Accelerate Illinois Round 3: Broadband Infrastructure Planning Program
Wednesday, November 9 at 12 PM CT
Presented by: Robbie McBeath, Accelerate Illinois Program Lead, Illinois Broadband Lab; Adrianne Furniss, Director, Benton Institute of Broadband and Society;
Remarks by: Matt Schmit, Director of the Illinois Office of Broadband (Illinois Dept of Commerce and Economic Opportunity)
Accelerate Illinois (https://go.illinois.edu/accelerate) is slated to run a 3rd round of outreach and assistance for community-, county-, or regional-level broadband infrastructure deployment planning. The program will be led by the Illinois Broadband Lab, which is a collaborative effort among the Illinois Office of Broadband, the University of Illinois, and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. The Illinois Broadband Lab aims to advance shared interests in broadband data and research, explore various aspects of the digital divide, and provide thoughtful analysis of the Connect Illinois capital investment and related programming. The webinar will provide Accelerate Illinois program details, cover the Notice of Collaboration Opportunity, which has a deadline of December 2, and cover the Rural Broadband Infrastructure Planning Tool Program for a track of eligible counties. The Rural Broadband Infrastructure Planning Tool Program is provided by the United Soybean Board, Illinois Soy Association, Illinois State University, and the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society. Benton leadership Adrianne Furniss will present details for this aspect of the program. Presenters will be available to answer program-related questions during a Q and A following the presentation.
About the speakers:
Matt Schmit, Deputy Director for Broadband within the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, administers the state’s Office of Broadband and its various grant programs. Matt leads the push for Illinois’ ubiquitous broadband access, engaging in outreach and collaboration across Illinois, and using his past expertise from consulting, collaboration, and research primarily in the areas of technology deployment, infrastructure investment, and economic development.
Robbie McBeath serves as a Program and Communications Coordinator with the Illinois Broadband Lab, where he helps lead the Accelerate Illinois and Illinois Connected Communities programs and authors the bi-weekly Illinois Broadband Connections newsletter. He is the author of an upcoming guidebook on Pathways to Digital Equity & the Role of Philanthropy. Robbie began his career in communications policy in 2014, starting as a Writing Associate with the Benton Institute producing Benton’s renowned Headlines and Weekly Digest of communications policy news. Previously, he interned at the Federal Communications Commission and served as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Open Media Foundation in Denver, Colo. Robbie graduated in 2013 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in media studies.
Adrianne Benton Furniss is Executive Director, Board Member, and Trustee of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, a private operating foundation based in the Chicago area. Benton believes everyone in the U.S. must have access to the infrastructure of opportunity – open, affordable, high-performance broadband—and the skills to make use of it, if we are to become a more equitable society. For 40 years, the Benton Institute has helped strengthen communities by advancing communications policy in the public interest while providing day-to-day support and resources to the community of people who care about “broadband for all.” Currently, Adrianne serves on two additional boards — the Board of Advisors for the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC), which supports the authority of local communities to make the broadband Internet choices that are essential for economic competitiveness, democratic discourse, and quality of life in the 21st century; and as Secretary and Executive Committee member of the Board of Directors for PC’s for People, a national nonprofit which strives to bridge the digital divide by providing affordable personal computers, computer repairs, internet service, and education to people with limited technological experience due to social, physical, or economic circumstances.
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