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Thursday, May 25, 2023
California, the world’s fifth biggest economy, is 20 months into the first element of the state’s $6.8B digital equity initiative, the $3.8B middle mile component. Join the Marconi Society and community and broadband leaders from California for a conversation about creating the state’s middle mile network to learn about key strategies, lessons learned and next steps in creating digital opportunities in the world’s fifth largest economy.
This panel will address the following topics:
- Successful strategies that are applicable in other environments
- Braiding together funding and programs from multiple sources
- Strategies for sustainability beyond federal and state capital funds
- Approach of the state’s Indigenous Tribes
- The roles and relationships between public and private entities to cover the country’s most populated state
The Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) is a non-profit public benefit technology corporation that provides broadband networks for research, education, libraries, medical centers, cultural and scientific organizations, and tribal nations in California; Over 12,000 institutions and 20 million students, faculty, teachers, researchers, clinicians, staff, and library patrons use the CENIC network. Most recently, CENIC was asked to serve as the Third-Party Administrator on the state’s $3.8B middle mile initiative, dba GoldenStateNet
Louis Fox served for nearly three decades as a faculty member, researcher, and senior administrator at the University of Washington and Duke University. He has expertise in the applications of IT in emerging economies. As well as in unserved and underserved communities in the Western US. He was a co-investigator on the APEC Emerging Infectious Diseases Network, which served Pacific Rim economies for over 15 years, and is the principal investigator on the NSF-funded Pacific Wave International Exchange. He has worked on digital equity issues since the advent of the public Internet.
Kevin Harbour, Sr. is a California native who is married and a graduate of L.A. Loyola High School and UCLA. Professionally, Kevin has had individual contributor and executive management careers with Fortune 100 companies. He has worked for Xerox, Digital Equipment Corporation (now Hewlett Packard), and Verizon. A tax service Franchise owner and real estate investor, as well as having been the Director of Corporate Strategic Partnerships & Business Development with UCLA Alumni Association before coming aboard with BizFed as Chief Development Officer & President of the BizFed Institute.
Kevin’s volunteer track record includes participation in Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas’ Empowerment Congress & Suits for Solidarity, UCLA Black Alumni Association Past President, and a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Kim Lewis serves as director of State Government Relations for CENIC and GoldenStateNet. Ms. Lewis is the primary point of contact on matters before the Governor’s Office, Administration, California State Legislature and the California Public Utilities Commission advocating on behalf of CENIC’s member institutions. She played an instrumental role in bringing high-speed broadband to all of California’s public libraries by connecting them to CENIC’s California Research and Education Network (CalREN) and securing over $84 million in funding for K-12 schools to improve their Internet access and connection to CalREN. Recently, she was influential in the passage of SB 156, the historic $6 billion broadband legislation to address the digital divide and the state’s efforts for the creation of an open-access middle mile network.
Sylvie Cosgrove oversees the technical foundation for the facilities, network, and communication systems that enable Stanford faculty, staff, and students to focus on teaching, research, and learning.
She has 30+ years of experience in technology and healthcare, serving as the first Chief Information Officer at Cloudflare. She worked as a key leader in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures in senior roles at Google, Acadia Healthcare, CRC Health, and Agilent Technologies. She began her information technology career as a computer technician. She has chaired the CENIC Board of Directors since 2021.
Barbara Hayes has 30+ years of experience in economic development at both the state and regional levels. She served as the President and CEO of the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO) and has held several positions within the California Trade and Commerce Agency, including as State Director of the California Small Business Development Center Program and in the offices of Business Development and Local Development, providing technical assistance to small businesses and local governments.
Erik Hunsinger has 25+ years of experience in commercial and non-profit telecommunications, with over two decades, focused on developing and delivering dark fiber network solutions specifically for government and education institutions across the US, Canada, and Mexico. He has worked closely with CENIC to evaluate fiber optic projects spurring broadband growth for CENIC members and associates. As well as evaluate underserved communities seeking to unlock broadband capabilities across the US.
Tony Naughtin is a successful C-level executive and entrepreneur with expertise in developing and executing network-based business models.
He worked in high-performance infrastructure services at NorthWestNet, an original gateway provider to the NSFNET. Naughtin co-founded and was the former CEO of Internap Network Services Corporation, one of the first high-performance infrastructures and managed service providers in the US. He has served as a board director for a variety of companies, both public and private, and is currently a board director at the Pacific Northwest Gigapop. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Technology and Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. And he is a former Staff Attorney with Cablevision Systems Corporation.
Matt Rantanen has worked on business development and is partnering with Arcadian Infracom to bring fiber through Indian Country and small-town USA.
He is the Director of Technology for the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association & Tribal Digital Village Network. He is Co-Chair for the National Congress of American Indians Tech and Telecom committee, a former 2x Chair and 3x Vice-Chair of the Board for Native Public Media, and 2x member of the FCC Native Nations Broadband Task Force.
Connie Stewart is the recipient of the 2017 Rural County Representatives of California President’s Award for work to bring broadband to rural California communities. She is a former Arcata mayor and city council member and has worked for the CA State Legislature covering one of the largest rural districts in the lower 48 states. She was named the 2016 Humboldt County Woman of the Year. She is a member of the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Rural Development Innovation Group.
A Series of State Case Study Virtual Workshops
Beginning in March of 2020, access to broadband became a social determinant of health, education, work, and economic security. The world realized that broadband Internet is a utility as essential as electricity and potable water.
While the federal government and many states have made a wise decision to provide billions in capital funding to achieve broadband equity, the tough part will be sustaining and maintaining (and, ideally evolving) these infrastructures over the next 5, 10, or 20 years.
With money going directly to states, territories, and indigenous Tribes, there are now 60 states and territories and 574 Tribal Nations, each organizing their own plan to implement broadband access and adoption in unique cultural, geographic, and demographic areas. This series will help you learn from some of the most progressive.