Lifeline – Where Is It Going? A Community Perspective

[Commentary] The National Digital Inclusion Alliance is comprised of local community organizations, public libraries and other institutions that are working hard to increase broadband access and digital skills among our neighbors. To improve the daily lives of all community members, we call for public policies for digital inclusion that reflect what we've learned from experience. We offer this expertise to the Federal Communications Commission to aid the reform and modernization of Lifeline. The Internet is a tool that many of us use every day – to work, to locate information, to correspond, to shop, and to play. In the bigger picture, the Internet is a tool that can help us to achieve things like strengthening our communities, creating more responsive and efficient government, and keeping our economy moving. Civic participation, education, health care delivery, economic growth, worker training, and public safety are all among the key national purposes that Congress, in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, said broadband should support.
[Angela Siefer is the Director of the newly formed National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a unified voice for local technology training, home broadband access and public broadband access programs.]