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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Donate a Device! Help Microsoft Philanthropies Respond to COVID-19
For our most recent webinar, Voices for Innovation welcomed Andrea Russo and Aimee Rosato from the Microsoft Philanthropies team to highlight how Microsoft and the company’s Philanthropies arm are helping our nation ...
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Broadband powers our modern lives. COVID-19 has become an accelerant, forcing much of our work/commerce/learning online. Millions of Americans without access to high speed internet, particularly in rural areas, could be left behind. We can't ignore this. https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/05/21/broadband-gap-covid-19-airband/
Final question for the panel, we know the TVWS rulemaking is a priority for the @FCC, how do we make sure it remains there?
@MignonClyburn Emphasizing the deliverables. Few dockets check the boxes of affordibility, coverage, and ROI like TVWS does.
@MignonClyburn notes that there may not be a one size fits all solution, but @FCC dockets like TVWS are critical to beginning to understand what communities need.
@mikeofcc notes that television white spaces provide the last mile connection many underserved and rural areas need. We need as many wired and wireless uses of unlicensed spectrum as possible to solve this issue.
Follow along at 10am EST as we join @actonline in live-tweeting today's webinar on COVID-19 and the digital divide.
A personal experience inspired Microsoft employee and mom @Melimulhol to discover how #AI could solve challenges for other parents in her shoes.
Read her story: https://msft.it/6001T9nV1
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed just how big the digital divide really is. This @BrookingsInst report does a great job of showing how public-private partnerships + innovations like TV white spaces can help close the gap. #Airband https://www.brookings.edu/longform/from-rural-digital-divides-to-local-solutions/
Western Governors expressed support for proposed updates to improve the utility of TV White Spaces technology in response to the @FCC Proposed Rulemaking on “Unlicensed White Space Device Operations in the Television Bands.” Here's why http://ow.ly/Xq8w50zmCjN
We're so pleased by the unprecedented move from the @FCC to expand broadband access by opening the 6 GHz band to next-generation Wi-Fi. This plan will provide Americans greater access to telework, telemedicine, distance learning & other critical broadband services/applications.
NEWS: the @FCC has unanimously approved my plan to boost #WiFi in the 6 GHz band. This initiative, which has been described as "the single biggest opportunity in Wi-Fi—and probably in wireless—in a generation," will benefit consumers in incredible ways! https://twitter.com/EvanS_FCC/status/1253083135417495552
Chief Privacy Officer @JulieSBrill and @peteratmsr share seven principles to preserve #privacy as societies move towards tracking, tracing, and testing to address the COVID-19 pandemic: https://msft.it/6008T5F5E
We're proud to support @TeamRubicon! Check out CEO @JakewoodTR talking about their #NeighborsHelpingNeighbors initiative on @CNNHeroes #Tech4TR
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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“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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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.