COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Regular Meeting Wednesday – October 13, 2021 – 6:30 PM City Hall – Boards and Commissions - Room 1101 301 W. 2nd Street - Austin, TX 78701 Some members of the Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission may be participating by videoconference. The meeting may be viewed online at: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch-atxn-live CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Nehemiah Pitts III, Chair Sophie Gairo Malcolm Yeatts Illiya Svirsky Jennifer Ramos Sumit DasGupta David Alexander, Vice Chair Steven Apodaca Dave Floyd Maxine Eiland Nicole Thompson AGENDA CALL TO ORDER CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first ten speakers who register to speak no later than noon the day before the meeting will be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – September 29, 2021 2. NEW BUSINESS (Discussion and Possible Action) a. Digital Inclusion Week Art Competition – Jesse Rodriguez, Interim Program Manager, Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs (discussion and possible action) b. Commission discussion and action on its 2022 meeting schedule (Commission discussion and possible action) c. Grant for Technology Opportunities Program 2022 Cycle - Jesse Rodriguez, Interim Program Manager, Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs (discussion and possible action) d. Digital Equity and Inclusion Town Hall (Commission discussion and possible action) 3. COMMISSION UPDATES (Discussion and Possible Action) a. Digital Inclusion, Civic Engagement, and Strategic Technology and Telecom Policy Working Group b. Knowledge, Information, and Data Stewardship Working Group c. Technology, Infrastructure, and Innovation Working Group FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Jesse Rodriguez at the Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs Department, at jesse.rodriguez@austintexas.gov for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission, please contact Jesse Rodriguez at jesse.rodriguez@austintexas.gov
2022 Meeting Schedule Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission The commission shall meet the 2nd Wednesday of the month. MEETING DATES CANCELLED MEETING DATES & EVENTS January 12 February 9 March 9 April 13 May 11 June 8 July 13 August 10 September 14 October 12 November 9 December 14 Commission members serve for a term of four years beginning March 1st on the year of appointment. GTOPS 2022 Update – Applications Received. Meeting will be held outside of central City. Commission FY 23 Budget Recommendations due no later than mid-April. GTOPs 2022 Award Recommendations. Election of Officers at the first regular meeting after April 1, 2022 Terms of office shall be one year, beginning May 1st and ending April 30th. Work Plan Retreat / Regular Meeting Terms for newly elected officers start (May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023) Commission Annual Report Due to City Clerk July 31st NO MEETING SCHEDULED FOR THIS DATE 2022 GTOPs Review and 2023 Recommendations Adopt a meeting schedule for the upcoming year, including makeup meeting dates for holiday and cancelled meetings.
M E M O R A N D U M Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission TO: FROM: Jesse Rodriguez, Interim Program Manager Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs October 13, 2021 DATE: SUBJECT: Recommendations for 2022 Grant for Technology Opportunities Program Background The City of Austin’s Digital Inclusion Strategic Plan, as adopted by Resolution No. 20141120- 074, includes every Austin resident having an opportunity to be fully engaged in digital society, accessing and using digital and communications technology. The Office of Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs (TARA) is the lead office for implementation of this plan. The Grant for Technology Opportunities Program (GTOPs) is a grant administered by the Community Technology (CT) Division of TARA directed at improving the community's ability to fully participate in the digital society to achieve the goals of the Digital Inclusion Strategic Plan. Purpose and Process The purpose of this report is to review the significant changes coming to the 2022 cycle of the GTOPs. Each year, CT staff performs a review of the prior grant cycle in preparation for the next year of grants. For this year’s annual strategic planning and review process, feedback surveys were deployed to all GTOPs applicants and reviewers. In addition, staff observations and multiple touchpoints with the chair of the Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission (CTTC) were taken into account. From these data sources, recommendations were drafted into the final version of the recommendations, presented below. Analysis There are three categories of changes being proposed for the GTOPs 2022 cycle: 1) Changes to the review and scoring process; 2) changes to the application and application process; 3) changes to contract oversight; and 4) continuous innovation and improvement plans. Together, these four changes could greatly improve service delivery and core program capacity to local Austin nonprofit groups. Changes to the Review and Scoring Process Recommendation 1: Transition to an Olympic-style scoring system, whereby the top and bottom scores are dropped 1 Under the current GTOPs scoring system, each reviewer independently scores applications. All scores are provided to all awardees along with comments on why the reviewers scored the way they did. Naturally, different reviewers score in slightly different ways, some higher, others lower on average. Individual applicants often see a single score that is significantly lower than the others, and they often feel as if a single reviewer is taking them out of the running. This is a consistent point of feedback, not …
First Place Award: $400 Name: Mira Patel School: Kealing Middle School ID 13 12 Age of Artist Submission Method Digitally Method I used alcohol markers and pen on tan mixed media paper. This is a style of art is a mix of realism and character art that is often used in bullet journaling. Subjectmatter Date Created 11/4/2020 9:15pm To me, digital equity means tech adapted to fit different types of peoples needs. Equity is different than giving everyone the same thing because everyone is different. Second Place Award: $200 Name: Ari Bernstein School: Covington Fine Arts Academy ID 18 12 Age of Artist Submission Method Digitally Method Subjectmatter online. Date Created 11/6/2020 11:16am Prismacolor, a pencil, sharpie and, gimp (photoshop like program) My artwork is about everyone, no matter the difference, having equal digital tools and resources needed to succeed digitally. I showed this by drawing diverse people in different places and them using different kinds of technology to learn and create things Third Place Award: $100 Name: Kavya Gupta School: St Francis School ID 24 11 Age of Artist Submission Method Digitally Method colors in photoshop. Subjectmatter I first made a pencil sketch of the people, inked it, scanned it, and then finalized the This art is about kids connecting digitally in this pandemic, even if things get hard. This also reminds me that everyone is here for you, and we are not alone. This drawing also has lots of races, cultures, and ethnicities, connecting to each other digitally, no matter what you look like, or where you come from. Date Created 11/6/2020 11:33pm Score Distribution Submission Originality Theme 9.33 8.67 7.33 7.67 7.33 7.33 7.33 6.33 6.00 8.00 6.00 6.67 5.00 7.67 4.00 7.00 4.33 4.33 3.67 3.33 2.00 Creativity 9.33 8.33 8.33 7.33 7.33 6.67 6.33 6.67 6.67 6.00 6.67 6.33 6.00 5.67 5.33 5.00 5.00 5.33 4.33 3.67 3.33 Impactful / Engaging 9.67 8.00 7.67 7.33 7.33 6.33 7.00 6.00 5.00 7.00 5.67 5.33 6.00 6.33 5.33 4.67 4.67 4.33 4.00 4.00 2.67 Average Score 37.00 33.33 31.67 30.00 29.67 28.00 27.67 26.33 25.67 25.67 25.33 24.67 24.33 24.33 22.00 21.67 20.00 20.00 17.67 16.33 13.67 8.67 8.33 8.33 7.67 7.67 7.67 7.00 7.33 8.00 4.67 7.00 6.33 7.33 4.67 7.33 5.00 6.00 6.00 5.67 5.33 5.67 13 18 24 20 22 16 2 17 1 19 14 5 6 10 23 3 7 15 4 …
COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION http://www.austintexas.gov/cttc MINUTES Regular Meeting Wednesday – October 13, 2021 – 6:30 PM VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING Please go to http://www.austintexas.gov/cityclerk/boards_commissions/meetings/10_1.htm for backup material associated with this agenda. All ATXN (City Channel 6) programming is cablecast on Spectrum, Grande Communications, and Google Fiber on their cable channel 6, on AT&T U‐ Verse Channel 99 and webcast online. Over 20 meetings per month, including this commission meeting, are available on demand online, typically within a few hours of the cablecast. Schedules and video can be found at: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/atxn-video-archive. CURRENT COMMISSION MEMBERS: Sophie Gairo ‐ Mayor Steve Adler Nehemiah Pitts III ‐ Council Member Natasha Harper‐Madison, District 1 Steven Apodaca – Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, District 2 Malcolm Yeatts ‐ Council Member Sabino “Pio” Renteria, District 3 David Alexander ‐ Council Member Gregorio Casar, District 4 Dave Floyd ‐ Council Member Ann Kitchen, District 5 Iliya Svirsky ‐ Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, District 6 Maxine Eiland ‐ Council Member Leslie Pool, District 7 Jennifer Ramos ‐ Council Member Paige Ellis, District 8 Nicole Thompson – Council Member Kathie Tovo, District 9 Sumit DasGupta ‐ Council Member Alison Alter, District 10 Commission Members Present Nehemiah Pitts III Nicole Thompson Dave Floyd Steven Apodaca Jennifer Ramos Sophie Gairo Commission Members Attending Remotely Maxine Eiland Sumit DasGupta Malcolm Yeatts Unexcused Absence David Alexander Iliya Svirsky CALL TO ORDER Meeting started at 6:49PM CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first ten speakers who register to speak no later than noon the day before the meeting will be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – September 29, 2021 Motion by Chair Pitts to approve the minutes as amended; second by Commissioner Dasgupta; passed on a vote of 9-0. Minor wording change would be CEO ACTION FOR RACIAL EQUITY, Motion for the wording change as per Commissioner Apodaca. 2. NEW BUSINESS (Discussion and Possible Action) a. Digital Inclusion Week Art Competition – Jesse Rodriguez, Interim Program Manager, Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs (discussion and possible action) The announcement of the awards was postponed due to the lack of submissions. b. Commission discussion and action on its 2022 meeting schedule (Commission discussion and possible action) Motion to approve the commission 2022 schedule as presented made by Chair Pitts, second by Commission Apodaca passed on a vote of 9-0. Presentation by Jesse Rodriguez can be viewed …
