Broadband Breakfast on June 12, 2024 – Digital Inclusion and Smart Cities
The smart cities dream hinges on ensuring universal internet access for all residents
The smart cities dream hinges on ensuring universal internet access for all residents. Collecting comprehensive data on internet accessibility and broadband coverage is pivotal for identifying gaps and fostering equitable internet participation. What progress have cities made in gathering these vital datasets? How can municipalities strategically leverage those numbers to allocate resources and implement programs that promote digital inclusion?
Taormina Falsitta
Panelists
- Juliet Fink-Yates, Broadband and Digital Inclusion Manager, City of Philadelphia
- Luisa Calumpong, Broadband Manager, City of Oakland
- J. Randolph Luening, Founder, BroadbandToolkit.com
- Denise Atkinson-Shorey, President, e-Luminosity
- Delia Sanchez, Community Engagement Specialist, Colorado Broadband Office
- Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast
Juliet Fink Yates has worked on addressing digital equity since 2001 when she managed a small non-profit ISP for 10,000 low-income Philadelphians. In 2010, she wrote, in collaboration with the City of Philadelphia, a broadband stimulus grant that brought $5.4 million to low-income communities to set up public computer centers in 77 locations. She joined the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation and Technology in March 2020 as the first Digital Inclusion Manager. She is one of the founders of the Technology Learning Collaborative, Philadelphia’s first professional development organization dedicated to digital literacy practitioners and currently manages the Digital Literacy Alliance, a coalition of digital inclusion leaders and seed fund for innovative digital inclusion programs. In her current role as Broadband and Digital Inclusion Manager she has been working on major initiatives to close the digital divide, including the PHLConnectED program to ensure all preK-12 students have internet access, PHLDonateTech to get devices into the hands of those in need, and Philadelphia’s official Digital Equity Plan.
Luisa Calumpong is currently working for the City of Oakland with emphasis on fiber asset integration for city-wide broadband. She is passionate about the connectivity of the future and the long-term impacts of Federal, State and Local initiatives. Luisa formerly worked with rural electric cooperatives for Design/Build, network deployment feasibility and funding concerning CAF2, RDOF, USDA ReConnect, and ARPA.
J. Randolph Luening is the founder of BroadbandToolkit.com, a firm that provides analytical planning tools to the telecommunication industry to help state broadband offices, investors, grant applicants,engineering firms, and ISPs in BEAD / CPF and others in infrastructure and funding-related decisions. Mr. Luening has enjoyed a 35-year carrier in the fixed, mobile, and satellite telecommunications, doing business in the US, Europe, and Asia. His education includes a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering (Duke University), Masters of Engineering in Electrical Engineering (Cornell University), and an MBA in Marketing (Wharton School of Business).
Denise Atkinson-Shorey is a consultant in broadband telecommunications, digital equity, inclusion and digital literacy and strategic planning at the local, state and national levels, focusing on funding, sustainability, advocacy and strategic partnerships. Denise founded e-Luminosity to address the need for third party neutral expertise in telecommunications infrastructure design, digital equity, inclusion and digital literacy, development of high capacity networks for communities, utilizing strategic planning and partnerships, grant writing to ensure the long term viability of projects. In addition to her work at e-Luminosity, Ms. Atkinson-Shorey has served as a --Board Member and Senior Consultant at Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) --Vice-Chairman of the Board for Schools, Healthcare and Libraries for Broadband Coalition (SHLB) --Advisory Board for Internet2’s U.S. UCAN initiative – Board Member for Colorado Association for Leaders of Education Technology (CALET).
Delia Sanchez has worked for Denver Public schools in multiple roles for over a decade. During the pandemic, she saw the direct correlation between the lack of access to proper technology resources and the student’s performance and health. Now as the Community Engagement Specialist in the OIT department, she can better advocate for the Colorado communities that need better access to broadband and technology.
Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing campaign for broadband data. As Editor and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media company advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.
Panelist resources
Broadband Breakfast
