A little tired and a lot more informed about our political process €¦NextGenWeb recently returned from two busy weeks at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions. We were on site to live stream events and hear what was on people’s minds, specifically relating to broadband.   And, of course, we rode the exciting new wave of technologies bringing the democratic process to more people via the Internet.

At both conventions, several of the same critical questions were asked about the future of our country, and the interesting thing is €¦broadband will play a major role in answering all of them! We were at events that discussed issues from health care to energy, the environment to education. One quick tour of our site, and you’ll find real-life examples of how broadband is playing a constructive role on all of these important priorities.

Throughout the conventions, one thing that stood out was the sheer volume and diversity of new technologies being utilized. NGW brought events to the public via broadband that would have otherwise only been accessible if you bought a plane ticket and traveled to the host cities. Hundreds of bloggers, too, followed the conventions and posted a steady stream of new material and diverse perspectives. And, there were numerous WiFi hotspots throughout the cities, ensuring broadband for anyone wanting to stay connected.

Four short years ago, the idea of bringing this much access to our political conventions would have been unthinkable. But this year, thanks to broadband, people all over the country were more connected than ever to these important conversations. From the first speech to the final gavel, everyone was connected over broadband.   What will the conventions bring in 2012?   Okay, we’ll catch our breath first and answer that later!

Of course, NGW can bring all the action to you, but YOU have to participate in our community to make the most of it!   If you’re interested in making your voice heard as we explore using technology to solve our country’s biggest challenges, please take the time to explore all that NextGenWeb offers and come back often for updates, insights and good conversation.   In democracy, every person can make a difference.   Together, thanks to broadband, we’re doing just that!

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A full version of the event can be viewed below.

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As the Democratic National Convention kicks off amid soaring rhetoric and hopeful initiatives for the betterment of our nation, Americans with disabilities are looking for signs that their struggle for equality will be affirmed. At the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), this struggle is not merely a political campaign, but also one that encourages economic opportunity and access to the latest innovations for the more than 50 million Americans living with disabilities.

The AAPD is the largest national nonprofit cross-disability member organization in the United States dedicated to economic self-sufficiency and political empowerment. One of their key goals is to conduct programs to enhance the lives of people with disabilities, including programs to reduce poverty and unemployment, to assure that every disabled person has the right to his or her own living arrangement, and to assure that every child or adult with a disability has access to and funding for assistive technology.

They are also in a coalition with other disability organizations to protect Americans with disabilities from discrimination and to empower them to fully put their skills and talents to work in society. Unfortunately, too many people with disabilities are being left behind in an economy that increasingly demands sophisticated skills and access to all that the high-speed Internet makes possible in our lives €”from innovative assistance to expanded economic opportunities.

In 2005, according to Cornell University’s Employment and Disability Institute, the percentage of working-age people with a disability was 12.6 percent in the United States. In other words, 21.5 million of the 170 million working-age Americans reported one or more disabilities. And, unemployment and poverty hits the disabled particularly hard. In 2005, according to Cornell, the poverty rate of working-age people with disabilities was 24.6 percent €”nearly three times the rate of the working-age population at large.

With the growing importance of the Web, AAPD is helping people with disabilities find new opportunities to break out of the poverty trap, especially as broadband becomes ubiquitous in urban and rural areas. Distance learning has also been a great boon.   In June 2007, AAPD and Cornell collaborated on a forum that addressed “Harnessing Technology to Expand Employment Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.” One idea presented was to require computer science students to have courses on usability to ensure that new technologies are accessible to all.

Despite the progress AAPD has made, there’s more work to be done.   For example, a United Nations survey of Web accessibility in 20 countries exposed serious shortfalls in many websites’ functionality. “This survey shows that we’re not close to reaching the Internet’s full potential for use by persons with disabilities,” said Thomas Schindlmayr, policy specialist for the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

So, as the convention pageantry and politicking wraps up in Denver, let’s celebrate the progress that disabled Americans have made in society €”and recognize the increasingly important role that broadband €”and policies that support broadband investment and innovation €”are playing in creating new opportunities for all Americans.

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NextGenWeb took a seat at the DNC’s “Winning Health Care Reform in 2009” event sponsored by Families USA and SEIU.   Some may still wonder, how is broadbrand the right medication to cure our nation’s healthcare woes? Well, the stacked panel — U.S. Representative John Dingell, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius, and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell– had some interesting points to share.

In underlining what is really needed to ensure every American has access to affordable, quality healthcare, Governor Rendell described the important contributions technology makes to the health care system and the vast cost savings healthcare technology can deliver. These cost savings are attributed to programs ranging from electronic health records to an enhancement of remote monitoring programs. In Pennsylvania, there is already a program that offers financial incentives to hospitals that increase their use of medical technology.

Broadband makes programs and initiatives like these possible. It allows people living in rural America to get a medical check-up without ever leaving their homes. Americans who are traveling and encounter a medical emergency can have immediate access to their electronic health records. It gives a broader reach to specialized treatment. Broadband offers real solutions to health problems and the networks that make it all possible must be part of the health care debate.

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A full version of the event can be viewed below.

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NextGenWeb has been keeping busy at the Democratic Convention and made sure to make room in the schedule for the “Two Million Strong and Growing” panel discussion hosted by the New Democratic Network. The panel addressed the role that new media has begun to play in politics and campaigns, especially during this election cycle. Broadband is bringing the democratic process directly to Americans for the first time in history at this prominent level. It is allowing citizens to organize like never before, optimizing political participation.

The most interesting point in this debate is that broadband is a necessity for these new media applications to thrive, yet the network is so often forgotten in the discussion. Sites like my.barackobama.com are revolutionary for their ability to bring together mass amounts of people with a common goal, and provide them the avenues through which to start their own blog, join groups, fundraise, and so much more. But without the network, none of this would be possible.

New media is not only changing politics, but its changing everyday life for millions of Americans. At an increasing rate, people are turning away from traditional media sources such as print, television or radio, and instead choosing the more personalized approach to media that you can get online. None of this would be possible without robust broadband networks.

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Nextgenweb recently caught up with Matt Britten, winner of a MySpace online video competition that awarded him full media credentials throughout the DNC 2008 Convention. Matt came to Denver—traveling all the way from New York City €”hoping to be able to utilize new technologies, made possible by broadband, to tell the story of the convention from a personal perspective and put a new spin on “interactive media.” From MySpace to Twitter to Newsvine, technology and the Internet have enabled Matt to accomplish these goals and bring the convention to life from the point of view of a true “Citizen Journalist.”

Click below to see our mobile interview with Matt and learn more about his story.

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Ronald Blackburn-Moreno
President and CEO, ASPIRA

At ASPIRA, we’re all about empowering our youth in America’s Puerto Rican and Latino communities.   We do that through education and leadership development.   And increasingly we do that through broadband.

Since ASPIRA’s founding in 1961, we have provided 250,000 young Puerto Ricans and Latinos with the personal resources they need to remain in school and contribute to their communities.   We develop and nurture the leadership, intellectual and cultural potential of these young people so they are able to contribute their knowledge, skills and heartfelt dedication to the Puerto Rican and Latino communities where they live and work.   We call our young protégés Aspirantes, or those who aspire to grow to be our future leaders.

ASPIRA maintains a rich curriculum of online resources for its centers, facilitators and youth.   Our curriculum is rigorous; our facilitators are vigorous.   A large part of our success is making our training available online at broadband speeds so downloads and interactive on-line sessions for Aspirantes take place real time.   Broadband speeds complement the speeds at which their young minds work, grasp concepts and internalize new learnings.   Anything slower would fail to engage them.  

With broadband access, learning is fun, just like playing a video game.   Where youth might be bored by books made of ink on paper, reading a book online is an exciting adventure.   They crave the technology; it’s fun to them.   Online, they barely notice they’re improving their research, reading and writing skills along the way.

Today’s Puerto Rican and Latino youth are a tech-savvy bunch.   Jupiter Research reports that Internet users who are Latino tend to be younger than those who are not.   This predilection for connection serves us well at ASPIRA because we cater our teachings to broadband technologies.   Broadband access makes ASPIRA’s programs more available to more youth in more places in the electronic media where they thrive.  

ASPIRA’s 150 Community Technology Centers are computer labs with broadband access.   At the centers, in addition to our leadership development on-line curriculum, we also help Aspirantes better learn practical applications, such as desktop technologies, desktop publishing, word processing and others, so they can then integrate the technologies into how they live and work.   We want the technologies to become second nature to them.

Like many other education-centered organizations, ASPIRA recognizes that broadband can make geographical and financial barriers to learning disappear.   Whether you call it e-learning or distance learning or online classroom or digital curriculum or something else, the fact is that broadband opens up a wide range of educational opportunities and resources that previously were inaccessible, particularly to minorities.   The Internet captures all human knowledge in one place, where with broadband it’s accessible and free.   Broadband access can be the great equalizer to bridge the gap to the underserved.

Three out of four Americans connect to the Internet via broadband; last year broadband subscriptions among Hispanics grew nearly 20 percent.   Michael Horn with the Innosight Institute in Massachusetts predicts that 50 percent of all high school courses will be taught online by 2013.   That all adds up to the need for deeper broadband access to richer educational content.

Tomorrow’s leaders need a strong foundation in technology starting today if they are going to have the skills to compete successfully and contribute to their community’s economic future.   At ASPIRA we believe that we are helping to make that happen by immersing our Aspirantes in computer technologies.   We complement the content of our leadership development curriculum with on-line delivery via broadband.   That way technological competitiveness and leadership acumen develop side by side, each strengthening the other.

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Live Broadcasting by Ustream

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Click below to view our archived footage from this event.
Live Streaming by Ustream.TV

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