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Symposium & Gala Sessions
OPENING SESSION
Welcome – 11–11:10 a.m.
The event kicked off with a welcome from Executive Director Samantha Schartman-Cycyk and Chairman of the Board Vint Cerf.
Marconi Society
Keynote: Inclusive Connectivity: Opportunities and Imperatives – October 22, 11:10–11:30 a.m.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the Telecommunication Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union, spoke about the future of the digital landscape and what needs to happen at the intersection of technology, policy, regulation, and advocacy to ensure inclusive connectivity.
BREAKOUTS #1 - 11:35 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Internet for All: What is the Role of Government?
As U.S. lawmakers consider the largest infrastructure bill ever proposed, the government’s role in ensuring that the benefits of the Internet reach everyone will be critical regardless of the outcome.
Going Local: Place-Based Digital Equity Ecosystems
In many communities, place-based digital equity coalitions are successfully connecting and serving residents, organized by communities who can no longer wait for national coalitions. This session discussed how to build these coalitions for effective and community-centered outcomes.
Building Inclusion into Digital Tech R&D
It is important that those leading research and development of digital technologies are as diverse as the populations they need to serve, but how do we achieve this? From devices to underlying network intelligence and socially impactful capabilities such as AI, technology built to serve the needs of historically under-represented populations will be critical in connecting the next billion.
BREAKOUTS #2 - 12:35–1:30 p.m.
In a World with Unlimited Spectrum
In a world where spectrum is widely available, business and technology models could emerge that could bring equity and opportunity to many who lack it under current models. This session addressed various models to allow consumers, businesses, governments, and global entities high quality and affordable connectivity.
Schmidt Futures
Gap Networks: Connecting Communities When Traditional Business Models Fail
The pandemic created an organic explosion of neighborhood-sized networks built to provide families with affordable solutions to one of their most painful problems: providing quality access to education for their children. As students return to school, these community-based solutions have the potential to become an ongoing lifeline.
Building Effective and Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence
As artificial intelligence assumes a growing role in our active and passive lives, a new set of issues seems to hit the headlines every day. This panel addressed some of the most pressing topics related to this technology and its applications.
KEYNOTE - 2–2:35 p.m.
Giving All Americans a Fair Shot at Success
Jessica Rosenworcel, Acting Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, will speak about the opportunities and challenges of getting 100% of Americans connected to the high-speed Internet access they need to thrive.
DECADALS - 2:30–4 p.m.
Information and Communications Technology: Key Challenges for the Next Decade
The Marconi Society is conducting a survey of all fields within ICT to identify the most pressing issues that, if solved, would have the greatest impact on delivering affordable, high quality communications services to everyone in the next decade.
This decadal survey, the first of its kind, challenges researchers to develop practical, actionable solutions to help bring the next billion people online.
Digital Inclusion: Building a Cross-Disciplinary Approach
As the field of digital inclusion has grown, community leaders and policy advocates have made great progress in demonstrating the critical importance of connectivity in all aspects of life. The digital inclusion decadal survey aims to build on that progress and establish a roadmap to bring the next billion people online over the next decade.
In order to enact effective policies, establish funding priorities, and develop successful community-based digital inclusion efforts, policy makers and practitioners need to work together to identify the methodologies, goals, and practices that will define the next ten years in digital inclusion work.
Marconi Society
KEYNOTE - 4:02–4:30 p.m.
The Future That Our Connected World Will Create
2020 Marconi Fellow Andrea Goldsmith presented a vision of a connected world that taps into the human potential of everyone on the planet, focused on the progress we must make in technology, policy, and diversity to deliver what consumers need.
Gala
Welcome and Vision
Vint Cerf, Chairman of the Board of the Marconi Society, and Samantha Schartman-Cycyk, Executive Director of the Marconi Society, kick off the ceremony.
Marconi Society
Young Scholar Awards Presentation
The 2020 and 2021 Young Scholars were publicly recognized for their contributions to communications technology research and innovation.
Keynote: Redefining the Digital Divide
Larry Irving, Internet Hall-of-Famer and former chief of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, spoke about the pandemic-driven impacts of the digital divide and new ways to think about our policies and potential solutions.
The Irving Information Group
Marconi Prize Award Presentation
We recognized 2020 Marconi Fellow Andrea Goldsmith, Dean of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Princeton University, for her contributions to the field of wireless technology. The award was presented by John Cioffi and Arogyaswami Paulraj, members of the Marconi Society board.
Stanford University
Stanford University
Pre- & Post-symposium Sessions
6G SUMMIT ON CONNECTING THE UNCONNECTED
An Overview of the Possibilities – September 28, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.
As the shape of 6G’s cases and technology begins to emerge, technologists and policymakers are imagining a world in which the next billion will have a different relationship and different uses for the network than ever before. This session will address the latest thinking on the possibilities and realities of 6G.
Schmidt Futures
From the Middle to the Core – September 29, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Innovative uses of fiber, satellite, and other 6G technologies will change the game on providing high speed, low latency communications to the rest of the planet. This panel discusses the technical breakthroughs and hurdles, as well as the business models and economics, of delivering the services that students, remote workers, and everyday consumers will need.
It All Starts With Access – September 30, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
From the industry alliances and collaboration to evidence-supported models that determine the optimal connectivity for given circumstances, re-imagining access to 6G networks will be a critical piece of providing service where there is none. This panel shareed different strategies and perspectives for connecting the next billion—or two or three.
CREATING A SECURE NETWORK FOR EVERYONE
Digital Equity and Security on the Internet – October 5, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
Not all computer and internet users are equally knowledgeable about how to protect themselves online. The least digitally literate may be at the most risk. Awareness of online threats may not be non-existent or easily forgotten and user training may not account for the unique needs of the unconnected.
How Can We Use the Security Lessons of the Past to Bring the Next Billion Online Safely? – October 7, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
The next billion will come online with a different set of use cases and a different relationship with the network than past generations of users. How can we leapfrog network safety and security for them so that they can skip over security problems of the past and present?
WHERE NETWORK INTELLIGENCE MEETS PUBLIC POLICY
Demystifying the Data – November 16, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
While individual companies have access to performance data about our global networks, that data is a closely guarded secret, not available to policy makers or to consumer advocates and buyers. We also must achieve balance in gathering information about Internet coverage, bandwidth, latency, and other key characteristics at the household and even individual level without impacting personal privacy and security.
Stanford University
Crowdsourcing Network Data at Scale – November 18, 2–3 p.m.
Whatever policy and data solutions end up prevailing, underlying information must still be collected from countless locations and devices in a way that is effortless, secure, and reliable. This massive data collection will need to distinguish between access problems and home WiFi issues, be understandable by policy makers, consumers, and digital inclusion advocates, and adhere to ethics and privacy best practices.
Marconi Society
