FCC Looks at Broadband and Civic Engagement

On Thursday August 6, the Federal Communications Commission kicked-off a series of workshops on devising a National Broadband Plan will a meeting focused on broadband, electronic government and civic engagement. The aim of the workshops is to facilitate a frank, very public discussion about broadband policy. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski echoed the complaint that the first round of comments on the FCC's national broadband plan did not advance the ball far enough, and was looking for input that would "meet the moment" and that tackles "the hard questions." The goal of the first broadband workshop was to evaluate how broadband can improve the performance of government specifically in terms of transparency and citizen participation and more generally in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Universal broadband access is critical to civic participation as the public square is increasingly online, panelists told the Commission.