On Friday, September 29, The Federal Communications Commission’s Task Force to Prevent Digital Discrimination held a public listening session at Medger Evers College in Brooklyn, New York. It was the fourth stop this year for the Task Force, which coordinates the FCC’s actions in the privacy and data protection sectors and whose current listening session tour aims to gather information about challenges, barriers and experiences in ensuring all people of the United States benefit from equal access to broadband.
Dr. Colin Rhinesmith shared comments on behalf of METRO’s Digital Equity Research Center, which have been posted to his website in full, along with the accompanying slides. Dr. Rhinesmith’s comments emphasized the importance of using equity indicators, like those identified by the City University of New York’s Institute for State and Local Governance, to center a community-level approach to policy over a focus on individuals. His presentation also highlighted two reports that utilized this approach: ‘Achieving Digital Equity in New York,’ published in 2021 by Lauren Moore, the Assistant Commissioner for Libraries and the State Librarian of New York, and ‘Digital Equity Ecosystems Measurement Framework,’ by Dr. Rhinesmith and Dr. Rafi Santo, which was published last year by the Metropolitan New York Library Council.
Additional information about the listening session, including the organizations invited to present, is available on the FCC’s website. The event was recorded and will be posted to the FCC’s YouTube Channel.
