Contact: Paula Reinman, Marketing & Communications Lead
paula.reinman@marconisociety.org
September 7, 2022—The Marconi Society is pleased to announce The Decade of Digital Inclusion 2022, a complimentary virtual symposium to be held on November 2 and 3 and in-person gala that will take place at the University of California, Berkeley’s Pauley Ballroom on November 3. The annual forum convenes leading visionaries in technology, business, policy, and digital inclusion to help build pathways to digital equity by 2030. The event will honor the 2022 Marconi Fellow Siavash Alamouti, inventor of the Alamouti Code, which has democratized the Internet by improving mobile communications for billions of people. Alamouti is also the co-founder and executive chairman of mimik, a hybrid edge cloud technology company.
“The Decade of Digital Inclusion is a rare opportunity to create collaborative solutions to bridging the digital divide. The Marconi Society, through our deep expertise in information and communications technology and connections in policy and digital equity, is uniquely positioned to create this convening,” said Vint Cerf, Board Chair of the Marconi Society. “We are thrilled to celebrate Siavash, a champion of open wireless standards and technology, and the embodiment of our vision of enabling everyone to fully participate in and benefit from digital connectivity.”
The symposium, now in its second year, is designed to generate concrete solutions to address digital inequity in communities around the world. The event will highlight diverse voices that lend different perspectives to the quest for digital equity, including keynote presentations by Shamina Singh, Founder & President of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Angela Thi Bennett, Digital Equity Director at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and Nick McKeown, Senior Vice President and GM of the Network and Edge Group at Intel.
Critical interdisciplinary topics including business models for affordable and accessible internet, long-term funding streams for digital equity, and the need for inclusion and fairness in the digital revolution are part of the agenda.
The Marconi Society’s flagship event and gala fundraiser, The Decade of Digital Inclusion is hosted this year in partnership with the Institute for Business and Social Impact (IBSI) and Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California, Berkeley. The two research centers have led valuable cross-disciplinary research on the intersections of financial technology, policy, and digital inclusion.
“The data economy, automation, and globalization have sparked dramatic changes in societies’ paradigms and in their economies. The opportunities are boundless, but the divides are stark and challenges persist. IBSI and CEGA’s research efforts are committed to studying the impacts, effects on equity, and unintended consequences of these unprecedented shifts,” says Paul Gertler, IBSI ‘s Faculty Director. “This knowledge is paramount to guiding evidence-based policy and shaping industry debates, as well as to ensuring that the digital revolution can truly foster a more resilient and inclusive future and ultimately improve the lives of marginalized communities or those living in poverty around the world.
Tickets for The Decade of Digital Inclusion’s virtual Symposium and in-person Gala are now available.
About the Marconi Society
The Marconi Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing digitally equitable communities by empowering change agents across sectors. The Marconi Society celebrates and supports visionaries building tomorrow’s technologies upon the foundation of the connected world we helped create.
About the Marconi Prize
The Marconi Prize is the flagship award of the Marconi Society, given annually since 1975 to innovators who have made significant contributions to increasing digital inclusivity through the advancement of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
