[Nfbsatx] Conference ON Broad Band Access

[james sofka]

Hi, all.
For your information.
Jim Sofka.
 

 

Begin forwarded message:





The Broadband Plan's Blueprint for Accessibility

The Silicon Flatirons conference on The National Broadband Plan and Accessibility for People with Disabilities at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Washington, D.C. was a momentous occasion.  It was a day filled with aspirations and hope -- and a belief that we could and would come together and fulfill Congress' vision of broadband access for all Americans, including those with disabilities.

The day started with a welcome to an overflowing crowd by Nancy Davenport, the Director of Library Services at the D.C. Public Library and Dale Hatfield, the Executive Director of Silicon Flatirons.  That was followed by powerful remarks by FCC Chairman Genachowski and the President's Assistant for Disability Policy Kareem Dale. 

FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Joel Gurin and I discussed the plan's recommendations and implementation as well as the accessibility working paper which will be released soon.  We spoke of the plan's recommendation that the Executive Branch should convene a Broadband Accessibility Working Group, which, among, other things, would work to ensure that the government itself is a model of accessibility.  We also announced that the FCC would establish an Accessibility and Innovation Forum at the FCC which would allow stakeholders to collaborate on accessibility solutions.  We also discussed several specific actions to address accessibility and affordability concerns that the FCC, Department of Justice, and Congress should take.

Then Robert Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and Jenifer Simpson of the American Association of People with Disabilities (both co-sponsors of the event) moderated a lively roundtable discussion among Eric Bridges, Vint Cerf, Rosaline Crawford, Larry Goldberg, Jason Goldman, Link Hoewing, Leah Katz-Fernandez, Fernando Laguarda, Axel Leblois, Susan Mazrui, Ari Ne'eman, Laura Ruby, Ken Salaets, Kate Seelman, and Gregg Vanderheiden.

We discussed many of the plan's details, but it was the big picture ideas and fundamental principles - on which there was much agreement -- that carried the day:
 

  1.. Broadband is a big deal. (sandraleesmith46). 
  2.. Accessibility equals independence. (Kareem Dale) 
  3.. Knowledge is power. (Eric Bridges) 
  4.. Knowledge is power, but so is community. (Ari Ne'eman) 
  5.. Information sharing is power. (Vint Cerf) 
  6.. Innovation often happens in unexpected ways. (Link Hoewing) 
  7.. There is a key role for innovation in solving accessibility challenges, especially when inclusion is part of the planning from the beginning. (Fernando Laguarda) 
  8.. [F]or the first time in history . . . the rights to access is a fundamental right for persons with disabilities in international law. (Axel Leblois) 
  9.. With broadband Internet access, I do not feel disabled. (Leah Katz-Hernandez) 
  10.. Now is the time to engage in this endeavor in earnest and show that we do indeed believe that this is a big deal. (Chairman Genachowski) 
You can see video of the conference at http://www.FCC.gov/live.

The blueprint in the National Broadband Plan is ambitious, and we are heartened by all those who have expressed commitment to work with us to implement the vision.  More soon on how we plan to keep the momentum going, but in the meantime, thank you to all those who have helped shape the plan and make it a vehicle to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to broadband communications.

 

louie

louiemost at wavecable.com
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