As the Arlington County Board makes tentative steps toward exploring the creation of a public option for broadband for all its residents, we thought it would benefit our Arlington friends and neighbors to hear how other communities are making use of their community-owned and community-oriented broadband networks to spur economic development, foster innovation, and bridge the digital divide.

For this panel, we assembled a diverse group of public broadband practitioners from around the country to talk to us about how their networks are making a major difference in their communities. This is a great opportunity for us to learn and be inspired.

Speakers and topics:

Deb Socia, President and CEO of The Enterprise Center, a nonprofit that nurtures innovation in Chattanooga, TN with the goal of connecting people to resources and building an inclusive community. Deb will speak to us about how Chattanooga’s electric utility created a municipal broadband network that transformed that city, and how it has not only driven economic development but also made tremendous strides to closing the digital divide.

Brad Nosler, General Manager for HiLight, the City of Hillsboro’s (Oregon) municipal fiber optic broadband system. Brad has led efforts to build HiLight system operations from the ground up. Brad will focus on HiLight’s groundbreaking Bridge program, which is providing low-cost, but world-class broadband service to one of Hillsboro’s most marginalized neighborhoods.

Daniel Jones, Chief Information Officer, Information Technology Department of Portsmouth, VA. Daniel will talk to us about how Portsmouth formed a broadband authority and used it to execute digital equity projects using CARES Act money.

Bruce Patterson, Director of Solution Services at Entry Point Networks. Bruce will talk to us about how the City of Ammon, where he was previously Technology Director, is partnering with researchers from different fields to perform a number of cutting edge experiments and other innovative feats on Ammon’s unique publicly owned fiber-to-the-premises using Entry Point’s software defined networking technology.

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