Little Nuggets of Tech and Telecom: USF Reform – Learning from Prior Efforts with Scott Wallsten

Posted in Events News  |  Tagged Events - Digital Economy, Little Nuggets of Tech and Telecom

Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at 12:00pm ET

On March 23 at noon, Carolyn and Jen took a close look at precisely what effect the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) may have on the digital economy, on U.S. innovation in the broadband and tech sectors, and on eradicating the digital divide, as they hosted Scott Wallsten, President of Technology Policy Institute, to discuss how the billions IIJA authorized could most effectively be deployed to close digital divides across the country.

Dr. Wallsten explored some of the more efficient ways of distributing the subsidies, including the most salient lessons learned from prior, failed efforts at increasing adoption and digital literacy. Dr. Wallsten shared insights he has developed using a customized database to help determine where there are in fact gaps in access and/or adoption and the sort of customized solutions that could be provided using IIJA money. This database can be used to determine what areas are unserved, underserved, and everything in between.

For more information about how TPI Broadband combines data and analytics, please see this factsheet.

Little Nuggets of Tech and Telecom — A Lunch Series with Jen and Carolyn is a monthly lunch time discussion series featuring national, international, and local experts from business, law, policy, and economics. For 30 minutes each month, Jen and Carolyn will pose a “What If?” question to analyze different scenarios and factors impacting our sector as they and their guests challenge the status quo on hot topics like how to close the digital divide, the myths of spectrum sharing, and the emerging use cases for 5G that might drive a new wave of growth and innovation in the U.S.