Preview the Digital Inclusion Conference’s Heavy-Hitting Lineup!
Friday morning kicks off the Digital Inclusion in Texas: A Conference and Colloquium in Austin.
The two-day event promises panels and speakers rich with knowledge to share in helping the state achieve its goal of teaching all Texans imperative Internet and technology skills to thrive in our digital age.
Connected Texas is co-hosting the event at the University of Texas at Austin in Sid Richardson Hall, Bass Lecture Hall. The conference will bring together noted scholars, representatives of federal, state, and city government, and nonprofit advocacy organizations to address gaps in broadband adoption throughout the United States.
Conference panelists will discuss the impact the ongoing lack of access to broadband has had on the nation’s economy, education and citizens’ ability to interact with the world around them.
Panel themes for Friday, April 26 are:
- Public Access to the Internet
- Collaborating to Achieve Digital Literacy
- The Future of Public Internet Access
Panel themes for Saturday, April 27 are:
- The Impacts of Public Computer Centers
- Federal Policies and their Impacts on Access to Broadband Internet Connections
Panelists include:
- John Bertot, University of Maryland
- Laura Breeden, NTIA
- Juanita Budd, Austin Free-Net
- Patricia Fraga, Austin Library
- Kenneth Flamm, UT Austin
- Ricardo Gomez, University of Washington
- Rondella Hawkins, City of Austin
- Denise Hendlmyer, Texas State Library
- John Horrigan, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
- Alan Inouye, ALA Office for Information Technology Policy
- Jerry Kurtyka, City of El Paso
- James Prieger, Pepperdine University
- Will Reed, Texas Connects Coalition
- Jay Schwarz, Federal Communications Commission
- Amit Schejter, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Pennsylvania State University
- Don Shirley, Connected Texas
- Sharon Strover, UT Austin
- Graduate Students of the LBJ School of Public Affairs
The panels and speakers promise to send conference participants away with a better understanding of what causes the digital divide in this country, whom it affects and how other nations have addressed bridging the gap.
Make sure to stay tuned to this Connected Texas blog and to Connected Texas Twitter #TXBroadband to follow the conversation from the event. We’ll also have updates on the Connected Texas Facebook page.
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