We’ve covered a lot of ground here on NextGenWeb in the past year. Going from conferences to events to intimate meetings, we’ve brought the action to you through interviews, blog coverage, livetweets and more!
So what were our favorites? It’s hard to pick. We’ve been to the leading technology events like Consumer Electronics Show, SxSW Interactive, and Supernova. We also presented livestreams like the American Red Cross’ Emergency Social Data Summit, Ed Week’s Unleashing Technology to Personalize Learning, and the Activism+Media+Politics Summit. And finally, we highlighted top news and research on broadband like the release of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, the latest data from Pew Internet, and all of the innovative ways that people are embracing broadband in between.
Some highlights:
We hosted a panel discussion on telework programs and their benefits and sat down for a one-on-one interview with former Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard.
We have the full video of Blogalicious DC, an event that celebrated diversity among women in the blogosphere with networking, giveaways, and a panel of experts sharing their experiences with growing their voices through technology.
What technology has had the greatest impact on our society and is the one that people say they can’t live without? Not surprisingly, broadband Internet ranked at the top according to the recent survey results of Zogby Interactive. 24 percent named high-speed Internet, followed closely by Facebook at 22 percent.
As CNET points out, gender and age demographics came into play. “Women and adults under 55 tagged Facebook as having the most impact, while men and those over 55 pointed to high-speed Internet. Adults between 35 and 54 were split pretty evenly between the two.”
This week, the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) released a recap summary of video footage from their November conference. FOSI assembled policymakers, industry leaders, educators, legislators, law enforcement, Internet safety advocates, teachers and technologists for FOSI’s Fourth Annual Conference & Exhibition. The conference, titled “Internet Freedom, Safety & Citizenship: A Global Call to Action,” took place here in Washington, DC.
FOSI works with different groups to promote best practices, tools and methods to ensure the online world is safe for children and their families, while still respecting free expression. This work is done through developing sound public policy, good technology, educating online users and opening discussions through special events.
Topics included:
10 years of online safety reports
Cyberbullying: What’s really going on?
Digital Citizenship: Safety, literacy, and ethics for life in a digital world
Even if you weren’t able to attend the conference, you can get highlights from speakers and attendees in the video below.
The process of searching for information is hardly new to American life. Our tools, however, have changed significantly with the evolution of the broadband Internet. Much like libraries provided a paper based repository of information, today’s Internet provides that information and so much more, all at the click of a mouse.
This topic was explored in depth at yesterday’s Media Future Now event. Search expert Vanessa Fox pointed out that we use search to solve problems, answer questions and generally find information. We even search within websites, apps stores, email inboxes, and have come to expect search to work for everything now.
Geoff Livingston of Zoetica Media explored the world of semantic search, as more and more of what we experience in search is defined by things like sentiment and social connections. Adding a voice of caution around our reliance on search top results, Livingston advocated for increased digital literacy efforts. “Our society needs to move to teach thinking and validation skills to filter information.”
Ron Goodstein, Associate Professor of Marketing at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and Beth Shankle, Research Director at the National Press Club also added their voices to the discussion. Goodstein is optimistic about the opportunities to leave traditional demographic data out and target people around their behavior and interests, always being respectful of the consumer. Shankle brought the conversation full circle, concluding that libraries again hold the key. “Libraries seem like the dinosaurs of the information age, but they’re actually at the cutting edge.”
Continuing our spotlight on broadband and local government, we want to highlight a new online communication tool for people inside local government to better learn from each other. Started by DC’s own open government champion Mike Rupert, Localgovchat is a discussion that takes place on Twitter on a weekly basis (Wednesdays at 9pm EST). People are encouraged to login and tweet to share their issues and ideas around local government.
But for localgov communications folks – who tend to be the public relations, media relations, community outreach, graphics designers, publicists, webmasters, copyeditors, community managers, speechwriters, consiglieres, etc. for their one single elected client – we have our own set of issues, talents and limitations. Let’s help each other.
To add your comments to the conversation, simply tweet using the #localgovchat hashtag. You can also get involved by searching the #localgovchat hashtag, by following @localgovchat on Twitter, or dropping by the LocalGovChat Blog.
Broadband deployment and adoption are not only priorities at the federal level, but also among state and local government bodies. A broadband connected community brings jobs, economic development, new forms of civic participation, and so much more. And with that, state and local governments are recognizing the impact and getting proactive.
So how can state and local government bodies get involved? They can set broadband connectivity goals, work with stakeholders to enact supportive broadband policies, and also encourage adoption from diverse backgrounds that comprise a community.
NextGenWeb is also working to support broadband at the state and local level. This week, we look forward to sharing success stories from policymakers, a webinar for those considering this issue led by “Mayor of Broadband” Graham Richard, and much more. We’ll get things started with the interview below. We recently spoke with John Horrigan, former Director of Research for the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, for his take on the broadband at the state and local level.
This morning, thought leaders in the technology policy space gathered at the Brookings Institution for several panels related to the topic of Internet Policymaking. As new Internet policy issues arise, most of which were not considered when our current communications laws were created, we face a challenge of meeting governance demands. Who is best suited to meet those demands? Panelists seemed to agree that consumers play a central role.
Participants in the conversation “Users As Regulators: The Role of Transparency and Crowd Sourcing As A Form of Oversight” included:
Moderator: Phil Weiser, Senior Advisor to the Director for Technology and Innovation, National Economic Council, The White House
Mark Cooper, Research Director, Consumer Federation of America
Cynthia Estlund, Catherine A. Rein Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
Kathy Brown, Senior Vice President, Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility, Verizon
Consumer advocate Mark Cooper believes that crowdsourcing for policing can work if the information is accurate and actionable. Acknowledging the complexity of the issues, he suggested that the era of writing detailed rules is over, which Kathy Brown of Verizon quickly agreed. Similarly, Brown advocated that old style regulation won’t work in today’s Internet ecosystem and for self-regulation through transparency to reach a greater democracy. “We agree that the consumer is central. The question is, what role?” Academic voice Estlund took the concept even further, noting that transparency is key not just for Internet customers, but for all citizens.
Broadband policy thought leaders from government, industry, and think tanks gathered to address key broadband policy challenges yesterday at the Phoenix Center Telecom Symposium. Examining the promotion of jobs and innovation, participants expressed their views on the best policies for a thriving Internet ecosystem from a global perspective.
Blair Levin, the leader of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, now a Fellow with the Aspen Institute, delivered the keynote address. Levin urges that America’s future rests on what he calls a ‘high performance knowledge exchange platform.’ Noting that our broadband technology revolution is powering changing information exchanges and the economy, even in traditional job sectors like manufacturing and agriculture, Levin wants to focus on improvement and diversity. “Most things in internet ecosystem doing very well. We don’t need massive government intervention.”
Dr. Michael Mandel of the Progressive Policy Institute and Chief Economist Visible Economy LLC, drove home a vivid point about the direction that broadband policymakers should take when it comes to regulation, after reminding attendees that the communications sector is a main driver of economic growth. “It’s simple. Do you want to see investment increase or decrease by as much as 20%?”
University of Maryland Professor and Dean of the College of Information Studies Jenny Preece kicked off the discussion by exploring the social, human side of what motivates people to participate, citing egoism, altruism, collectivism, and principlism. It’s these motivations combined with the technology infrastructure that, she explained, are advancing our design of social participation. Additionally, the government transparency movement is providing even more opportunities to engage the public.
Shah urged that the government and the public identify success stories and then elevate and scale them, in order to optimize success. On the other hand, she reminded the audience, agencies still use old technologies too to ensure a diversity of response. “It’s not just access to technology, but access where they are comfortable and can ask questions.”
I also had the opportunity to talk with Lucas Cioffi, a leader in the civic participation movement and the founder of http://www.onlinetownhalls.com/. Watch the video below to learn about how Cioffi is educating the government and the public about using broadband technology to further participation.
As we approach Thanksgiving Day, we at NextGenWeb, of course, are giving thanks for broadband and all of the opportunities that a high speed Internet connection provides. From solving some of America’s biggest societal challenges, to improving communications, to pure entertainment, broadband is an integral part of people’s professional and personal lives. Despite some disagreements in the best ways to move broadband forward, we all agree that deployment, adoption, investment, and innovation are key to our broadband future. NextGenWeb will continue to advocate for these objectives. Will you join us?
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