Now What?: Charting the Next Phase in Closing the Digital Divide

The FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit has helped make important strides towards closing the digital divide and serves as a springboard to a more just and equitable future, but as vaccination rates rise and our country begins to return to a post-COVID “new normal,” advocates for disadvantaged communities are forced to ask: What’s next? As part of our ongoing conversation about policies and initiatives to tackle the digital divide, we’ll explore permanent solutions that can guarantee meaningful, effective internet access to all communities for the long run. We’ll look at how our current—and future—work needs to address issues of adoption that stretch beyond technical access and encompass the skills and confidence that millions of people, especially seniors and members of underserved communities, need to navigate our digital economy safely and effectively.

Featured Speaker:

Geoffrey Starks, Commissioner, The Federal Communications Commission

Panel Speakers:

Moderator: Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, Senior Fellow-Governance Studies Director-Center for Technology Innovation, The Brookings Institution

Panelists:

- Maria Cardona, Principal, Dewey Square Group

- Joi O. Chaney, Executive Director and Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, National Urban League Washington Bureau

- Paolo Narciso, Vice President - Product and Program Development, AARP Foundation

Event series description:

The Moving Underserved Communities Forward event series—hosted by ALLvanza, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC), and OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates—brings together diverse leaders to discuss technology and telecommunications policy issues facing underserved communities. Our goal is to create a venue where new ideas can blossom into programs, partnerships, or policy strategies capable of providing meaningful solutions to urgent challenges. By convening diverse thought leaders to tackle some of our toughest problems, we are ensuring policymakers have a better understanding of the issues and possible solutions, making positive change for minority communities in the U.S. and creating a more equal nation where all people have an equal shot at the American dream.