NextGenWeb was at Supernova in San Francisco, CA this week, live blogging, tweeting, recording panel discussions, and conducting short interviews with presenters. Be sure to check out all our great coverage – which includes a sit-down with NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling.
Day three of Supernova featured a lively panel discussion on the role of technology for the future of sustainability. The discussants included Adam Werbach of Saatchi S, Robin Chase, founder of Meadow Networks and founding CEO of Zipcar, and Steve Newcomb, CEO and Chairman of Virgance. Werbach kicked off the comments by discussing the history of the sustainability movement. The session operated under the following conjecture: Technology helped create a disposable society. Could it be harnessed to help solve the major environmental challenges of our time?
It is clear that technology can play a significant role in finding the solutions to growing environmental concerns. As Werbach stated, “Market forces, civil society and technology can all come together to solve social issues.” Newcomb later touched on the effect that technology and the private sector could have on sustainability by stating that governments and non-profits can only do so much – real, sustainable progress on the environmental front will stem from capitalist and consumerist ideals. Finally, Chase discussed the importance of a change in mindset from ownership to sharing. An example, exemplified by Robin’s company Zipcar, is transportation. Visit NGW’s “Green Technology” page to see how broadband is helping to ease transportation emissions by enabling telecommuting.
Werbach kicked off the Q & A portion of the session by asking an amusing albeit serious question: “In 25 years, do you see the world looking more like Singapore, or Thunderdome?” While the majority of the audience was optimistic, everyone conceded that there is a lot to work to do. Thanks to technology, and specifically broadband, Tina Turner and Thunderdome should remain a distant cinematic memory.
Day two at Supernova brought with it more robust conversations, particularly around the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. On a panel sponsored by Verizon and Comcast, Paul Brigner, Verizon, Joe Waz, Comcast, Nicol Turner-Lee, Joint Center, Chris Riley, Free Press, and Rachelle Chong, California PUC Commissioner all shared their perspectives on what the FCC should be focusing on as it crafts the plan due to the President and Congress early next year.
Verizon’s Brigner shared some interesting stats – one especially highlights the “adoption challenge” we have in the U.S. as it relates to broadband. Brigner referenced the 30 million households throughout the country who have access to high-speed Internet service, but who choose not to adopt. There was some debate on how much price has to do with it (note: according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, only about 5% of Americans say they don’t have broadband due to its cost). But there is near consensus on the need to educate people on the many ways broadband enables a higher quality of life.
Turner-Lee and Commissioner Chong said the people who choose not to adopt are often the ones who could use broadband’s many benefits the most.
We were able to catch-up with both Chong and Turner-Lee after the panel. You can see both interviews below. In our conversation with Turner-Lee, she references the National Minority Broadband Adoption Report that the Joint Center is set to release. You can also see complete footage from the panel below.
Day two of Supernova 2009 started with a great dialogue between Supernova organizer (and Wharton prof) Kevin Werbach and NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling. Werbach graciously tried to keep the “content diversified” with questions on spectrum, inter-agency communications and other topics. But with NTIA having just released its first round of broadband stimulus grants and with round two about to get underway, it was hard for the audience – and Strickling – to talk about anything else.
Strickling said that NTIA is looking to administer about $1.6B in this first round of funding. He was also forthright about his opinion on fiber being the technology of choice. Compared to the $60B in capital investments made by America’s broadband providers in 2009 alone, the approximate $7B in stimulus funds seems trite. But it was encouraging to hear the NTIA Administrator talk about how in essence these monies are seed funding for broadband programs that “must be sustainable.”
Administrator Strickling talked about the critical role broadband plays in driving America’s economic engine. We also discuss in our interview below that as the Obama Administration continues its efforts to re-start a lagging U.S. economy, their Innovation Agenda and the resources they’re committing through these broadband efforts are not simply talk. They reflect the Administration’s position that broadband is a fundamental component of American economic growth and prosperity. The Administration firmly believes – and rightly so when you look at the data – that America’s broadband infrastructure is central to not only re-starting our economy, but also revolutionizing our health care and education systems as well as our energy and environmental efforts.
It’s pretty impressive to see what NTIA has done in a very short amount of time. As Strickling discusses in our chat below, this is the largest grant program the NTIA has ever administered. It was a lofty challenge, but it certainly seems NTIA has the right person for the job.
Stay tuned for more coverage from Supernova 2009.
Tuesday at the University of California-San Francisco, Supernova 2009 got underway. “Networks” were the theme of the day – and will remain so through Thursday. The term “network” can mean a lot of different things. For NextGenWeb, typically we think of the high-capacity communications infrastructure built and maintained largely by America’s broadband providers. Today, it was more about social networks, government networks, business-to-business networks, and the significance of apps coming online every day that are changing the way we live, work and communicate.
Danah Boyd (Microsoft Research) and Adam Greenfield (Nokia) kicked off today’s opening session talking about social networking (Boyd) and “connected urbanism” (Greenfield). Danah Boyd has to be considered one of the most prolific speakers on how social networks are changing the way we live. It’s refreshing because it’s never a “rah rah” endorsement, but more an anthropological look at how social networks are altering behavior and changing processes that have been set in stone for years (eg. how it can impact the college applications process when admissions officers check out the applicant’s Facebook or MySpace page). Pretty interesting if you think about all the scenarios that could play out there.
Adam Greenfield noted that by 2012, network sensors will account for 20% of the world’s non-video Internet traffic. What are network sensors? Ever see the IBM commercial that highlights how they’re “working to build a smarter planet?” Well, they and many in the technology community are doing just that, and Greenfield talked about how public objects and civic responsibilities are really becoming “connected things.” Like how first responders communicate or how you can get a text if your back door remains open too long, helping avoid an adverse public safety and energy outcome. A term he used to describe this phenomenon is “networked urbanism.” Much like Boyd’s tempered approach to social networking, it wasn’t all ice cream and cherries around this concept either. He used a personal friend’s example of how she lived in a small Brooklyn apartment several years ago that was incredibly friendly and neighborly. One day one of the tenants decided to start an online social network for the building. Then, after years of no turnover, people started to leave in large part because they were learning things about their neighbors that they didn’t want to know!
Pretty cool opening day. We’re looking forward to hearing more and highlighting the broadband angle tomorrow. We also plan on talking with multiple panelists like Nicol Turner-Lee from the Joint Center and Paul Brigner from Verizon. Stay tuned!
And to watch archived footage from the panel titled “Changing Networks”, click below.
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