NCMR 2011 - Connecting Communities: Did the Recovery Act Stimulate More than Debate?
Channel: Free Press
Date: 10/08/2011

The funding for broadband expansion included in the 2009 stimulus package is arguably the most significant shift in Internet policy in the past decade. Across the country, corporations, government agencies and community-based organizations mobilized to apply for the funding, in many cases laying out expansive, collaborative visions for what the Internet could be. 

What did we learn from this process? What challenges are communities facing as they begin realizing those visions? How do these lessons affect federal policy and the prospects for future funding programs? 

This panel discussion, held at the National Conference for Media Reform in Boston on April 8,  provides an overview of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and four case studies of collaborative approaches to the application process. The discussion not only looks back at the broadband stimulus, but includes practical lessons for others to use in their own local organizing to transform federal policy and build the Internet we would like to see.

Panelists: Judy Dumont, Massachusetts Broadband Institute; Laura L. Efurd, ZeroDivide; Jenny Lee, Allied Media Projects; and Bryan Mercer, Media Mobilizing Project. Lawrence Strickling, U.S. Department of Commerce, served as moderator.

To see more of the conference, go to www.conference.freepress.net. For more information about media issues, go to www.freepress.net.