses. The public hearing in Staten Island is the final in a series of five being convened in every borough. The Committee will compile their recommendations to the Mayor at the conclusion of this hearing.

NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL TECHNOLOGY IN GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Council Member Gale A. Brewer, Chair, Manhattan, District 6
Council Member Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn, District 39
Council Member Letitia James, Brooklyn, District 35
Council Member Oliver Koppell, Bronx, District 11
Council Member James Sanders, Jr., Brooklyn, District 31

BROADBAND ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Mayoral Representatives

Shaun M. Belle—Broadband Advisory Committee Chair, President and CEO, Mount Hope Housing Company
Mitchel Ahlbaum—General Counsel and Deputy Commissioner for Telecommunications Services, DoITT
Thomas A. Dunne—Vice President of Government Relations, Fordham University, Former Vice President of Public Affairs at Verizon
Avi Duvdevani—Chief Information Officer/Deputy General Manager, NYCHA
John J. Gilbert III—Executive Vice President/ Chief Operating Officer, Rudin Management Company
Howard Szarfarc—President, Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey
Anthony Townsend—Research Director, Institute for the Future

City Council Representatives

David Birdsell—Dean, Graduate School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, City University of New York
Neil Pariser—Senior Vice President, South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp.
Andrew Rasiej—Founder of MOUSE, Former candidate for Public Advocate of New York City
Jose Rodriguez—President and Founder, Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network
David Wicks—Founding Partner, Alwyn Group, Former Cablevision executive, Wall Street investment banker
Elisabeth Stock—President and Co-Founder, Computers for Youth
Nicholas Thompson—Senior Editor, WIRED Magazine

For more information or to testify please contact Kunal Malhotra with the Office of Council Member Gale A. Brewer at 212-788-6975 or Kunal.Malhotra@council.nyc.gov

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Very curious too that:

(a) The report from Diamond Consultants is only about the digital divide, since I was under the impression that the research was supposed to be about a lot more than just the digital divide, and

(b) This is being presented as “the Bloomberg Administration’s plans”, because I would think that the Bloomberg Administration would present their own plans and not have a consultant present for them, and further their “plans” should be based in part on the findings of the Broadband Advisory Committee, who’s whole point of existing is to bring a different perspective and set of expertise to any “plans” that are created.

Overall, I’m not too hopeful for what will be presented. I suspect it will be much too little, and frankly at least 6 months too late. This administration inexplicably has shown no spine for dealing with internet and network access issues and tends to kowtow to Verizon and Time Warner Cable. But, maybe, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

CITY HALL – On Wednesday, July 30th at 11:00am there will be a briefing from the Mayor’s Office and Diamond Consultants for the Broadband Advisory Committee regarding the Bloomberg Administration’s plans for bridging the digital divide in New York City.

The Broadband Advisory Committee was established in 2005 with the passage of Introduction 625-A creating a joint public broadband commission to advise the Mayor and the City Council of New York on how the resources of City government can be used to stimulate the private market so that residents and businesses of New York City have more options in terms of high-speed Internet access. The goal of the committee is to educate the general public about broadband and the newest communication technologies, and to give New York City residents the opportunity to comment on how the digital divide in New York City can be closed. To support these efforts the Broadband Advisory Committee has held public Broadband Hearings in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. The Committee will hold its fifth and final hearing in Staten Island this fall.

Diamond Consultants was hired by the New York City Economic Development Corporation to determine the breadth of the digital divide in New York City and develop programs and initiatives to provide greater digital inclusion for all residents. Chris O’Brien, a Partner in Diamond’s Public Sector practice, will be detailing Diamond’s findings and its recommendations for the City’s next steps.

The meeting will take place in the Committee of the Whole Room, City Hall, New York, NY on Wednesday, July 30th at 11:00 am. This is a public meeting and all are welcome to attend. For further information please contact Kunal Malhotra, Director of Legislation & Budget, 212-788-6975 or Kunal.Malhotra@council.nyc.gov.

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Event Website
Registration Required ($30 for NY:MIEG members, $50 for non-members)

Both I and Laura Forlano will be on the panel at the breakfast, along with Eric Bader, formerly the top digital executive at MediaVest, and Ari Zoldan, CEO and Founder of Launch 3 Communications, and will be moderated by Sree Sreenivasan, Dean of Students at the Columbia School of Journalism.

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The New America Foundation, CUWiN Foundation, the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, and the Acorn Active Media Foundation will be hosting the annual International Summit for Community Wireless Networks in Washington, DC on May 28-30, 2008. More information will be forthcoming at wirelesssummit.org in coming weeks.

Hosted by the world’s largest general scientific society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), this year’s summit will continue its tradition of featuring wireless leaders, innovators, activists, and community networking visionaries from around the globe. “With large-scale network implementations demonstrating the viability of open source wireless technologies, and corporate franchise business model faltering, the movement is at a critical juncture in its development” states Sascha Meinrath, Summit Director. “This year’s International Summit for Community Wireless Networks will explore issues of global integration and local control over these vital communications media.”

Additional summit topics include:

• The role of community wireless networks in supporting human rights
• The current state of US and international telecommunications policies
• Exploration of state-of-the-art FOSS wireless technologies
• Social networking and other WLAN services and applications
• Community wireless updates from Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia
• White space devices, “device as infrastructure” networks, & disruptive tech
• Legal issues in community wireless networking
• Alternative business models and sustainable networking

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Details and RSVP: http://www.orgcom.info/Holiday

Everyone is invited-open source or closed- CTO or junior admin-personal business or Fortune
500. Our mission is to host a well rounded networking and social event, bringing together the
various technology sectors and companies in one professional networking event.

This is our second event, and this year, we have renamed the organizing entity to OrgCom, to emphasize the bridge-building amongst the most influential technical communities, andbetween the forward-looking firms in New York. And we’re working hard to develop OrgCom into an ongoing social community and resource for technology professionals, both in the virtual and real worlds.

With support from key groups, sponsors and interest from the City of New York, this year’s event will be even better- and better still with your help.

• Help Spread the Word—Tell friends, co-workers, and in fact anyone. Mentions in blogs and media sites are greatly appreciated-check out our site and pass this message on.
• Join New York’s Technology Sector as a community

• Support New York’s Technology Sector as a sponsor

Questions? Contact Us http://www.orgcom.info/Holiday/ContactUs

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Laura gave her presentation at the The Philosophy of Telecommunications Convergence Conference at the MTA (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) in Budapest on September 27, 2007.

MP3, 20min, 30MB
Quicktime Movie, 20min, 128MB
Quicktime Movie, 20min, 6MB

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