Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

Technology Commission http://www.austintexas.gov/cttc REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Wednesday –March 5th, 2025 – 6:30PM Austin Energy – Mueller Assembly Room – Room 1111a 4815 Mueller Blvd., Austin, TX 78723 Please go to http://www.austintexas.gov/cityclerk/boards_commissions/meetings/10_1.htm for backup materials 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 found at: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/atxn-video-archive. the cablecast. Schedules and video can be few hours of The Technology Commission convened in a REGULAR meeting on Wednesday, March 5th, 2025, at 4815 Mueller Blvd. in Austin, Texas. Current Commission Members Keith Pena-Villa ‐ Mayor Kirk Watson Brian AM Williams ‐ Council Member Natasha Harper‐Madison, District 1 Steven Apodaca – Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, District 2 Carina Alderete ‐ Council Member José Velasquez, District 3 Suzanne Heritage ‐ Council Member José “Chito” Vela, District 4 Thomas Rice‐ Council Member Ryan Alter, District 5 Gabriel Nwajiaku‐ Council Member Krista Laine, District 6 Benjamin Combee ‐ Council Member Mike Seigel, District 7 Vacant ‐ Council Member Paige Ellis, District 8 Ibiye Anga – Council Member Zohaib “Zo” Qadri, District 9 Sumit DasGupta ‐ Council Member Marc Duchen, District 10 Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance in person: Steven Apodaca, Chair Benjamin Combee Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance Remotely: Sumit DasGupta Ibiye Anga 1 Carina Alderete, Vice-Chair Keith Pena-Villa Suzzane Heritage Thomas Rice Board Members/Commissioners Not in Attendance: Gabriel Nwajiaku Brian AM Williams CALL TO ORDER Chair Apodaca called the Community Technology and Telecommunications Meeting to order at 6:58 p.m. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first ten speakers who register to speak no later than noon on the day before the meeting will be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. There were no speakers registered to deliver comments. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission special called meeting on February 12th, 2025. This item was not addressed and will be moved to the next meeting. The meeting adjourned due to a lack of quorum before the commission circled back to this item. DISCUSSION ITEMS 2. Presentation on the Professional Development and EdExchange program (Madeleine Edwards, Senior Grants Manager, Austin Children’s Museum) The presentation on Austin Children’s Museum’s EdExchange program was delivered by Madeleine Edwards, Derek Casares, and Rachel Mallernee and can be viewed at this link: https://austintx.new.swagit.com/videos/336725 3. Presentation on the status of the city’s participation and involvement in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program challenge process (Khotan Harmon, Program Manager, City of Austin Economic Development Department) The presentation on the BEAD challenge process was delivered by Khotan Harmon and can be viewed at this link: https://austintx.new.swagit.com/videos/336725 2 4. 5. Presentation regarding Grant for Technology Opportunities Program (GTOPs) received applications (Dan Martinez, Business Process Specialist, City of Austin Community Technology Division) The presentation on received GTOPs applications was delivered by Dan Martinez and can be viewed at this link: https://austintx.new.swagit.com/videos/336725 Presentation on the City of Austin and Travis County’s collaborative Digital Needs Assessment (Chloe Mun, Reyda Taylor from Travis County and Jesse Rodriguez from City of Austin) The presentation on the 2023 Digital Needs Assessment was delivered by Chloe Mun, link: Reyda Taylor, https://austintx.new.swagit.com/videos/336725 can be viewed Jesse Rodriguez this and and at DISSCUSION AND ACTION ITEMS 6. Review and approval of recommendation for maintaining Funding for the Grant for Technology Opportunities Program (GTOPs) in the FY26 Budget Chair Apodaca began the discussion by mentioning the March 31st deadline for city council budget recommendations. The recommendations drafted by the commission were based on the data provided by the 2023 Digital Needs Assessment. first recommendation sought continued funding for the Grant for Technology Opportunities Program. Commissioner Anga requested clarity on the difference between this item and item 7, since the proposed program in item 7 is referred to as the “GTOPs Hardware Fund” in the initial draft. Chair Apodaca clarified that these pools of funding would be for separate efforts. Motion to approve the recommendation for maintaining Funding for the Grant for Technology Opportunities Program (GTOPs) made by Commissioner Combee and seconded by Commissioner Rice. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0. 7. Review and approval of recommendation for funding an affordable device distribution & repair program in the FY26 Budget The next recommendation was a request for funding for a device distribution and repair program for the public. Commissioner DasGupta sent Chair Apodaca some feedback on this recommendation and suggested a minimum funding amount of $25k as well as establishing a public-private partnership. Commissioner Combee recommended making mention of the potential to lessen waste through this program. GTOPs staffer, Jesse Rodriguez, recommended removing the GTOPs name to the Hardware Fund to allow for more flexibility in terms of the public-private partnership. Motion to approve the recommendation for funding an affordable device distribution & repair program made by Commissioner Heritage and seconded by Vice Chair Alderete. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0. 3 8. Review and approval of recommendation for expanding public internet access in the FY26 budget. This recommendation was also based on the data from the 2023 Digital Needs Assessment/ Chair Apodaca clarified that the reference to “Emergency Response Locations” in the document is referring to resilience hubs and warming stations. Chair Apodaca discussed what the potential funding amount for this request would be, suggesting it be enough to cover one full-time employee. GTOPs staff suggested having a more target approach for this recommendation to which commissioner Heritage offered an amendment that would clarify that new public internet locations would be established based on the data provided by digital divide index and other relevant sources. Chair Apodaca added some additional language that would allow this recommendation to operate in an exploratory/research phase before establishing new internet centers for the public. Commissioner Anga suggested including those who are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act be included in this recommendation as well. Motion to approve the recommendation for expanding public internet access made by Commissioner Combee and seconded by Commissioner Anga. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0. 9. Review and approval of recommendation for increased funding for Digital Skills training in the FY26 Budget City staff clarified that there is already a digital skills training program/funding already in place with Austin Free Net ($300,000). Commissioner Anga suggested adding $150,000 in additional funding for device distributions in conjunction with this training program. Motion to approve the recommendation for increased funding for Digital Skills training made by Commissioner Anga and seconded by Commissioner Combee. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0. 10. Review and Approval of recommendation for continued funding for AI upskilling for City of Austin employees in the FY26 Budget This recommendation was based on a previous presentation by the City’s Office of Innovation regarding AI upskilling for City of Austin employees. Chair Apodaca amended the draft by suggesting $75,000 be invested into this project. Motion to approve the recommendation for continued funding for AI upskilling for City of Austin employees made by Commissioner Anga and seconded by Commissioner Heritage. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0. WORKING GROUP UPDATES 11. Public Surveillance working group updates regarding further meetings with surveillance stakeholders 4 Commissioner Pena-Villa was not available to give the group’s update but Chair Apodaca and Commissioner Heritage both concurred that the group is looking to meet with some additional stakeholders before synthesizing that information down to a an actionable document. 12. Artificial Intelligence Working Group updates surrounding development of recommendation post stakeholder engagement Commissioner Williams was not in attendance to give an update for the working group. Chair Apodaca mentioned that the group is still reviewing policy from the city and other groups. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • Presentation on PANO AI wildfire tracking system • GTOPs Core 2025 awardee selection and financial breakdown • Officer Elections • Austin Free Net public resource distribution plan ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:27pm due to a lack of quorum. 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 you require Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days before the meeting date. Please contact Dan Martinez at the Community Technology Divison at (512) 974- 3510, for additional information; TTY users’ route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission, please visit their website at http://www.austintexas.gov/cttc or contact Dan Martinez at dan.martinez@austintexas.gov The Minutes were approved at the special called May 1st, 2025 Meeting on Chair Apodaca’s motion and Commissioner Heritage’s second with a final vote of 6-0. 5