It's Time To Connect the Rest of America
High-speed broadband is a vital part of our 21st-century infrastructure, but more than 19 million rural Americans don’t have adequate access—and as many as 162.8 million Americans don’t access the internet at broadband speeds. You can help close the digital divide and connect more Americans to educational, employment, and business opportunities to keep our economy growing.
Executive Briefings
Voices for Innovation’s Executive Briefings provide weekly updates on technology policy & news, including highlights from Capitol Hill, breaking tech news, clips of relevant articles from traditional and new media, and a roundup of thought leader quotes and tweets.
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Progress on Rural Broadband
Over the last 17 months, Microsoft has forged partnerships with local internet providers to bring broadband connectivity to 1 million Americans in rural communities who currently lack high-speed access. On December 4, ...
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“We believe that the only way to protect against this race to the bottom is to build a floor of responsibility." Read more of @BradSmi's comments about facial recognition tech at @BrookingsInst: https://t.co/Prbu3hxSuj
This is why bridging the digital divide is essential: everyone deserves to be connected to the modern, digital age.
Over the last 17 months, Microsoft has forged partnerships with local internet providers to bring broadband connectivity to 1 million Americans in rural communities who currently lack high-speed access. Read more: https://t.co/hPQth9kIqd
#ICYMI: New research from @Microsoft shows that the digital divide is worse than previously thought. Read more about the 162.8 million people who live without access to high-speed broadband: https://t.co/Y26IwfS9Dd
Access to broadband is becoming as vital as the traditional natural resources. This smart initiative is leveraging unused TV White Spaces to deliver Internet to remote rural spaces. https://t.co/MRjYUkv7o5 #MSFTAdvocate
#TBT to this thoughtful blog, penned by Microsoft President @bradsmi, on bridging the digital divide. Read more: https://t.co/X6Vn24eULD
The first step to successfully developing #CSEd is equipping teachers with what they need to teach!
We've seen how AI can be applied for good, but we must also guard against its unintended consequences. Now is the time to examine how we build AI responsibly and avoid a race to the bottom. This requires both the private and public sectors to take action. https://t.co/5iAESLIYRG
"A new study by Microsoft researchers casts a light on the actual use of high-speed internet across the country, and the picture it presents is very different from the FCC numbers." Read more about the realities of the #broadband gap: https://t.co/Y26IwfS9Dd
"The broadband gap is a solvable issue." Microsoft President, @BradSmi, pens this thoughtful blog on the digital divide, #TVWhiteSpace, and our path forward. Read more: https://t.co/X6Vn24eULD
It's time to act to regulate #FacialRecognition. To ensure it's used as a force for good, we’ve laid out our suggestions on how we can get started and the principles @Microsoft will adopt. Thanks @BrookingsInst for the opportunity to discuss these ideas. https://t.co/izrPd8LRUl
#ICYMI, Microsoft's #Airband initiative is now aiming to bring broadband access to 3 million Americans by 2022. Watch @BradSmi's announcement here: https://t.co/Cid0KcZ352
By July 2022, Microsoft aims to bring broadband internet to 3 million Americans in rural areas. Read @BradSmi's latest blog on how #TVWhiteSpace makes this goal possible: https://t.co/X6Vn24eULD
Voices for Innovation on Capitol Hill
Voices for Innovation members came to Washington, DC to meet with their members of Congress and the House Small Business Committee and advocate for 21st century technology policies.
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Update: April 2018 On March 23, 2018, after a multi-year advocacy effort, the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (the “CLOUD Act”) was signed into law as part of omnibus legislation. Passage of the CLOUD Act represents a milestone for digital privacy. (...)
The United States leads the world in technology innovation, but this leadership is jeopardized by insufficient support for computer science education in our nation’s K-12 schools. We cannot maintain an innovation-driven economy and prepare students for future success in the digital economy if (...)
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Voices for Innovation (VFI) is a Microsoft supported community of technology professionals and everyday Americans who help advance technology, IT job growth, and businesses of all sizes. As empowered citizen advocates, we work together to shape public policies for our 21st century digital economy and society.