A bold, connected future is possible when we embrace new ideas, support innovative processes, and develop effective partnerships. Those are several of the core takeaways from the July 21st Next Century Cities panel discussion on how ubiquitous broadband could positively impact communities across the United States. 

Next Century Cities hosted a virtual conference on July 20th and 21st, 2021. The panel discussion, What Would Ubiquitous Broadband Enable, featured four amazing community leaders:

• Aaron Brumley serves as the IT Coordinator at the Lawrence Public Library. Until recently, he supervised a public service department dedicated to serving community technology needs. 
• Tia Price, the Director of the Baltimore Digital Equity Coalition, brings individuals and organizations together to advance digital equity and bridging the digital divide.
• Chris Wood is the Executive Director of LGBT Tech, an organization which develops programs and resources that support LGBTQ+ communities and works to educate organizations and policy makers.
• Darrah Blackwater is a tech policy advocate, law school graduate and a citizen of the Navajo Nation. She is using research to raise awareness about how the digital divide impactsIndigenous populations living both on and off of Tribal lands. She also participates in grassroots community broadband projects.

Chris Wood discussed LGBT Tech’s “PowerOn” program that was launched by providing data, talk and text for 12 months via free cell phones to homeless youth in Washington D.C., many of whom identify as LGBTQ+. This project’s focus on data and statistical insights helped organizational leadership to scale in a way that meets the core objectives of the project. According to Wood, “The number one thing that we need to be doing as organizations is understanding our community’s needs and meeting them where they are. By doing research and building minimal viable products, we actually can achieve that.” The PowerOn program has since grown from the original location in Washington DC to 54 locations in 31 U.S. states and territories. 

Darrah Blackwater highlighted the need to educate the public better about the state of broadband in Indian country and, specifically, how the lack of ubiquitous high speed internet is leaving communities behind. By understanding that all of our communities are not on the same playing field, Darrah believes that we can take some collective steps forward. In explaining how visitors travel to Native lands to escape connectivity, Blackwater poignantly stated, “For a lot of outdoors people and backpackers, being disconnected is a privilege. For us [on Native lands], it’s just life.” 

In the words of Aaron Brumley, “Understanding anecdotal evidence is very important to understanding what [newly acquired] connectivity has meant to those connected…Go beyond metrics.” He discussed the limitations of some of our current tools for digital inclusion. For instance, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brumley and his colleagues used CARES Act dollars to create a gap fund that could  supplement the difference between Lifeline funds and the cost of a year’s worth of in-home internet access. Personal experience with Lifeline subscribers coupled with an acute understanding ofprogram’s shortcomings provided a sense of urgency to upgrade or fundamentally redesign all of our existing tools for low-income access. Moreover, Brumley emphasized that we must engage the appropriate community partners if we are to achieve ubiquitous broadband in Kansas and elsewhere. 

Tia Price stressed the importance of both compensating partners for their time investments in developing broadband policies and digital inclusion processes. Their work helps to reach target communities and helps to ensure broadband proposals actually have their desired effects. Price’s work is aimed at revealing specific barriers to digital opportunities. Importantly, she encouraged audience members to move beyond the collective impact model as it relates to the digital divide. By parting with this particular model, we can finally center the communities that are most impacted by the digital divide and bring about fundamental transformation in thinking and execution. 

Panelists provided listeners with varied perspectives on what is required to address local digital divides and the ambition required to make  ubiquitous broadband a reality. Their experiences and ongoing efforts are critical for a connected future.