Call to Action: Brand Your Jurisdiction as a “Smart Community”
April 1‐3, 2015
The Mission Inn – Riverside, California
The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) convened the second Local Government Officials Roundtable in partnership with the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), League of California Cities (LCC), Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), and Valley Vision.
Purpose and Focus
- Engage a “critical mass” of key Local Government Officials throughout California to become active champions in closing the Digital Divide and promoting Digital Inclusion.
- Exchange information about the key roles of Local Government Officials in closing the Digital Divide: Policy Leader; Planner; Regulator; Consumer; Provider of Services.
- Identify opportunities and strategies to accelerate broadband deployment and adoption by encouraging local jurisdictions to become a “Smart Community” pacesetter.
The 2015 Local Government Roundtable brought together 70 leaders from across California, 19 of who are elected officials, representing 16 Counties and 27 Cities, 2 State Agencies, 5 Broadband Regional Consortia, 4 statewide associations, 1 federal agency, and 5 broadband companies. The Opening Program on April 1 featured a welcome from City of Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey, remarks from Congressman Pete Aguiar, and an overview of the California Telehealth Network by CEO Eric Brown. CETF Directors Barbara O’Connor, Rich Motta, Lloyd Levine, Carol Whiteside, and Darrell Stewart also welcomed participants, underscoring the importance of Local Government Leadership to close the Digital Divide. The Roundtable format was presentations on specific topics followed by comments and conversation by all participants. The following summarizes the highlights from each session along with conclusions and next steps.