A woman linking her tablet to the Internet via a service provider. (Photo: Daniel Krason, via Shutterstock)OPINION: With a historic investment in broadband on the horizon, Gov. Newsom and the California Legislature have an unprecedented opportunity to bring chronically unserved California households online with high-speed Internet.
Illustration of a highspeed connections at a data center: >i>(Image: Anucha Cheechang, via Shutterstock)OPINION: During the past year, as the pandemic inflicted incalculable heartbreak and loss, internet connectivity helped Californians get through the worst public health crisis in over 100 years. But while reliable, high-speed internet access became a lifeline to so many of us during the pandemic, this lifeline was not equally available to all of us.
A computer user searches for housing using bro0adband. (Photo: Tada Images. via Shutterstock)OPINION: Even as the internet has kept us connected – there is more work to do to close the digital divide – especially for rural and low-income families. During this time of great disruption to our daily lives and dramatic shifts in behavior, our state’s broadband networks rose to the challenge despite unprecedented demand and network traffic.
Satellite dishes overlooking San Diego. (Photo: Jimmy W, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Fortunately, there is an agenda California can pursue that will benefit these people and will help to ensure a thriving economy for years to come. Three priority areas in on which we have the chance to make a major difference this year are broadband for all, housing affordability, and climate adaptation.
Dr. Barbara O’Connor is chair of the California Emerging Technology Fund; the pandemic is highlighting the need for one of the group’s priorities: getting good, reliable internet to all Californians. Their proposal – the California Network – is being discussed at the Capitol this week.
A woman using wireless broadband launches an app on her tablet. (Photo: Daniel Krason, via Shutterstock) OPINION: California has a responsibility to get Internet policy right. The state’s ranking as the sixth largest economy understates its influence on the world’s innovation economy. One-third of global venture capital is invested in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Los Angeles or San Diego. California is the test bed, launch pad and sand box for thousands of apps and Internet services which, if successful, are launched on the world.
Illustration of online activity at a snail's pace. (mattsabe, Shutterstock)OPINION: In California — and all across the country — there are “digital deserts,” places where it’s impossible to get high-speed Internet access at home and thus impossible to do homework, apply for jobs and be a full-fledged member of the digital economy. These digital deserts also prevent farmers from using Internet technology to improve efficiencies in growing crops and getting them to markets.
Voluminous data displayed on a computer monitor. (Photo: Dimitri Nikolaev)OPINION: California once again is defining a new era of public benefits from corporate consolidations in advanced communications and high-speed Internet access. Consumers and residents will be measurably better off as a result and California will move closer to closing the Digital Divide.
Using a cell phone at a California beach to capture an image of a pier. (Photo: DCornelius, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The conventional wisdom, promoted by some advocacy groups when it suits their purposes, is that seniors are sad, helpless creatures who prefer to sit on the couch clutching their turntables and rotary phones, in front of black and white television sets, searching for reruns of Lawrence Welk. These demeaning attitudes are far from true.
Illustration by Kheng Guan Toh, via ShutterstockOPINION: The California Public Utilities Commission is about to make a landmark decision about the merger of Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks that will have a generational effect on closing—or possibly making permanent—the Digital Divide.