Recap of the Brooklyn broadband hearing and upcoming hearings by the Committee on Technology in Government of the New York City Council ...

Subject: Recap of the Brooklyn broadband hearing and upcoming hearings by the Committee on Technology in Government of the New York City Council ...
Date: 1/21/2005 11:32:45 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: bruce.lai@council.nyc.ny.us
Sent from the Internet (Details)


Hello All,

The Brooklyn broadband hearing on January 10 went very well. The attendance at this hearing was good, and many stakeholders participated in it. For all of you who could not make the meeting, I am attaching links to the hearing briefing paper as well as the press that the hearing received.

The hearing briefing paper: http://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/attachments/64367.htm.

This briefing paper talks about the reasons why the broadband gap in New York City exists, compares various broadband technologies in terms of price, speed and feasibility, and lays out possible policies that the City of New York could adopt to close the broadband gap. Please feel free to distribute.

Story in the New York Daily News about the Brooklyn broadband hearing: http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/269889p-231171c.html.

A story on-line about the Brooklyn broadband hearing:
http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=101344&ref=5273723.

Esme Vos of Muniwireless on the Brooklyn broadband hearing: http://www.muniwireless.com/archives/000541.html.

A story about Tropos Networks' participation in the Brooklyn broadband hearing: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2005/Jan/1107536.htm.

Another story in the New York Daily News about broadband, this time about the lack of broadband in Hunt's Point, South Bronx:
http://www.nydailynews.com/01-17-2005/city_life/tech/story/272509p-233140c.html.

I would like to thank Jim Baller of Baller Herbst (www.baller.com) for posting the hearing materials on his listserve e-mails, and Esme Vos of Muniwireless (www.muniwireless.com) for writing such an insightful piece about our efforts to close the broadband gap in New York City.

The Committee will continue to work to bring the public, nonprofit and private sectors together to close the broadband gap in New York City.

*****

Please note that all Committee hearings are open to the general public. No RSVP is necessary.

On Friday, January 28, 2005 at 10 AM, Committee Room, City Hall, the Committee on Technology in Government, chaired by Council Member Gale A. Brewer, will hold a hearing entitled, “Oversight: Releasing Geographic Information Systems Data – Ensuring Security and Safety and Making Public Information Accessible.” In particular, Committee will focus on DoITT's policy on releasing the NYCMap, the City's official base map of New York City, to the general public.

At this hearing, we will discuss the following:

What is NYCMap and why is it so important?

What are the benefits to making the NYCMap more accessible? What are the costs?

Is DoITT's NYCMap licensing too restrictive? Why?

How can DoITT make NYCMap more accessible while at the same time protecting public safety?

What are some possible policies that DoITT could adopt that would satisfy both goals?

The Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications and members of New York City GIS community are scheduled to testify.

*****

On Monday, February 14, 2005 at 1 PM, Committee Room, City Hall, the Committee on Technology in Government will hold an oversight hearing on NYC-TV (http://www.nyc.gov/html/nyctv/html/home/home.shtml).

On Monday, February 28, 2005 at 10 AM, 14th Floor Hearing Room, 250 Broadway, the Committee on Technology in Government will hold a hearing. Topic to be determined.

*****

The Committee has a web page now. Go to:
http://www.nyccouncil.info/issues/committee.cfm?committee_id=106.

All briefing papers from the current session (beginning in January 2004) are available.

*****

If you know of people who would be interested in the Committee on Technology in Government’s activities, please feel free to forward this e-mail to them. If you know of anyone who would like to receive these e-mails, just have them e-mail me, and I will be put them on the list. Finally, feel free to post this information on any listserve you may belong to or on any website you are affiliated with.

Thank you. I look forward to seeing you at one of our hearings.

Regards,
Bruce Lai
--
Bruce Lai
Legislative Policy Analyst, Committee on Technology in Government
New York City Council
250 Broadway, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10007
Work: 212.788.9109
Fax: 212.788.9168
E-mail: bruce.lai@council.nyc.ny.us