On October 24th, tune to the Media Action Grassroots Network for a discussion on community networks and their contribution to the areas that create them. MAG-Net will be hosting a Digital Dialogue at 10 a.m. PST / 1 p.m. EST. The presentation is titled Community Broadband as a Path to Thriving Local Economies and Neighborhood Development.
From the announcement:
In the last several years local communities, governments, non-profit organizations and neighborhood residents from across the U.S. have successfully launched community broadband initiatives. 54 U.S. cities own citywide fiber networks and another 79 own citywide cable networks. These local initiatives, in rural and urban areas alike, have served as community scale infrastructures that have helped revitalize local economies. They are sustainable and allow participation and decision-making on the most local level.
For community media advocates it’s not just about having access to broadband services, it’s also about owning the infrastructure and gaining access, rights and power to media that provide marginalized community members with needed broadband access. Recently, city and state legislation have surfaced that would prevent community owned broadband networks, panelists will touch on the motives behind these bills and ways to fight them. This digital dialogue will feature advocates, experts and organizers who have been working on building community broadband networks, they will reflect on lessons learned, best practices, case studies and challenges.
The list of speakers includes:
- our own Christopher Mitchell
- Fabiola Carrion from Progressive States Network
- Danielle Chynoweth from the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
To sign up for the hour-long event, register here.
If you would like more info, contact Betty Yu: [email protected]