WASHINGTON, DC – National civil rights organizations including the National Urban League, National Council of La Raza, Asian American Justice Center, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the leading minority research and public policy think tank Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies today unveiled a formal Report and series of recommendations from the first Broadband Opportunity Summit (the “Summit”).

At the Summit, held in February, more than 30 leaders from the civil rights, public and private sectors developed a formal set of recommendations to advance innovative solutions to the economic, educational and healthcare disparities that exist among communities of color. The report specifically addresses policy barriers that have slowed the growth of “killer applications” such as e-learning, telehealth and telecommuting that can maximize the social and economic value of broadband if adopted by all Americans.

One of the major recommendations from the Summit is the formation of the Broadband Opportunity Coalition. The Summit sponsors and other organizations plan to formally launch the Coalition within the next month. For the first time, the nation’s leading civil rights and public policy organizations will come together, with one voice, to advance broadband opportunity. The Coalition will submit a joint application for federal stimulus grant funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”) to support broadband deployment, mapping, adoption and support for public computer centers.

“To date, our technological resources have been drastically underutilized, particularly by minority communities,” shares Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League. “The Report and the forthcoming Broadband Opportunity Coalition will shed new light on the transformative power of broadband and digital innovation, and on the compelling need to increase the adoption and use of these technological platforms to create greater wealth and new job opportunities for minority communities and for the nation at large. We are very excited that the nation’s leading civil rights organizations are developing collective recommendations to address our nation’s technology challenges.”

Janet Murguia, President and CEO of National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, suggested that “low-income people need to be first in line when it comes to this administration’s resources around broadband adoption.”

One Economy Corporation, the nation’s leader in digital access issues for the underserved in rural and urban communities, will lead Coalition’s stimulus application to ensure that people of color receive full access to broadband services and its benefits. For nearly a decade, One Economy has worked to not only ensure availability and affordability of broadband, but to develop content that is relevant and meaningful to low-income people. One Economy has helped to bring broadband into more than 350,000 homes of low-income people, employed nearly 3,000 youth to train their community members to use technology effectively, and created public-purpose media visited by over 17 million people that brings robust healthcare, employment and educational resources to low-income users.

Rey Ramsey, President and CEO of One Economy Corporation, provided more insight into what the Coalition’s application might incorporate. “Our goal is to bring proven program models to local communities by, for example, training individuals at local Urban League chapters or LULAC tech centers so that our unique online content like the Public Internet Channel and youth technology service initiatives like Digital Connectors, which employs high school students to be digital ambassadors in their communities, will spread to more neighborhoods than we currently reach. In the end, the Coalition will move the meter so that more people of color are on line and not in line.”

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a public policy and research institution with a primary focus on issues of concern to African Americans and people of color, will be evaluating the efforts of the Coalition to ensure that underserved and unserved communities are positively impacted. To capture the diversity of Coalition members and their constituents, the Joint Center will also work in collaboration with other think tanks and experts to measure results. “We strongly believe that those who choose not to join the online world will not make it in the ‘real world,’” said Joint Center President & CEO Ralph Everett. “All students need digital access to reach their potential and digital participation in minority communities is essential.”

Click here to view the report.

As part of a historic effort to revitalize the economy, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act("ARRA" or "Recovery Act"), pumping over $700 billion of economic "stimulus" dollars into the U.S. economy.

Section I of this paper discusses disparities currently existing among different race and ethnic groups and the barriers African Americans are facing on broadband adoption. A set of policy recommendations to increase broadband adoption among minorities are illustrated in Section II with three case studies. Section II also recommends ways broadband could be used to improve healthcare, education and employment. The last section details the call for action from African American elected officials committed to helping government and industry overcome these barriers and increase sustainable broadband adoption for African Americans.

Date Published: September 2009

Between December 2009 and January 2010, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies conducted a study of 2,741 respondents, oversampling African Americans and Hispanics, to understand national minority broadband adoption trends, and examine broadband adoption and use between and within minority groups. This report addresses the experiences of minority consumers of wireline and mobile broadband services and provides insights into some of the factors affecting the decisions of minorities who have adopted broadband.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' Media and Technology Institute released their Broadband Imperatives Report at a luncheon on September 22, 2009.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' Media and Technology Institute released their Broadband Imperatives Report at a luncheon on September 22, 2009.

WASHINGTON – The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Media and Technology Institute (MTI) has endorsed a new report, issued by a broad coalition of organizations that are working toward a comprehensive national broadband strategy, that presents a set of policy options for rapidly expanding access to and the use of broadband technology.

The report by the U.S. Broadband Coalition, which is comprised of more than 160 organizations representing industry, labor, state and local governments, public interest groups and other stakeholders in America’s broadband future, emphasizes the strategic national importance of speeding up broadband adoption and expanding its use throughout the economy. The report lays out an assortment of ideas for overcoming the barriers to ubiquitous broadband coverage and adoption.

It was written by a working group co-chaired by Karen Archer Perry of the Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Charles Benton from the Benton Foundation, Link Hoewing, Verizon’s Assistant Vice President-Internet and Technology Issues, and Kenneth Peres, Ph.D., from the Communications Workers of America and the Alliance for Public Technology. Nicol Turner-Lee, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of the Joint Center Media and Technology Institute, was one of the contributing authors.

“The U.S Broadband Coalition’s report reflects a growing consensus on the need for rapid action to close gaps in broadband availability and use. The Joint Center is pleased to have the opportunity to contribute ideas toward ensuring that broadband adoption and advocacy are at the core of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan,” said Dr. Turner-Lee.

“The coalition is to be commended for recognizing the positive impact that rapid broadband adoption can have on our economy and highlighting ways to accelerate the process,” said Ralph B. Everett, President and CEO of the Joint Center. “We expect that this report will be critically important in guiding the process for establishing and implementing the National Broadband Plan.”

The report is posted on the Joint Center web site, www.jointcenter.org.

MTI and five partner organizations representing black elected officials recently released their own report, Broadband Imperatives for African Americans: Policy Recommendations to Increase Digital Adoption for Minorities and Their Communities, which also can be viewed at the Joint Center’s web site, www.jointcenter.org.