Government Technology

Here’s a look at what some digital privacy experts view as standouts in legislative online privacy efforts at the state level, and some of the sticking points in those and federal proposals.

Issues around equity, access to broadband and the broader social ills related to racism are finding a stronger foothold in smart city strategies. The compounding events of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, its related economic fallout and nationwide protests calling attention to unjust policing and systematic racism are redefining how cities use technology as an instrument for achieving community goals. The coronavirus crisis, which either idled large segments of the economy or required workers to go remote, has laid bare lingering problems like the digital divide, as smart city leaders rethin

Does the federal definition of broadband reflect what Americans need today? The current definition, 25 Mbps download speed/3 Mbps upload speed, was set by the Federal Communications Commission, led by former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, in 2015.

Digital literacy work — which involves teaching folks to use computers so they aren’t left behind by societal digitization — often plays out through classroom instruction, library initiatives, or direct outreach at community events. COVID-19 and social distancing, however, have made all of that limited or impossible.

San Rafael (CA) is in the process of launching a new mesh Wi-Fi network for one of its most densely populated neighborhoods, doing so as a response to the COVID-19 crisis. The overarching goal is to ensure that residents there — particularly students — are able to get online. Officials say that the new network — which the city and its collaborators essentially built from scratch between now and when the virus broke out in March — will reach roughly 2,000 students, who may need the connectivity to attend school come fall, depending on the status of public space reopenings.

More than 9 million students still don’t have the high-speed home Internet required for online learning. One hopes the recent attention on the home Internet digital divide will be a call to action for our government and society that results in real change. But given that we can’t look to the telecom industry to solve this problem, what can be done?

Mississippi is now seeing how legislation can swing open the door for rural broadband expansion. In Jan 2019, former Gov Phil Bryant (R-MS) signed the Mississippi Broadband Enabling Act, removing a 1942 regulation that prevented electric cooperatives from offering anything other than electricity to their members.  Since the bill was approved, nine of Mississippi’s 25 electric co-ops are in the process of building fiber to the home in their coverage areas, said Brandon Presley, northern district commissioner of the Mississippi Public Service Commission.

“Social determinants of health” is a hot topic among government and health system executives. The phrase usually refers to basic food, housing and transportation disparities that can lead adjoining ZIP codes to have drastically different life expectancies. But could lack of broadband Internet access also be considered a social determinant of health?