Upcoming event

The worlds of Washington and Silicon Valley have been colliding for the past several years and the intersection of tech, innovation, regulation and politics have reached a tipping point.

The Biden administration recently released an executive order on competition policy. Underlying this order are rapidly evolving views on antitrust policy and the role of the federal government in attempting to ensure competition in various markets. An independent agency—the Federal Trade Commission—is, perhaps paradoxically, at the center of this order. The FTC has also recently made its own moves, rescinding bipartisan policy agreements and issuing new guidance for companies merging under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

The IP3 Awards is a special occasion to honor those who have made significant contributions in the three areas of IP: Intellectual Property, Information Policy, and Internet Protocol. This year will be the 18th year Public Knowledge has held the awards, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you. PK will be holding this year’s event virtually, but will be using an interactive platform to give it an “in-person” feel! We will also be collecting your home address in your registration in order to send you a Gift Bag for the event.

Digital inequity continues to perpetuate intergenerational poverty among poor communities of color by disenfranchising them, limiting their access to health care and education, and stifling economic opportunity and growth. Black and Latino students are 30% to 40% more likely to have limited access to the internet, while 68% of Americans living on rural tribal lands don’t have access to broadband.
 The program will feature extraordinary digital equity leaders who will explore the intersectionality of the digital divide and the racism entrenched in this issue.

Speakers:

Topics selected for FCC open meeting agendas will be posted on the Commission's website approximately three weeks prior to the Commission's next monthly meeting. The Commission will also issue a public notice of the "Commission Meeting Agenda" one week before the meeting and announce at that time the items that are scheduled for the agenda.

At this meeting, the Task Force will hear updates from the Working Group leadership and discuss progress towards recommendations.

This agenda may be modified at the discretion of the Task Force Chair and the Designated Federal Officer.

With huge infrastructure investments and consumer subsidies becoming widely available, accurate metrics and insights to identify areas of greatest need will be more critical than ever. While shortcomings of the current data are widely known, alternative crowd-sourced data collection methodologies that are open-source, transparent, accurate, reliable, and scalable are elusive and met with opposition from special interests. This track examines possibilities and solutions from all sides.

The next billion will come online with a different set of use cases and a different relationship with the network than past generations of users. These cloud natives will start using networks that are integrated into their daily lives more seamlessly than ever before. How can we leapfrog network safety and security for them so that they can skip over security problems of the past and present? What lessons can we learn from the past? What would we do differently? What are we able to change?

Not all computer and internet users are equally knowledgeable about how to protect themselves online. The least digitally literate may be at the most risk.  Awareness of online threats may not be non-existent or easily forgotten and user training may not account for the unique needs of the unconnected.

Issues to be discussed include:

• What happens in real life when we bring vulnerable populations online?
• What should people be taught?
• Can our technology be better designed to protect those that need it most?

Unlike any technology before it, 6G is expected to democratize connectivity and its benefits. As it is created against the backdrop of the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and informed by a clear, pandemic-driven view of the costs of the digital divide, digital equity will be front and center in the planning of 6G. This track will consider the technical possibilities, the social impacts, and the critical considerations in using 6G to provide connectivity and opportunity for all.