The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin taking applications for the second round of $550 million in ReConnect Program loan and grant funding on Jan 31. These funds will enable the federal government to continue to partner with the private sector and rural communities to build modern broadband infrastructure in areas with insufficient internet service. Insufficient service is defined as connection speeds of less than 10 megabits per second download and 1 megabit per second upload. Beginning Jan 31, ReConnect funding applications can be submitted at www.usda.gov/reconnect.

Telecommunications companies, rural electric cooperatives and utilities, internet service providers and municipalities may apply for funding through USDA’s ReConnect Program to connect rural areas that currently have insufficient broadband service. Through the ReConnect Program, USDA is making available approximately $200 million for grants, as well as up to $200 million for loan and grant combinations, and up to $200 million for low-interest loans. Funds will be awarded to projects that have financially sustainable business models that will bring high-speed broadband to rural homes, businesses, farms, ranches and community facilities such as first responders, health care sites and schools.

For nearly 35 years, the Lifeline program has provided discounts on phone service for qualifying low-income consumers. Over the years, the program has been reformed to include other critical communications services, including wireless and broadband. On Jan 27, a new set of changes, adopted back in Oct, will go into effect while the public gets to weigh in on additional proposals to reform the program. All month, we've been publishing articles on broadband adoption. For many people who haven't yet started using broadband internet access service, cost is a major obstacle. Lifeline is the largest effort to make broadband services more affordable for low-income households. Any changes to the program could have major impact on the digital divide. 

Public-safety officials such as police officers and firefighters rely on communications systems to do their jobs. The Department of Commerce's FirstNet must establish a nationwide public-safety broadband network for use by these officials. In March 2017, FirstNet awarded a 25-year, multibillion-dollar contract to AT&T to deploy, operate, and maintain the network. AT&T must meet milestones specified in the contract, such as for providing network coverage and for the network's adoption. FirstNet's oversight of AT&T's progress and performance is critical given the contract's scope and duration.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review FirstNet's progress and oversight. GAO examined the extent to which (1) AT&T is meeting milestones for the network's coverage and adoption and (2) FirstNet is overseeing AT&T in accordance with key practices. GAO analyzed FirstNet and AT&T documentation; assessed FirstNet's oversight efforts against key contract-oversight practices identified in federal regulations and other government, academic, and industry guidance; and assessed the program's master schedule against GAO best practices. GAO is making four recommendations, including that FirstNet ensure the schedule aligns with GAO best practices, share additional oversight and other information with appropriate stakeholders, and utilize end-user satisfaction information to gauge performance. FirstNet agreed with GAO’s recommendations

Americans prefer to keep certain information about themselves outside the purview of online searches. Given the option, 74% of US adults say it is more important to be able to “keep things about themselves from being searchable online,” while 23% say it is more important to be able to “discover potentially useful information about others.”

The ability to keep personal information from being searchable online is at the crux of the debate around the “right to be forgotten” – a term that first gained attention in 2014 when the European Court of Justice ruled against the search engine giant Google in a high-profile privacy case. The court declared that under certain circumstances, European Union residents could have personal information removed or deleted from search results and public records databases. To date, Google reports that it has received more than 880,000 individual delisting requests from EU residents.

The Government Accountability Office's Science and Technology Assessment and Analytics group, created in 2019,  is ramping up its work: It wants to double its current ranks of about 70 people providing technical assessments to Congress on topics such as artificial intelligence in health care or 5G wireless. “At such a time as this, you can't avoid” tech issues, said Tim Persons, GAO's top scientist tasked with leading the group. "There's so much disruption going on and so much potential for good in solving our complex adaptive systems problems of the day. And it's our job to sort of help bridge that gap of understanding.” "The policymakers are not unwise to the issues," he added. "They're very keen on that. ... It's just my job to say 'here's what this means and here's what this is,' in order to de-risk or help frame the issues so they can do their jobs." 

But lawmakers and experts don't think the GAO's initiative is enough to bridge the chasm between Congress's understanding and the complex tech challenges of our time — especially as election interference on social media, a national privacy debate and new technologies such as quantum computing and 5G are increasingly top of mind for lawmakers.  Momentum is growing on Capitol Hill to revive the Office of Technology Assessment, a long-defunct agency that was tasked with helping Congress get up to speed with tech issues.