By Brian Donoghue
In early July, Next Century Cities had the privilege of visiting Kansas City, Topeka, and Johnson County to meet with local leaders and hear their perspectives on the broadband funding opportunities developing through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. We were also thrilled with the opportunity to share broadband data and research as part of a legislative listening session on broadband access and digital equity, convened by Aaron Deacon and KC Digital Drive.
Our visit kicked off with a lunch featuring members of the KC Coalition for Digital Inclusion that was hosted by Ina Montgomery at the Nonprofit Village. Nonprofit Village provides a collaborative environment that aims to meet the needs of small and medium-sized nonprofits so they can focus on their work with the community. Over lunch, our team was able to hear in-depth perspectives from the leadership of groups like the Black Family Technology Awareness Association and UrbanTEC about their years of digital equity work in the community.
Next up was an informational update coordinated for local leaders and state legislators from Kansas and Missouri by KC Digital Drive. NCC’s Executive Director, Francella Ochillo, shared highlights from her report The Economic Consequences and Generational Impact of the Digital Divide alongside data from Kansas and Missouri that helped anchor the discussion to on-the-ground realities. After Francella’s presentation concluded, regional digital inclusion practitioners, including PCs For People and Goodwill, shared their ongoing work with the group.
The second day began with a visit to Olathe, Kansas, where we met with Johnson County Deputy Chief Information Officer, Bill Lopez. Our discussion ranged from recent successful middle-mile implementations to the County’s top-notch GIS team and the broadband data mapping processes underway at the Federal Communications Commission.
The conversations about broadband mapping continued with a working session at the University of Missouri Kansas City Law School hosted by Tony Luppino. At the start of the session, NCC’s Ryan Johnston shared his perspective on the broadband mapping work underway with federal agencies including FCC and NTIA. Dustin Loup, who leads the National Broadband Mapping Coalition, provided an update on the coalition’s ongoing work and Broadband Resource Rail. Further discussion centered around broadband data tools and the potential impacts that varying qualities of data will have on IIJA-funded programs.
Our adventures closed with trips to Topeka and ASteam Village in KC, Missouri’s third district. You can read more about Corian’s Topeka adventures here. At ASteam Village, students learn design, engineering, and collaboration skills with the goal of preparing residents for careers in Missouri’s growing tech sector. Ryan’s Tweet in this moment really sums up the group’s thoughts as we rode off into the sunset (to the airport): “This is the coolest thing ever. Teaching kids how to run cable and build networks from the ground up is one of the greatest ways to help them give back to their communities. We need more innovators like William Wells and more organizations like @asteamvillage.”
We want to thank the communities who welcomed us on our visit, and in particular thank KC Digital Drive for their coordination efforts. Across the country, we find ourselves talking to communities about building the infrastructure that can ensure the IIJA broadband funding is effectively and equitably deployed.
At a time when so much attention is focused on digital equity, Kansas City benefits immensely from having an organization to help coordinate resources, connect across the public/private/nonprofit sectors, and drive collective impact initiatives and regional planning. We look forward to sharing more about models like KCDD as we begin our work on the National Broadband Resource Hub.
We want to thank the communities who welcomed us on our visit, and in particular thank KC Digital Drive for their coordination efforts. Across the country, we find ourselves talking to communities about building the ‘community infrastructure’ that can help to ensure the IIJA broadband funding is effectively and equitably deployed.
At a time where so much attention is focused on digital equity, Kansas City benefits immensely from having an organization to help coordinate resources, connect across the public/private/nonprofit sectors, and help drive collective impact initiatives and regional planning. We look forward to sharing more about models like KCDD.
