Cornell Broadband Network Newsletter #2

Upcoming events:

• CBN’s second Zoom breakfast will be Friday, February 19, 2021 at 8:30am EST. We will be hearing about New York State’s Reimagine Commission's connectivity initiative from representatives of Schmidt Futures.  This purpose of this initiative is to increase opportunities for New Yorkers by reducing the digital divide.  The Commission’s Connectivity Working Group’s initial report on the state of connectivity, current market dynamics, and emerging deployment models to promote access to affordable, at-home broadband can be found here.

The format of these Zoom Breakfasts is 20 minutes of informal comments and then 30 minutes of questions and discussion. We will do a hard stop at 9:30am. Zoom details are:  https://cornell.zoom.us/j/7234328433?pwd=b3NGY3pOaitsRGgxYklkMEttTUFVUT09; Meeting ID 723 432 8433; Passcode: CBN.

Notice of Grants:

• The Office of Academic Integration requests applications for 2021 Multi-Investigator Seed Grants—Cornell’s Office of Academic Integration advances research and discovery by supporting collaborations between the Cornell Ithaca campus, and the Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Tech campuses in New York City. The Office has just announced an RFA for 2021 Multi-Investigator Seed Grants. For 2021 deadlines and application links,  view the Multi-Investigator Seed Grant RFA.
• The Center for the Study of Inequality (CSI) has announced the 2020-21 Faculty Research Grant program. This program supports cutting-edge social scientific research into the patterns, causes, and consequences of social and economic inequality. The deadline for proposals is April 1, 2021. Authors of winning proposals will be notified in May, and funds will be available by summer of 2021. For details, click https://inequality.cornell.edu/faculty-research.

 News:

• The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities hosted a conference on January 27, 2021 on topic of “Broadband’s Role in Rural Economic Development: Exploring the Intersection between Community and Agricultural Broadband Needs”. The keynote was given by Gigi Sohn, Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy. Ms. Sohn laid out three “MIA” research imperatives to bridge the digital divide: Mapping-find out who doesn’t have access to broadband and where; Impact-look at what has worked and what hasn’t; and Adoption-literacy, training, privacy. A transcript of her talk can be found at  https://www.benton.org/blog/mapping-impact-adoption-research-agenda-effective-rural-broadband-policy?utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletters.

• How Local Leaders Are Expanding Broadband Access: Francella Ochillo of Next Century Cities discusses the role of community officials in expanding high-speed, reliable internet, January 19, 2021. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2021/01/19/how-local-leaders-are-expanding-broadband-access?utm_campaign=Newsletters&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email

• Overview of Broadband Funding Opportunities in the COVID-19 Relief Act, January 19, 2021. https://www.khlaw.com/Overview-of-Broadband-Funding-Opportunities-in-the-COVID-19-Relief-Act?utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletters

• Opinion:  Here’s what Biden can do right now to get more Americans on the Internet https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heres-what-biden-can-do-right-now-to-get-more-americans-on-the-internet/2021/01/21/830676c0-5c28-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html?utm_campaign=Newsletters&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email

• The State of Broadband in America, Q4 2020, Tyler Cooper and Julia Tanberk, BROADBANDNOW RESEARCH, January 19, 2021. https://broadbandnow.com/research/q4-broadband-report-2020?utm_campaign=Newsletters&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email

• To Close the Digital Divide, the FCC Must Redefine Broadband Speeds-Dating from 2015, the agency’s definition of broadband is much too slow, IEEE Spectrum January 19, 2021.  https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/internet/to-close-the-digital-divide-the-fcc-must-redefine-broadband-speeds

• Accelerating America-AFFORDABILITY | ADOPTION | ACCESS, Verizon https://www.verizon.com/about/sites/default/files/verizon-accelerating-america-broadband-full-version.pdf?utm_campaign=Newsletters&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email
• 2021 Policy Roadmap, Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition. January 2021-Each year, the SHLB Coalition issues a policy roadmap to shape our advocacy for community anchor institution broadband. https://www.shlb.org/policy/roadmap?utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletters
• Public-private partnership for building a resilient broadband infrastructure in Puerto Rico, Amado Cordova and Karlyn Stanley, Telecommunications Policy.  Exploring the use of an innovative approach to a public-private partnership (PPP) to spur the deployment of broadband and create more resilient telecommunications networks in Puerto Rico. Such a partnership is a critical ingredient of the plan for rebuilding the telecommunications sector of Puerto Rico after the island was devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017. The proposed partnership also has the potential for enabling the expansion of citizen access to broadband services throughout Puerto Rico.

• The National Urban League, working with other civil rights organizations and public policy experts, has developed a detailed and comprehensive agenda to:

  • Deploy networks everywhere;
  • Get everyone connected;
  • Use networks to improve how we deliver essential services, such as workforce development, health care and education; and
  • Create new economic opportunities to participate in the growth of the digital economy.
  • See https://nul.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/NUL%20LL%20DEIA%20Framework_FINAL%20NUL%20wesbite.pdf?utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter

The Cornell Broadband Network  is a virtual community of people

on Cornell’s various campuses and people outside of the University

who are doing research on and are engaged in broadband-related projects.

 CBN’s mission is to provide visibility into these efforts in order to build partnerships

and foster collaborations across the entire University.

For more information, email CornellBroadbandNetwork@cornell.edu.