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 and 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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Spread Kindness, Extend Grace, and Give Back to Our Community
Editor’s Note: Voices for Innovation leader and AvePoint CMO Dux Raymond Sy shares how his company has stepped forward to support remote work collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic. In these trying times, ...
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We’re proud to support the amazing work of @WADeptHealth. Residents can check to see how those in our community are being affected by #COVID19: ➡️ https://msft.it/6002TegBp
I’m afraid the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare yet another hard reality – the digital divide. Without better broadband access in rural areas, people cannot work from home or connect with others. This is why our #Airband work is so important. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/04/01/coronavirus-internet-speed-broadband-online-learning-school-closures/5091051002/
Have you read our latest blog from VFI leader and @avepoint CMO @meetdux? Learn more about the affect the #broadbandgap has on #remote work collaboration. https://www.voicesforinnovation.org/spread-kindness-extend-grace-give-back-community/?emci=183c97fc-c075-ea11-a94c-00155d03b1e8&emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&ceid=
Here’s another way to support nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic. #GiveWithBing enables you to search and direct donations with a click. Learn more: https://twitter.com/JordiRib1/status/1244667461296783360
More good news coming from @AjitPaiFCC. This is how govt and private sector work together to make a big difference. Bridging the #digitaldivide & bringing more #broadband access. Thank you! @vfiorg https://twitter.com/AjitPaiFCC/status/1238496522049904640
Today, I've announced my plan to make 1,200 MHz across the 6 GHz band available for unlicensed use. One #WiFi innovator has called it “without a doubt the single biggest opportunity in Wi-Fi—and probably in wireless—in a generation.” Huge consumer upside! https://medium.com/@AjitPaiFCC/digging-in-for-the-long-haul-ab144fc62f80
This morning, @GovInslee signed a landmark bill that puts guardrails in place for the use of facial recognition tech, a breakthrough in a polarizing debate. Why this matters: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/03/31/washington-facial-recognition-legislation/ #WALeg
Thank you Washington @GovInslee for signing the first #facialrecognition technology bill that establishes strong privacy statewide regulations. @Microsoft President @BradSmi gives his thoughts on this significant breakthrough: https://bit.ly/3418aih
Microsoft is lending our support to this initiative to help New York meet the challenges of fighting COVID-19. This is a time for industry to come together with government to tackle this crisis. https://twitter.com/JeremyMGoldberg/status/1242568119928963081
Our youth need broadband access to achieve their American Dream. New research from partner @4H highlights the importance of @Microsoft's mission to close the broadband gap. Learn more: http://4-H.org/DigitalImpactSurvey
The #FemaleFoundersComp continues to make strides in funding women-led enterprise tech startups. I'm inspired by the innovation of these 20 incredible finalists and can't wait to see their creative ideas! @M12vc #WomenInTech https://medium.com/@M12vc/announcing-our-female-founders-competition-finalists-f2d3cac55042
With the same commitment to #datasecurity and #dataprivacy #MSFTAdvocate #Microsoft @Archive360 https://twitter.com/vfiorg/status/1240678179733413890
How is @Microsoft supporting tech professionals in the wake of COVID-19? Read on: https://bit.ly/3a4nFZ3
Important @BuzzFeedNews article lists philanthropies helping feed people during this Covid-19 crisis. Proud that Microsoft was a seed funder for one of those profiled, the @SeattleFdn fund which keeps growing as the need does. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/coronavirus-covid19-organizations-help-food-medical-aid?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc
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.
Our Community
“It's critical for business leaders to understand the policy environment, especially technology leaders, because the policy is so far behind the innovation.” - VFI member Marc Hoppers
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Fill out your information below and we’ll share tech policy news, opportunities for engagement, and invitations to webinars and other special events. Your address helps VFI match you to your legislators so you can have an impact in Washington DC and your state capitol. We respect your online privacy rights, and we’ll never sell, rent, or give away your information to any third party.
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Our Issues
Technology Brings Internet to Underserved Communities Though the United States is a global technology leader, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 2019 broadband report indicates that more than 21 million Americans lack access to high-speed internet, including nearly 17 million people in rural communities. (...)
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 (...)
About
Voices for Innovation (VFI) is a Microsoft-supported community of technology professionals and everyday Americans committed to advancing discussions about the most important technology policies. As citizen advocates, we champion public policies that foster innovation, support business growth, and enable technology to address societal challenges.