Technology and participationHarnessing the emerging power of broadband for civic engagement.

July 11,2012 Municipal Clerks Institute Paul Treadwell

Cornell Cooperative Extension Distance Learning Consultant

What is Broadband?
High speed data transmission. Always on connection. Encompassing a variety of technologies.

Fixed or mobile & social

In the past we talked about broadband as a wired, fixed, connection. Increasingly, broadband is becoming mobile.
Phones and tablets are creating new opportunities for access and participation.

More layers, more connections

New technologies are adding new layers to our daily lives Connectedness is becoming an essential quality for participation

Why Broadband Matters

Now, broadband is essential to opportunity and citizenship.
Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan
http://www.broadband.gov/

Increased Access,Growing Expectations

Increasing access has lead to increased expectations for opportunities such as:
Interacting Organizing Creating Learning

The National Broadband Plan

FCC March 2010:
Presents an ambitious agenda for expanding access. Emphasis on technology as enabling. Robust vision of connectivity.

Broadband Adoption

Exhibit 3-1 from Connecting America | FCC March 2010

The Digital Divide

Is the gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology and those with very limited or no access at all. Is a kind of capability deprivation.
As the world moves online, those who arent are excluded.

Barriers to Adoption
Availability. Cost. Exclusion.
Literacy.

Security.

More than Bandwidth or Access

The fuss about broadband, then, extends beyond access to information to active participation in the online commons.
Broadband: Whats All the Fuss About? Pew Internet and American Life Project

Marketplace and/or Commons

2 ways of viewing the internet:
Marketplace:
Access to goods Buying and selling

Commons:
Access to ideas Interaction and exchange

How do You See Broadband?

What role can it play?

Broadband Enabled Services

E-government
Providing access to government information Providing space for engagement

E-commerce
Access to the global marketplace

Technology training / digital literacy/ civic literacy

Local Government Ontario county

Ontario County e-government
http://www.co.ontario.ny.us/ Access to governmental information Online payments Property mapping

Local Government - Brazil

Local Government - eStrategies for Local Governments

http://srdc.msstate.edu/ecommerce/curricula/e government/index.html Online curriculum focused on strategies for local governments From the National e-Commerce Extension Initiative

Governance Participatory Budgeting

Digital literacy - CYC

Connect Your Community:
http://www.connectcommu nity.org/ 2 year project funded by a U.S. Department of Commerce BTOP grant 30,000 trained over the two years

Digital Literacy Squeaky Wheel

Digital/Media Literacy:
Squeaky Wheel
http://www.squeaky.org/

Education - OLPC

Education Khan Academy

http://www.khanacademy.org/ Extensive collection of free online, video lessons Self paced learning

Education P2PU
https://p2pu.org/en/

Links to select resources

Pew Internet and American Life Project http://pewinternet.org/ Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy
http://www.knightcomm.org/

The National e-Commerce Extension Initiative

http://srdc.msstate.edu/ecommerce/

The Participatory Budgeting Project

http://www.participatorybudgeting.org/

Contact
Paul Treadwell
Distance Learning Consultant Cornell Cooperative Extension 356 Roberts Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 pt36@cornell.edu http://www.paultreadwell.com @ptreadwell