{"id":69,"date":"2014-03-31T07:27:49","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T14:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/gigabit\/?p=69"},"modified":"2019-02-26T12:42:09","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26T20:42:09","slug":"report-reinforces-gig-city-focus-on-access-and-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/mozilla-learning\/report-reinforces-gig-city-focus-on-access-and-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"New Report Reinforces Gig City Focus on Access and Inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, the office of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke released the first report<\/a> by the Chattanooga Forward Gig, Technology, and Entrepreneurship Task Force. \u00a0This report is the product of many months of studying how Chattanooga has responded to and grown from its status as the city with the fastest, most pervasive, and least expensive gigabit service in the western hemisphere<\/strong>. \u00a0The report points to many successes Chattanooga has experienced in becoming the \u201cGig City\u201d – including the city\u2019s partnership with Mozilla on the Gigabit Community Fund – but also lays out some key challenges for our community going forward, most notably digital access and inclusion for all Chattanoogans. \u00a0The report also recommends the creation of a public-private partnership<\/a> to direct Chattanooga\u2019s gigabit efforts and to better communicate what our next-generation network can do for our local innovation economy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s exciting that as a result of this report, a new organization is being formed to help shape the important ongoing conversation about what a gig can really do for a city.<\/strong> \u00a0Since we launched the Gigabit Community Fund in early February, I\u2019ve been meeting with Chattanoogans every day to have exactly this conversation as we explore what the gig can mean for our community\u2019s classrooms and informal education spaces. \u00a0These meetings resulted in the 20+ applications that were submitted by Chattanoogans during the Gigabit Community Fund\u2019s spring application window, which closed last Friday night<\/strong>. \u00a0Though these proposals have yet to be fully digested, scored, and reviewed, all could potentially help us to answer the task force report\u2019s call to create \u201cactual, practical demonstrations and applications of [Chattanooga\u2019s] digital assets to help people understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all of the applications we received ask for funding to support the next showstopping gig app or to host the newest high-profile tech demo. \u00a0In fact, a lot of the proposed projects are about applying existing technology in a new setting or thinking about a common tech tool in a new way, and that\u2019s awesome because as we begin to search for new, practical demonstrations of our digital assets, it\u2019s not only about finding cool ways to use 1024 MB\/second but also about finding ways to do old things better, more inclusively, and more openly without ever having to worry about the limits of our connectivity<\/strong>. \u00a0The proposed projects are also awesome because, by taking place in classrooms and in informal learning organizations, \u00a0they\u2019re exposing whole new groups of Chattanoogans to our next-generation network. \u00a0In so doing, they begin to address the task force report\u2019s important call for increased digital access and inclusion<\/strong> and build critical capacity for Chattanooga\u2019s technology future<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Though project funding decisions won\u2019t be announced until mid-April, the conversation about what the gig can and should mean for Chattanooga\u2019s educators and students continues, especially as the larger community conversation about our innovation economy grows louder. \u00a0Our city is becoming a living laboratory in which to explore how gig networks impact lives and learning in classrooms, in libraries, in boardrooms, and in every other space in which Chattanoogans work, connect, and learn. \u00a0Chattanooga\u2019s Gigabit Hive Learning Community<\/a> is creating a network through which to spur innovation in this living lab and develop connected learning opportunities that cross the boundaries of formal and informal learning spaces in the Gig City<\/strong>. \u00a0Through this community, we can spread the impact of Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund projects beyond their pilot audiences and begin to create opportunities for all Chattanoogans to benefit from the gig as they create and remix on an unlimited web<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0Your voice is needed in this vibrant learning laboratory as we pilot, play, and test<\/strong>. \u00a0Come to a meetup<\/a>, share what you\u2019re doing and learning with us on Twitter<\/a>, and get in touch<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, the office of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke released the first report by the Chattanooga Forward Gig, Technology, and Entrepreneurship Task Force. \u00a0This report is the product of many months of studying how Chattanooga has responded to and … Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[378228],"tags":[27977],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foundation-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}