Our policies and alliances bring broadband meaningfully to the “forgotten five billion.”
News Wrap in May 2012
May 7, 2012 |
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Broadband You Tube Channel :Yes, there is a channel devoted to broadband-for-all. International Telecommunications Union’s Broadband Commission’s videos can be seen here. The Channel was recently filled with fresh content from big thinkers expounding on innovations in technology and public policy needed to bring broadband meaningfully to all seven billion users. One of DDI’s favorite broadband gurus whose views are in the mix is Robert Pepperwho heads public affairs for Cisco Systems in Washington. Check out his views about the need to release of 700 megahertz spectrum, once meant for local TV stations, to produce a “digital dividend†that can lower costs and boost quality of broadband content delivered to the masses. And, while you are at it, check out Pepper’s recent talk at the Barcelona blowout. †|
May 3, 2012 |
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THE NEW DIGITAL DIVIDE : Finally, the New York Times got it: the difference between meaningful vs un-meaningful broadband. NYT says the two types of broadband create a “new digital divide†in which the poor get smart phones with their tiny windows while the rich empower themselves with lightning-fast cable internet viewable on big screens. Here’s how NYT commentator Susan Crawford puts it : “While we still talk about “the†Internet, we increasingly have two separate access marketplaces: high-speed wired and second-class wireless. High-speed access is a superhighway for those who can afford it, while racial minorities, the rural and poor must make do with a bike path.†|
May 1, 2012 |
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GIVING 2.0: is the new name for the transformation of philanthropy that results when digital billionaires tap their technological and financial skills and high-powered networks to tackle poverty and climate change. Though Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar began the trend, the power couple now driving the e-philanthropy movement is Stanford Prof Laura Arrillaga-Andresseen, and her husband Marc Anderssen, whose VC company has raised $3.7 billion for up-and-coming dot-coms. Marc and his team recently pledged half of their income to philanthropy,while Laura is the designated Thought Leader in the family. Her Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society has star power in academia. Her now book,Giving 2.0 provides examples for how the new crop of technologists use their skills and money to try to change the world, crossing traditional boundaries between for profit and nonprofit. Check it out. |
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Achieving “Political Will” : The factor that most keeps citizens from receiving the benefits of the internet is not what you’d imagine – not lack of investment capital, not corruption, not weak infrastructure. That stuff is fixable or can be circumvented. A deeper problem is that most governments are led by officials who lack political will to implement their own roadmaps for bringing broadband to the masses. Read More |
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