Next week, several local government officials and executives of private technology associations and companies will be attending a roundtable discussion on closing California’s "digital divide."
The topic for the Local Government Officials Roundtable, sponsored partially by the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), is "Call to Action: Close the Digital Divide in California."
The event will take place Oct. 17-18 at the Red Lion Hotel Woodlake Conference Center in Sacramento. Other participants in the event include the California State Association of Counties, League of California Cities, Regional Council of Rural Counties and Valley Vision.
Notable speakers for the event include Sunne Wright McPeak, the President of CETF; Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the Mayor of Winters; Joe Gunter, the Mayor of Salinas; and Adelina Zendejas, the Broadband and Digital Literacy Deputy Director for CalTech, among other speakers.
Speakers at the roundtable will discuss how local government officials can be policy leaders, planners, consumers, service providers and regulators for California’s increasing digital presence.
Officials and private sector partners will also discuss recent technological successes, such as the city of San Leandro’s Lit San Leandro project, which partnered with OSIsoft to build a fiber optic loop through the city. According to the San Leandro website, businesses connected to the loop have Internet speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second, which is about 2,000 times the average U.S. connection speed.
