COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Regular Meeting Wednesday – December 8, 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 Steven Apodaca Dave Floyd Maxine Eiland Nicole Thompson Sophie Gairo Malcolm Yeatts Illiya Svirsky Jennifer Ramos Sumit DasGupta 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 – October 13, 2021 2. STAFF AND COMMUNITY BRIEFINGS (A member of the public may not address a board at a meeting on an item posted as a briefing) a. Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs update – Rondella Hawkins, TARA Officer, Financial Services Department b. HACA Mobile Hot Spot Speed & Connection Testing – Catherine Crago, Head of Strategic Initiatives, Housing Authority of the City of Austin & Austin Pathways, and Ashlee Johnson, ACC IT Intern c. Briefing on the Reliable and Affordable Broadband for All Project – Khotan Harmon, Leadership Austin Fellow 3. NEW BUSINESS (Discussion and Possible Action) a. Digital Inclusion Week Art Competition – Jesse Rodriguez, Interim Program Manager, Financial Services Department (discussion and possible action) b. Digital Equity and Inclusion Town Hall – Chair Nehemiah Pitts III (Commission discussion and possible action) c. Election of Officers – Vice Chair (Commission discussion and action) 4. 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 …
TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS Legislative and Regulatory Update – December 2021 Congress ➢ Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684): Signed by Pres. Biden; the broadband provisions include includes $65 billion for broadband-related projects and cybersecurity grants: Broadband Highlights: • $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program - available to states that apply for funds. Allocated to states by formula. • Deployment to unserved and underserved areas first then connecting eligible community anchor institutions • Data collection, broadband mapping, and planning • Provision of affordable broadband to multi-family residential building in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. • Broadband adoption (including providing affordable internet-capable devices) • $2.75 billion under the Digital Inclusion Act, which includes two new grant programs, the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program and Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, focused on digital inclusion. • $14.2 billion for the Affordable Connectivity Benefit Households via providers (see FCC below regarding rulemaking) • This is an extension of the temp. Emergency Broadband Benefit Program ($50/month which expires December 31, 2021), though with lower monthly subsidies. • Permanent program - $30/month subsidy for internet service for households up to 200% of poverty that qualify for other federal benefits (Nutrition, SSI, Veteran’s Pension, etc.). • $1 billion for middle mile infrastructure. ➢ $2 billion for USDA rural broadband construction programs (primarily ReConnect). ➢ $1 billion for DHS-run grant program to address cybersecurity risks and cybersecurity threats to information systems owned or operated by, or on behalf of, State, local, or Tribal governments. ➢ Build Back Better Act (HR-5376): House-passed version includes $500 million for a new FTC data privacy and security bureau, $500 million for NTIA connected device vouchers, $490 million for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and $300 million for the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund. ➢ Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility Act (E-BRIDGE Act) (H.R. 3193) (S. 1695) : Passed House Nov. 4th; authorizes the Commerce Dept. to award economic development grants for public-private partnerships and certain consortiums for projects to provide, extend, expand, or improve broadband service through (1) planning, technical assistance, or training; (2) land acquisition or development; or (3) acquisition, construction, or improvement of facilities. ➢ Next Generation Telecommunications Act (S. 3014): Would establish a Next Generation Telecommunications Council to advise Congress on 6G advancements and other advanced wireless communications technologies; allocates $10 million to the Council, which would submit a report to Congress within one year. …
HACA & Austin Pathways Sneakernet Project June 7, 2021 - July 30, 2021 Presenter Catherine Crago Head of Strategic Initiatives HACA/Austin Pathways Authors Ashlee Johnson, ACC IT Intern Omar Tapia, ACC IT Intern Andrew Martinez, ACC IT Intern Spring-Fall 2020-2021 Team Members With Thanks to John Bratcher, T-Mobile James Mason, ACC IT Intern Khotan Harmon, ACC IT Intern Stan McClellan, Texas State University HACA & Austin Pathways Resident Smart City Ambassadors Background & Introduction ● HACA has 18 public subsidized housing properties spanning Austin from north to south across the eastern crescent. ● Is a single provider’s 4G hotspot the best product for all HACA properties and all parts of town? ● What are acceptable levels of service, using third-party definitions, for broadband speed in a HACA household, i.e. per multiple users using intensive applications simultaneously in a household? ● What is the cost of service both per household and per property for wireline vs. wireless broadband service? ● Does a resident at a given property get “$1 of wireless broadband” for a dollar spent? Our Scope ● One year 7-Week Project Staffed by co-lead by 2 and assisted by 4 part-time ACC IT Work Study Interns ● Three Phases. ○ Phase 1, July 30, Procurement Recommendation, Stakeholder Feedback ○ Phase 2 & 3, Vendor analysis ● Core activities, Phase 1: design of experiment, key map design and validation, data collection and validation, evaluation, stakeholder requirements feedback and synthesis ● Ten HACA Properties ○ 8 Central and North Properties with No In-Home Internet ○ 2 Central-Downtown Properties with Free Google Fiber Phase 1 Questions ● What is the right internet service to provide to each household at each property, given a conservative outdoor reading and better-than-average devices? ● Is a single provider’s 4G hotspot, is that product the best for all HACA properties and all parts of town? ● What are acceptable levels of service, using third-party definitions, for broadband speed in a HACA household, i.e. per multiple users using intensive applications simultaneously in a household? ● What is the cost of service both per household and per property for wireline vs. wireless broadband service? ● Does a resident at a given property get “$1 of broadband” for a dollar spent? On Location at North Loop ● Boots on the ground ● Outdoors only ● Hardware in hand Speedtesting Hardware MacBook Air: 1.6ghz, dual-core 8th-gen, intel core i5 2015, macOS …
Reliable and Affordable Broadband Internet for All Final Report: December 8, 2021 Khotan Harmon, 2021 Leadership Austin Digital Inclusion Fellow Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs (TARA) City of Austin What is digital equity “Digital inclusion is the ability of individuals and groups to equally access and use information and communication technologies affordably, efficiently, and reliably along with digital training, resources, and skills needed to fully participate in a digital society.” - Digital Empowerment Community of Austin (DECA) 2 ● Insights from Lived Experience of Results of inputs: How we got here Austin residents from CTTC Special Conversation ● Goal of the Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission Work Plan ● Experience from Previous City-supported projects & COA Digital Inclusion Strategic Plan ● Impact from COVID-19 Virtual Pivot ● Application to Leadership Austin and funded by St. David's Foundation (THANK YOU!) ● Khotan Harmon named LA Digital Inclusion Fellow ● Framed out the goals and inquiry areas for the project ● Aligned current City program staff to support Fellow and coordinated activities underway for project ● Identified initial stakeholders to engage in project 3 Project scope: Reliable and Affordable Broadband for All Project Goals: Deliverables: Our community needs a fellow to assess, identify and develop viable longer-term solutions to address the problem of digital equity to ensure reliable, affordable broadband for all. The availability of the internet is critical to participate in a growing digital society and to provide equitable, educational, job and economic opportunities and access to healthcare. Report #1: Community asset mapping and survey of existing data on the mapping and speed of private broadband infrastructure and reasons for barriers to broadband adoption. Report #2 - Feasibility Plan based on models and best practices nationally that could be offered as a possible solution in Austin for affordable reliable broadband for all in Austin. Stakeholder engagement - Reactivated, engaged and collaborating cross-sector of stakeholders in a wide-reaching and community-wide effort. 4 A 3-horizon view of the challenge and solutions HORIZON 1. ADDRESS IMMEDIATE NEEDS HORIZON 2. BRIDGE THE GAPS HORIZON 3. LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS Short term 1-3 years Medium term 3-5 years Long term 5-10 years 5 GAATN - Longer Term Collaboration ● The Fellowship was designed to evaluate and engage GAATN (Greater Austin Area Telecommunications Network) for possible digital equity solutions. That didn’t work out the way it was planned! “GAATN was created pursuant to Section 791.001 et seq. of the …
First Place Winner: $400 Award Name Zahraa Alfatle Submission Number 31 School Name Guerrero Thompson Elementary Age of Artist 11 Method Pencil, paper, colored pencils Subjectmatter Digital empowerment Second Place Winner: $200 Award Name Sowmya Kulukuru Submission Number 34 School Name James Bowie High School Age of Artist 14 Method Photoshop 2022 Subjectmatter During the pandemic, being able to reach out to my friends and loved ones was one of the things that kept me sane. Ever since moving from California all the way to Texas due to my dad's work, technology has enabled me to keep in touch with my old friends. Being able to talk with them like I used to, even though I'm over 1000 miles away, means a lot to me, and so I drew a superhero who is empowered by the technology around her. I drew a few examples of the ways I've used technology during the pandemic, like messaging people and drawing on my tablet. My artwork is meant to represent how, even though technology comes in such a small package, it can have a large impact on the people who use it, and empower people to reach limits they previously couldn't. Third Place Award: $100 Award Name Isabelle Call Submission Number 30 School Name Canyon Vista Middle School Age of Artist 11 Method Procreate on iPad and Apple Pencil Subjectmatter We can all be connected and stay in touch with everyone in our lives with technology. Even while staying home all year to keep safe, I got to learn from my teachers, saw my family and friends, and learned new things.
Digital Equity & Inclusion Townhall Summary Report - Part I Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission, City of Austin Nehemiah Pitts III, Commission Chair Digital Equity & Inclusion Townhall w/ CTTC On October 9th, 2021 Mission Capital and the Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission hosted a Digital Equity & Inclusion Townhall. Serving as a culminating portion of Digital Inclusion Week 2021 programming and part of our CTTC 2019 - 2020 Work Plan to host special conversations capturing lived experience, this event included a variety of Austin residents receiving services, policymakers, and the community leaders of local nonprofits. As reflected by last years work, the global COVID-19 pandemic has necessarily elevated the importance of Digital Equity and Inclusion conversations for affected communities and the leaders that serve them. The purpose of this convening was to allow Austin citizens the opportunity to directly communicate their lived experiences and persistent challenges with accessing internet-enabled devices and equitable broadband internet today. Following on previous meetings with local residents, community leaders, organizations, city staff, and local Internet Service Providers (ISPs), these citizen accounts and collaboration stories will provide “challenge data points” for cataloging and potential resolution in Part II of this Summary Report. Digital Equity & Inclusion Townhall Speakers Community Entities w/Staff & Clients United Way of Greater Austin Paola Silvestre - Director of Family Pathways Liliana Fuentes Lugo - Client Estefani Garcia - Client Viridiana Hernandez - Client Raul Alvarez Isabel Torres - Client Deja Gilline Davis - Client Housing Authority of the City of Austin & Austin Pathways Catherine Crago - Head of Strategic Initiatives Lupe Garcia - Smart City Ambassador/Client Irene Ensley - VP of Residents Council/Client Ana Clerc - Google Program Adminstrator Ashlee Johnson - ACC IT Intern Digital Equity & Inclusion Townhall Ecosystem Participants CTTC Commissioners Nehemiah Pitts III, Commission Chair - District #1 Steven Apodaca - District #2 - - - Maxine Eiland - District #7 Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs Office (TARA) - Khotan Harmon, 2021 Digital Inclusion Fellow Elected Officials/Staff Nonprofit Co-Hosts - Mayor Pro-Tem Natashia Harper-Madison - District #1 - - Reyda Taylor, PHD, Senior Consultant Data & Evaluation Chelsea Hartness, Membership Manager Discuss this report and possible action at next meeting. Actions may include voting to collaborate on the creation of one or more of the following: 1.) Client Follow Up 2.) Program Ideation & Collaboration w/APL, HACA, and United Way to start Next Steps?
