Transcript
DARRELL WEST: Good morning. I'm Darrell West, vice president of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, and I would like to welcome you to our forum on consumer attitudes and national broadband policy.
One year ago, Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission to develop a national broadband policy and the goal was to have policies that would be accessible, affordable and effective, and that would advance the public interest in education, health care, civic participation and energy independence, among other goals. Central to this legislative request was the idea that digital infrastructure is vital to our country's long-term economic, social and civic development, and that similar to the development of the electric grid, the interstate system, we need a strong broadband system so that consumers and businesses can reap the benefits of broadband and wireless technologies.
When you look within the United States as well as internationally, it is clear that broadband is vital to our future. One study of 120 nations found that each 10 percentage point increase in broadband adoption added 1.3 percent to that country's GDP, so that there was a clear association between broadband and economic development. I have a paper that we just put out a few days ago that reviews the international experience with high-speed broadband, and many nations are using broadband to boost economic development, social integration, civic engagement and public service delivery.
Today we are pleased to welcome a number of distinguished guests. For opening remarks we are delighted to have Julius Genachowski back to Brookings. As you all know, he is the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He is the person everyone is watching to see what action the government will be taking in this area. As you know, before joining the public sector he spent 10 years in the technology industry as an executive and an entrepreneur. This morning, he will discuss how consumer data provide insights about broadband policy and what we need to do in order to improve access for consumer businesses.
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