Today, broadband is a necessary tool to innovate farming practices, allowing for more targeted and efficient resource use. Farmers need connectivity in the farmhouse and farm office, in the field, and in the community to enable sustainable, data-driven agriculture and meet the world’s rising demand for food. This week we learned of the recommendations of a blue-ribbon panel created by Congress to address the connectivity needs of agriculture. 

Gov JB Pritzker (D-IL) and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Office of Broadband announced the Accelerate Illinois Broadband Infrastructure Planning Program. The program – a collaborative effort by the Illinois Office of Broadband, Illinois-based Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and University of Illinois Extension – will help local governments throughout Illinois receive expert support as they prepare to leverage new dollars that will be made available by the state as well as through the historic passage of the federal infrastructure program. The collaboration opportunity is made possible through the financial support of Heartland Forward and its Connecting the Heartland Initiative. The Illinois Office of Broadband is calling on local units of government to apply to receive expert support offered as part of an intensive 14-week community engagement program designed to turn available public broadband funding into sustainable broadband access. The Accelerate Illinois program works to prepare communities for establishing and implementing a full-scale broadband connectivity vision. Through over 30 hours of no-cost expert counsel provided by the Benton Institute, the program offers structured engagement for communities to identify broadband goals, understand available funding options, and target capital dollars to support implementation. The Accelerate Illinois "Notice of Collaboration Opportunity" is open now and accepting applications through December 30, 2021. The State expects to serve up to 12 communities as part of this initial pilot initiative.

As Meta, the multinational corporation formerly known as Facebook, and other technology companies prepare for their versions of the coming “metaverse,” it would be wise to figure out ahead of time the rules to be applied inside these virtual worlds. Too often, technology companies innovate first and then figure out the ethical conundrums, regulatory challenges and governance fixes, when it can be too late. Terms of service from Big Tech do not often protect basic human rights. If the metaverse is to unleash the full potential of the internet, it should not be stymied by nefarious actors, Big Tech, or self-interested states exercising digital realpolitik. Nor should the metaverse be bound by traditional notions of jurisdiction. Instead, we need “meta jurisdiction” for global rules that could be enforced by many stakeholders, not just states. Technologists, nongovernmental organizations and lawyers need to work shoulder to shoulder, all donning their headsets. By insisting that the founding tenets of the metaverse be centered around basic human rights, sustainable environmental protection and equitable labor standards, we can build a decentralized virtual world that brings out the best of humanity.

[James Cooper is professor of law and director of international legal studies at California Western School of Law in San Diego and a fellow at Singapore University of Social Sciences.]