1. Monthly archive
  2. February 2023

February 2023

As the digitalization of work expands, place-based solutions can bridge the gaps

One of the most striking developments of the last decade has been the rapid “digitalization” of work—and with it, an urgent demand for skill-building. Digitalization is the infusion of digital skills (though not necessarily higher-end software coding) into the texture of almost every job in the economy. And it has inordinate power to both empower workers or divide them. That’s because gaps in access to digital skills engender disparate access to the nation’s best-paying, most desirable jobs and industries.

Pittsylvania County's (VA) unique approach to solving broadband challenges

Pittsylvania County, Virginia, is taking a unique approach to one of the biggest challenges of expanding broadband in rural areas: the upfront cost of the infrastructure. “Who should pay for the infrastructure?” is a common question when it comes to broadband expansion, said Rebecca Watts, regional vice president of Western Governors University, who serves on the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Workforce and Education Executive Committee.

BEAD Program: A Framework to Allocate Funding for Broadband Availability - Version 2.0

A framework for how each state and territory can spend Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds on fixed broadband – principally fiber -- projects to connect their unserved and underserved locations. The framework includes both a national analysis and an analysis for each state with the latest data to estimate the number of unserved and underserved locations and the amount of BEAD funding that will be allocated to each jurisdiction. Includes fixed broadband deployment scenarios using that funding and matching funds from providers. 

Sponsor 

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Kennedy School

Harvard University

Date 
Wed, 02/15/2023 - 13:00 to 14:00

Peter Romer-Friedman is a principal at Gupta Wessler PLLC, where he heads the firm’s Civil Rights and Class Actions Practice. He maintains a dynamic and innovative civil rights docket in trial-level courts with an emphasis on employment discrimination and benefits, fair housing, credit discrimination, and constitutional rights. His civil rights cases often arise at the cutting edge of the law and technology and focus on solving both entrenched and emerging problems with novel approaches.


Sponsor 

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

Date 
Wed, 02/08/2023 - 10:00

Witnesses and testimonies

Vijaya Gadde

Former Chief Legal Officer
Twitter
Document

James Baker

Former Deputy General Counsel
Twitter
Document

Yoel Roth


Sponsor 

Senate Commerce Committee

Date 
Tue, 02/14/2023 - 10:00

A full committee hearing to consider the Presidential nomination of Gigi B. Sohn to be a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (PN8)


Related Headlines 
Recap: Sohn Nomination Hearing III

Federal Funding Fuels Nevada's Broadband Initiative

Extending broadband's reach to all Nevadans is a huge challenge. Nevada is the 7th-largest state in the U.S., but ranks just 32 in population, making it one of the least densely populated states in the country. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's people live in Clark County which is home to the state's four largest cities, including Las Vegas. But, in 2000, over half of Nevada’s counties had fewer than 2 people per square mile.

© 1994-2025 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.