Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed both the potential of broadband connectivity and the remaining challenges of bringing disconnected communities online. It has also highlighted the social and economic inequities associated with lack of access. Much of the research on broadband connectivity and access lacks input from researchers representing minority communities and unconnected populations. Further, there is a need for greater input from minority researchers on proposed federal broadband policies and how they will affect America’s most digitally disenfranchised citizens.    For Women’s History Month, NTIA’s Minority Broadband Initiative and the Office of FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks are sponsoring a webinar featuring minority women on the technological frontier. The webinar will cover:

• How digital exclusion affects the health, education, job opportunities, and social well-being of America’s most disenfranchised populations.   
• Effective research strategies to address remaining disparities in broadband access, adoption, and choice in the United States. 
• Research strategies that uncover the distinct and persistent disadvantages directly linked to lack of broadband access and digital exclusion.

The webinar can be live-streamed here and a recording will be available on our YouTube channel following the event.

• Moderator:  Dr. Francine E. Alkisswani, Minority Broadband Initiative, NTIA

Panelists: 

• Dr. Traci Morris, Executive Director, American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) at Arizona State University
• Dr. Fallon Wilson, Vice President of Policy, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC)
• Dr. Blanca Gordo, Visiting Scholar, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues (ISSI) at University of California, Berkeley