[Pal-dc] Policy options for Connecting the Next Billion - PAL DC contributions

[Don Means]

Thanks for this, Stuart. 

Here are a few comments/suggestions relating to: infrastructure economics, equity, gov't obligation, and "meaningful access". Not sure where any of this might fit in or even whether, but is offered for consideration.


Public access to the internet in the form of a shared community access point, especially at a public library, requires the least infrastructure investment to serve the greatest number of users. 

In the US, under the 2009 federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program(BTOP), connecting community hubs like libraries, community centers, schools, clinics, etc. as "intermediate end points", has proven effective twofold strategy by: 1) providing or increasing connectivity for large populations at priority end points and 2) stimulating further public &/or private investments by creating convenient interconnect points in wider wired/wireless broadband network buildout. Recent changes and fund increases in the USF programs continue to expand this model.

What a community public access point may lack in ubiquity and mobility, it makes up for as being most affordable as a no fee/ low fee basic service and as fixed facility with potential for adding enabling support services and equipment.

Of the various needs and benefits of access listed, access to public information and services or so-called e-gov, doesn't appear to be mentioned. It must be the obligation of the public sector at all levels to assure access to government forms, public info, etc. Increasingly, many such services will exist only online, due to limitations of paper and people combined with motivations to reduce costs and increase productivity. Yet government, unlike private companies or even NGO's, must accept responsibility and take necessary measures to make at least some minimal level of access universal. 

"Go to the library. They'll help you," has been government's only answer to this increasingly common e-gov. access gap.  

Understanding that many USAF programs are underfunded and/or poorly managed, they still provide a common structural and institutional funding mechanism as well as powerful rationale to connect libraries and enable public access. National telecom regulators as well as national finance ministries can be /should be encouraged to upgrade and enhance these programs to achieve universal access via a public access strategy.

Increasing the amount of license free spectrum like Wi-Fi is a companion policy that supports lowest cost public access. All spectrum originates as public property, the public airwaves. Selling it all off or giving it away only to have to buy some of back as services, would be like a community selling all of its public land and then using the proceeds to lease some back to create public parks. In perpetuity. (This point pertains to the economics of various infrastructure models / technologies, and should get attention.)

Thought the request to interpret "meaningful access" very interesting. It's almost like the starting point. One may have meaningful access if they can send/receive txt messages from a feature phone. But that capability should not be considered "meaningful" enough. To more fully participate in a digital world, one needs not only the capability to consume various common media types from a wide array of sources, but also the tools and skills to produce content. Even as online companies invest heavily in phone friendly formats, try creating a 2 page document with a simple graphic element on your smart phone. Online forms are notoriously ill-suited for phones and many tablets. The world needs more producers, not only more consumers.


Hope any of this helps.

Regards,
Don
GigLibraries.Net

On Jul 29, 2016, at 1:35 AM, Stuart Hamilton wrote:

> Dear Colleagues
>  
> First of all, an apology for a very late email to you all. We have been asked to provide input from PAL-DC to the next stage of the IGF’s ‘Policy Options for the Next Billion’ 2017 Intersessional Programme. I attach the call for input – you can see it has quite detailed instructions on what the organisers are looking for.
>  
> The deadline for submissions is July 31 – which is why I began this email with an apology. However, we have drafted the attached which we would like comments on, if you have time, before we submit it on Sunday. Please send comments to the list and we’ll take them into account in the final submission. If you feel like submitting individual comments please also do so, as I am sure these will be received with gratitude.
>  
> For us at IFLA right now we are hugely busy with preparations for our annual conference, which takes place in Columbus in the US next month:http://2016.ifla.org/ Once we are the other side of this event we will be stepping up preparations for the main IGF in December, including picking up work on ourPrinciples document. Right now we have library representatives at the Asia-Pacific IGF, where we are co-organising a workshop on the Right to be Forgotten, and we will also have colleagues at the forthcoming LAC IGF.
>  
> Finally, recently I participated in the IGF Retreat in New York (http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/igf-retreat) where improvements to the IGF were discussed. I brought the library and public access viewpoint to the discussions as best I could! You can find the outcome document from these discussions here, and can comment paragraph by paragraph: https://www.intgovforum.org/review/igf-retreat-proceedings-ideas-and-suggestions/
>  
> I hope you are all well!
>  
> Stuart
>  
> Dr. Stuart Hamilton
> Deputy Secretary General
> International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
> P.O. Box 95312
> 2509 CH The Hague
> Netherlands
>  
> 00 31 70 314 0884
>  
> Twitter: @ifladpa
>  
> <Policy Options for Connecting the Next Billion - DC-PAL.docx><2016 CENB Call for Contributions_20 July 2016.pdf>_______________________________________________
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