MODERATOR:Dawit Kahsaiis a director with AARP Government Affairs.
He works to increase high-speed internet access and affordability for older adults.
Share this video viaYouTubeThe presentation transcript (below) was created by an automated transcription tool.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Digital Connections
Coralette Hannon:Welcome back.
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the fantastic work happening across the country.
Access to high-speed internet helps families stay healthy, find income opportunities, and grow local businesses.
We’re about to hear another fantastic discussion on this very topic featuring former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.
Now it is my great pleasure to introduce our next moderator, Dawit Kahsai, Government Affairs Director.
Welcome, Dawit, over to you.
Dawit Kahsai:Thanks, Coralette.
I am thrilled to have you all here to discuss an important economic development topic with me.
But before I do, I want to remind everyone about the Slido platform.
You should see the instructions on how to ask a question.
Now, I have the Honorable Mignon Clyburn with me here today to join the conversation.
Mignon Clyburn is principal at MLC Strategies and a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.
All right, Mignon, let’s kick things off with a Slido question.
High speed internet has become vital to our lives, yet the data shows that millions are without access.
The Slido question is, what barriers does your community face when it comes to high-speed internet access?
It’s a multiple-choice question and the response options are
Select as many as apply.
I see a lot of great answers coming in here.
Affordability is top of mind.
Let’s give folks a few more seconds.
I see more responses are coming in.
Let’s see, infrastructure is second place, close by.
machine availability is right there.
What you’re seeing now is a recognition of that the top three answers are key.
So those top two issues are being addressed in real time.
Dawit Kahsai: I know, in addition to those three, I was thinking machine option as well.
This is an area I know continues to be a barrier to entry for many older adults.
I do believe there’s room for improvement in this category as well.
I distinctly remember my mother who was a librarian.
Dawit Kahsai: Thank you, Mignon.
Now, moving on to some of our discussion questions.
Why is broadband vital, critical infrastructure for the larger community’s economic growth?
So that is why those of us who care about connecting communities are so fixated.
These communities are not even.
How did high speed internet access become an equity issue?
Why is digital equity important to local economies?
When we recognize that that is the case and that it is a challenge.
It should not surprise anyone when it comes to digital availability.
Dawit Kahsai:How do we level that digital playing field?
Is the answer through the infrastructure package or is that something that we just continue to strive towards?
Mignon Clyburn: It is build it and hope they will come.
But it can’t just be that.
We talked about some of the barriers meaning affordability.
You have to have a program that bridges that gap.
There has to be that complement that will say we want a high-speed solution.
We recognize that everyone can’t pay.
You’re going to have to have a program that bridges that addresses and that will close that gap.
If you don’t, those communities and those individuals are, are not going to thrive.
Government, yes, but private industry too.
Dawit Kahsai: Thanks, Mignon.
Digital equity has been top of mind for us at AARP, especially when we think about older adults.
This is striking compared to other age brackets.
Why are adults age 65 and over not as connected on the internet as compared to younger demographics?
What challenges might they face?
What are the economic impacts of the lack of broadband adoption for older adults?
I am here to tell you that tomorrow brings a whole host of promises when it comes to connectivity.
Dawit Kahsai:Great answer.
Our nation is also seeing unprecedented federal funding for high-speed internet.
How can local communities utilize federal and state government resources to improve digital connections?
These communities know what their problems are.
They know where they had decades to live with them.
What they have not had is the resources, the attention the empathy to challenge that.
Every county has a coordinator.
Again, the latest round has a hundred million dollars going to each state.
That money is going to be spent.
It’s not going to come organically.
Nothing comes organically to communities that have traditionally been left behind.
We have one more question for you before we head into Q&A.
Mignon Clyburn:Go into rooms that you traditionally have not been invited in.
We need to go pull up chairs at these tables, go into different rooms, just demand more.
It is not going to flow to these communities that have been left behind, by you being silent.
We can’t afford silence.
This level of funding is not going to come again.
If you have to work, go to those meetings at night.
Write your broadband office and affirm to them what they need.
Do you offer a product that I can afford?
We have to be active - answering, pushing, and demanding change.
This is the window.
It is slowly closing.
Dawit Kahsai:Thank you for providing our audience with a call to action.
We also have Mike here with us to help facilitate the live Q&A.
Mike Watson:Thanks, Dawit.
We know older adults make up about half of the enrollees.
Can you tell us a little bit about that and why it’s so important?
Dawit Kahsai:Thank you, Mike.
So, why is the ACP critical for older Americans?
I think it’s a great question and here’s how I’ll answer the question.
Think about how much we do online every day.
What will that mean for people who are on the program today?
It allowed for that reimbursement.
It will be catastrophic, I think.
Mike Watson:Thanks for that, Mignon.
Really some dire statistics that I think you mentioned there.
Dawit, I want to go to you and give you the last word on this.
What happens if and what can folks do?
What happens if Congress doesn’t authorize this funding and then we’re going to close out.
Leaving upward of 20 to 25 million households by that time at risk of disconnection.
Dawit Kahsai:Thank you for the opportunity.
And then you’ll hear some stories from people, courtesy of AARP affiliate OATS Senior Planet.
