[00:00:02]
STANDING BY FOR COMMUNICATION.
THEY SHOULD BE UN-MUTED I DIDN'T WANT TO MUTE.
I JUST WANT TO CONFIRM IF THEY WERE STANDING BY.
AND LET'S MAKE SURE WE HAVE ALL OUR COMMISSIONERS.
CAN YOU HEAR ME AND CONFIRM? I CAN HEAR YOU.
THEN WE HAVE ALL OF OUR COMMISSIONERS AND WE ARE READY TO BEGIN.
UH, THANK YOU AB FOR GETTING US READY TO GO TODAY.
UH, ALL THE CITY STAFF AS WELL AND EVERYONE FOR ATTENDING, THIS IS THE REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
I'D LIKE TO ASK EVERYONE TO MUTE THEMSELVES, PLEASE.
AND I WILL CALL ON YOU FOR SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES.
AND WE'LL BEGIN WITH THE ROLL CALL.
I WAS APPOINTED BY COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, MAYOR PRO TEM, NATASHA HARPER, MADISON FROM DISTRICT ONE.
I'D LIKE TO ASK EVERYONE AND THE ORDER OF SUCCESSION, IF YOU COULD JUST GO AHEAD AND ANNOUNCE YOURSELF, UH, OUR MURAL APPOINTEE.
SO THE GALLERY WAS NOT PRESENT COMMISSIONER APADACA POINTED BY, UH, COUNCILMAN VANESSA FUENTES REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO.
MALCOLM YATES REPRESENTING DISTRICT THREE, APPOINTED BY COUNCIL MEMBER, RICHARD RIO.
DAVID ALEXANDER REFERENCE DISTRICT FOUR, APPOINTED BY COUNCIL MEMBER, GREG.
THANK YOU, DAVE FLOYD REPRESENTING DISTRICT FIVE.
WANTED BY COUNSELING FOR KITCHEN.
OKAY, AND WE'LL GO AHEAD AND, UH, ANNOUNCE, UH, COMMISSIONER'S FIRST CASE NOT PRESENT TODAY AND THAT TEXAS TO THE CONDITIONER ISLAND, MAXINE ISLAND DISTRICT SEVEN POINTED BY, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, LESLIE POOL.
AND MR. RAMOS IS ALSO NOT PRESENT TODAY AND THAT BRINGS US TO CUP COMMISSIONER THOMPSON, BEAVERS NICOLE THOMPSON, BEAVERS REPRESENTING DISTRICT NINE.
UM, APPOINTED BY KATHY TOVO COUNCIL MEMBER, NICK CATHY.
THANK YOU SO MUCH AND COME, MR. DASGUPTA, UH, ASSUME IT DOES GO DOWN UPLOADED, BUT I, I LISTEN TO ALL OF HER FROM DISTRICT IN.
AND THAT COMPLETES OUR ROLL CALL.
[CALL TO ORDER ]
AND WE'LL PROCEED WITH OUR AGENDA WITH SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATION[CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
AND, UH, WE HAVE ONE SPEAKER SIGNED UP TO SPEAK.I LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND GIVE THEM THE FLOOR TO BE SINUS TO ANNOUNCE YOURSELF.
AND, UH, CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME? YES.
AND GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
MY NAME IS TREVOR AND I AM HERE TO TALK TO YOU GUYS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ROLLOUT OF 5G.
AND I WANTED TO FIRST TELL YOU THAT I'M CALLING AND I'M TALKING TO YOU ALL FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A FATHER OF TWO YOUNG CHILDREN, A ONE-YEAR-OLD AND A THREE-YEAR-OLD.
UM, I AM ALSO CALLING TO, UH, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A, AN ADVOCATE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOR THE PUBLIC, FOR THE HEALTH OF MY FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND COMMUNITY.
THE, UM, SO WHY DO I WANT TO TALK TO YOU GUYS ABOUT 5G? I KNOW THAT THE WORLD HAS A GUN FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, UH, THE, YOU KNOW, AS I STARTED LEARNING MORE AND MORE ABOUT 5G, I STARTED LOOKING INTO, YOU KNOW, WHAT DOES IT MEAN? WHAT DOES 5G MEAN? WHAT DOES, WHAT DOES THE ROLLOUT ENTAIL? AND I KNOW THE MORE I LEARNED ABOUT ALL OF THE BENEFITS OF 5G, YOU KNOW, IT'S AN UNPRECEDENTED, IT'S AN EXCITING TIME FROM A TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY STANDPOINT.
UM, IT WILL, IT WILL PROLIFERATE INFORMATION AT, AT A RATE THAT WILL, YOU KNOW, IS, IS UNHEARD OF TO THIS,
[00:05:01]
TO THIS DAY, THE, AT THIS, ON THE SAME, SAME SIDE OF THE SAME COIN, DIFFERENT SIDE OF THE SAME POINT, THERE ARE SOME HEALTH IMPLICATIONS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO EVERYONE TO, UH, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO BRING TO THE COMMISSION'S ATTENTION AS ADVISORS TO THE CITY COUNCIL, UH, MENTIONED TWO THINGS SINCE I KNOW MY TIME IS LIMITED HERE.UM, ONE IS A, A CONDITION THAT WAS CREATED BY THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE ABOUT THE ROLLOUT OF 5G AND SOME RECENT RESEARCH THAT, UM, IS, IS COMING OUT ABOUT, UM, THE CARCINOGENIC PROPERTIES OF WIRELESS RADIATION, UH, AS IT PERTAINS TO THE ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION.
NOW THE, UM, SO I'LL, I'LL, I'LL BEGIN BY TALKING ABOUT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE.
SO BACK IN 2018 OR THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE COMMISSIONED A, A STATEWIDE STUDY OF 5G TECHNOLOGY AND ROLLOUT AS THINGS WERE EVOLVING AND THEY, THEY SAW THE WRITING ON THE WALL THAT THIS 5G THING WAS COMING.
SO THEY COMMISSIONED THIS STUDY TO DETERMINE WHAT IS 5G, WHAT DOES IT MEAN? AND WHAT IMPLICATIONS DOES IT HAVE FOR, YOU KNOW, THE SPREAD OF TECHNOLOGY, THE PROS, BUT ALSO MAYBE LOOKING INTO THE CONS ON WHAT IMPLICATIONS IT MIGHT HAVE FOR THE PUBLIC HEALTH.
WHAT THEY FOUND WAS IN NOVEMBER, 2020, THEY RELEASED THE FINAL REPORT AND THE COMMISSION INVESTIGATIONS CONFIRMED THE INADEQUATE INADEQUACY OF FCC LIMITS TO PROTECT HEALTH.
SO THE FCC LIMITS THAT CURRENTLY GOVERN THE, YOU KNOW, THE LIMITATIONS OF HOW MUCH RADIATION, THESE DEVICES AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE CAN OUTPUT, UH, THOSE, THOSE, THOSE REGULATIONS, THOSE RESTRICTIONS WERE PUT IN PLACE IN 1996.
AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THOSE REGULATIONS WERE PUT IN PLACE ON THE BASIS OF STUDY THAN RESEARCH THAT WAS DEVELOPED 20 YEARS PRIOR.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE 1970S SINCE THEN, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE ADVENT OF 5G, THESE DEVICES, AND THIS INFRASTRUCTURE IS MAGNET ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE, MORE POWERFUL AND POTENTIALLY MORE PERILOUS THAN, THAN, UM, WHEN THE INITIAL REGULATIONS WERE PUT IN PLACE.
SO OCTOBER 31ST, 2019 US NATIONAL TOXICOLOGY PROGRAM IN THE UNITED STATES SCIENTISTS PRESENTED ON THE NTP NTP STUDY AND FOUND CLEAR EVIDENCE OF BRAIN CANCER AND DNA DAMAGE IN ANIMALS EXPOSED TO CELL PHONE RADIATION.
UM, THAT LEADS ME TO THE CARCINOGENIC PROPERTIES OF, OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION.
THE SO IN 2011, THE INTERNATIONAL AGENCY FOR RESEARCH ON CANCER LOOKED AT THE MOST CURRENT SCIENCE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AND CONCLUDED THAT THESE INVISIBLE SIGNALS ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION THAT IS, UM, THEY LABELED IT AS A CLASS TO BE POSSIBLE CARCINOGEN.
NOW, FAST FORWARD IN EARLY 2018, NOT ONE BUT TWO MAJOR STUDIES BY THE NATIONAL TOXICOLOGY PROGRAM REINFORCED THE IDEA THAT THESE EMS ARE CARCINOGEN AND, AND MODELS.
SO IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME WHEN THESE, WHEN ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION WILL BE PUT UP IN THE CLASS ONE OR FAST TO A, UM, CATEGORY OF CARS OF DEFINITE CARCINOGENS, WHICH IS UP THERE WITH HIS BESTOS UP THERE WITH CIGARETTE SMOKE, ET CETERA.
SO, UM, I KNOW I DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH TIME, BUT I JUST WANTED TO WRAP UP WITH ALL THAT SAID, I'M, I'M TALKING TO YOU GUYS NOT ONLY, UM, FROM A CONCERNED FATHER, BUT ALSO FROM A CITIZEN PERSPECTIVE OF CITIZEN OF THIS GREAT CITY.
UM, MY, MY FAMILY HAS BEEN HERE FOR DECADES, UM, AND I'M LOOKING OUT FOR, YOU KNOW, THE PROLIFERATION OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY, WHICH IS GREAT, BUT I ASKED THAT WE CONSIDER THE HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF THESE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES BEING THAT WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BY LOOKING INTO THESE AND EVERYTHING TO GAIN FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVE.
LAST THING I WANT TO SAY IS THAT I AM, I LOVE BAKING SOURDOUGH BREAD.
AND SO IF ANYBODY WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THIS MORE, I WILL HAPPILY BRING A LOAF AND WE CAN BREAK BREAD TOGETHER.
SECONDLY, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME BACK TO THE NEXT COMMISSION MEETING OR A FUTURE COMMISSION MEETING AND TALK FURTHER ABOUT THE RESEARCH THAT HAVE RESEARCH HAS BEEN COMING OUT OVER THE LAST RECENT YEARS AND, UM, AND HOW WE CAN CONSIDER THAT IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, TREVOR, CAN I PLEASE HAVE YOUR LAST NAME SO WE CAN ADDRESS YOU PROPERLY? YES.
MY LAST NAME IS HUSSEY HUSSEY, H U S S E Y.
UH, I'LL LEAVE TO CALL THEM ALL QUESTIONS PLEASE.
THAT'S WHY I CAN MAINTAIN THE AGENDA.
UH, SO I'D LIKE TO BEGIN BY JUST SAYING, UH, THANK YOU
[00:10:01]
FOR YOUR TIME AND FOR YOUR CONCERNS.UM, I HAVE IMAGINED, AND IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THERE'S ALREADY QUESTIONS AND OR FEEDBACK.
I WOULD LIKE TO BEGIN BY ASKING IF YOU WOULD BE SO KIND AS TO PROVIDE, UH, A COPY OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE 2020 REPORT THAT YOU WERE REFERENCING SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY, UH, CONSUME THAT FOR OURSELVES.
AND WITH THAT, UH, I'D LIKE TO CONFIRM, UH, HOW MANY COMMISSIONERS HAVE QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME? I HEARD COMMISSIONER UTES AND HER COMMENTS IS ANYONE ELSE HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? I BELIEVE THAT, UM, MOST, UH, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS CANNOT ACTUALLY DISCUSS ANYTHING IN CITIZEN COMMUNICATION BECAUSE IT WASN'T ON THE AGENDA.
HOWEVER, I WANTED TO JUST ASK SAME THING AS THE CHAIR DID, IS THAT ALL REFERENCES TO ORIGINAL RESEARCH, PLEASE SEND THAT TO EITHER THE CHAIR OR THE, UH, TARA TO, UH, JESSE RODRIGUEZ.
SO JUST TO CLARIFY, UH, CITIZEN COMMUNICATION DOES INCLUDE A QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD FOR COMMISSIONERS, ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT ON THE AGENDA.
SO I'D LIKE TO CONFIRM FIRST, IF ANYONE, BESIDES COMMISSIONER EATS HAS QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS.
I UNDERSTAND COMMISSIONER GATES.
YOU'VE ECHOED MY SENTIMENT, UH, ABOUT THE, THE REQUEST FOR THE RESEARCH, UM, WITH, WITH FAT.
UH, I THINK IT'S VERY INCUMBENT AS YOU CAN TELL THAT AS A BODY, UH, THAT WE RECEIVE AT RESEARCH AND GIVE, BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACTUALLY INTERPRET THAT DIRECTLY.
ALTHOUGH WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING THIS TO OUR ATTENTION, UH, NATURALLY WE'RE CONCERNED, UH, WITH ANYTHING THAT OUR CITIZENS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT AFFECTS HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE SAFETY OF OUR CITIZENS, UH, AS WELL AS THAT AFFECTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN, UH, INNOVATIONS AND THE GOALS THAT WE HAVE FOR PROSPERITY HERE.
UH, SO WITH THAT, UH, I'M AFRAID WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TABLE A FURTHER DISCUSSION.
UH, BUT I, I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, FOLLOW UP ON YOUR OPPORTUNITY PERHAPS FOR FUTURE ENGAGEMENT, UH, WHETHER IT'S OVER SOURDOUGH BREAD AND, OR, UM, ACTUALLY AT A FUTURE MEETING ONCE YOU'VE HAD A CHANCE TO CONSUME THAT INFORMATION.
I WOULD LOVE TO COME BACK TO A FUTURE MEETING IF I COULD HAVE A FEW, A FEW MORE MINUTES, UM, LIKE WHATEVER YOU GUYS ALLOW, FIVE, 10 MINUTES.
BUT I DO WANT TO CONFIRM AGAIN, IF THERE'S ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS THAT HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR THE SPEAKER, UH, TO, TO ADD BEFORE WE, I GUESS, COMMISSIONED DASGUPTA.
YEAH, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK, YOU KNOW, AND WE ARE OF COURSE THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, UM, BUT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF HEALTH-RELATED IMPACT, I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANYBODY ON THE, ON THIS COMMISSION WHO CAN COMMENT ADEQUATELY ON IT, SHOULD THIS BE HIGHLIGHTED TO THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION SO THAT IT HAS BROADER COVERAGE, BROADER RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES? UM, MAYBE THERE SHOULD BE SOMEBODY FROM UT LOOKING INTO IT, DENTAL MEDICAL SCHOOL, UH, IS THIS JUST THE BEGINNING, THE FIRST JOB BECAUSE 30, I DON'T THINK WE ARE CAPABLE OF BEING THE LAST STOP.
IS IT MY TURN TO ADDRESS THAT QUESTION? YOU'RE WELCOME TO, I DO WANT TO MAKE SURE COMMISSIONER, DASGUPTA HEARD, UH, THE INITIAL REQUEST FOR THE ACTUAL RESEARCH AND THE FACT THAT WE'RE GOING TO TABLE OUR RESPONSES AS A COMMISSIONER, WHICH THEREFORE ADDRESSES THE SECOND PART OF YOUR, YOUR STATEMENT, UM, TO BE CLEAR, BUT THEN I'D LIKE FOR YOU TO RESPOND, PLEASE.
I, UH, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT QUESTION.
THERE ARE, THERE ARE MORE MULTIPLE LEGAL ACTIONS FILED AGAINST THE FCC AGAINST, UM, IN RELATION TO THEIR 1996, UH, GUIDELINES FOR RADIATION.
THE MOST RECENT, I THINK THE MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENT WAS LAST MONTH WHERE A NATIONAL JUDGE WAS TALKING DIRECTLY TO THE FCC, PROBING THEM ON WHY THEY DEVELOPED THESE RECORDS, THESE REGULATIONS THAT THEY DID IN 1996, TO WHICH THE FCC HAD NO GOOD ANSWERS.
AND THE JUDGE WAS QUOTED SAYING, SIR, I AM HIGHLY INCLINED TO RULE AGAINST YOU.
AND WHAT THAT WOULD DO IS THEN CAUSE THE FCC TO GO BACK REEVALUATE THEIR REGULATIONS THAT THEY PUT IN PLACE IN 1996, UM, TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION ALL OF THE RECENT RESEARCH LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, AND THEN REFORMED, RESHAPED THEIR, THE REGULATIONS.
SO THERE ARE THERE, THERE ARE MANY LARGER MOVEMENTS AND THEN THIS, THIS FIVE MINUTE TALK HERE.
[00:15:01]
THE REASON I'M COMING TO YOU GUYS, I KNOW THAT YOU ARE ADVISORS.YOU ACT AS ADVISORS TO THE CITY COUNCIL AND HAVE A BIG SAY IN THE COMMUNITY FROM A TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATION STANDPOINT.
SO I WOULD LOVE TO, AGAIN, TALK TO YOU GUYS A LITTLE MORE IN DEPTH ABOUT THE RECENT RESEARCH AND THE DEVELOPMENT, RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ON THOSE, THOSE NOT MASSIVE, UH, LEGAL ACTIONS BEING DONE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL.
UH, ALSO THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE AND, AND FOR SHARING YOUR CONCERNS AGAIN, MR. HUSSEY, WE APPRECIATE THAT.
UH, SO WITH THAT, WE WILL DEFINITELY BE IN TOUCH.
UH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING THAT REPORT, UH, OF COURSE BEING ABLE TO VALIDATE OTHER REPORT AND THEN TO BE ABLE TO CONSUME THAT AND TO, TO RESPOND AS ADVISORS WITH THAT, WITH THAT INFORMATION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH COMMISSIONERS.
THEN WE'LL GO AHEAD AND PROCEED IN OUR AGENDA.
[1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – June 9, 2021 ]
THERE'S AN ITEM.ONE IS THE APPROVAL OF OUR JUNE 9TH MINUTES OF WHICH WERE INCLUDED AS AN ATTACHMENT IN THE INVITATION FOR THIS CALL FOR ALL COMMISSIONERS, I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION AND A SECOND TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED WHENEVER Y'ALL ARE READY, MOTION TO APPROVE MINUTES AS PRESENTED TO BE.
SO THEN, UH, WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED BY COMMISSIONERS FIRSTLY, AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER.
DASGUPTA ALL IN FAVOR FOR APPROVING THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED, PLEASE SAY AYE, AND SHOW YOUR HAND.
ANYONE OPPOSED ANYONE ABSTAINING? OKAY.
THEN WE HAVE ONE EXTENSION AND MAJORITY VOTE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED.
UH, I'D LIKE TO CONFIRM, UH, JESSE, FROM A TIMING STANDPOINT, IF COMMISSIONERS, FIRSTLY WILL BE PART OF THIS VOTE, HELLO? TIRPITZ YES, THAT IS A, HE WILL BE INCLUDED AS PART OF THE VOTE.
UM, HE JOINED SHORTLY AFTER, UH, THE ROLE WAS COMPLETED.
BUT THAT THEN, UH, THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED WITH ONE ABSTENTION 10 IN FAVOR AND EXCUSE ME, UH, ONE ABSTENTION, NOT IN FAVOR AND NOT OPPOSED.
AND WE'LL PROCEED WITH OUR AGENDA THEN TO ITEM.
[2A. Briefing on Communications and Technology Management Structure and Initiatives (Chris Stewart, Chief Information Officer) ]
A AND WE APPRECIATE THE PATIENCE OF OUR NEW CIO, ALTHOUGH NOT NEW TO THE CITY, THE CITY OF AUSTIN OR CITY LEADERSHIP HERE, UH, FOR STEWART, THE BRIEFING ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AND INITIATIVES.GOOD EVENING CHAIR AND COMMISSION.
I APPRECIATE THE TIME TO SHARE WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH YOU.
THAT'S BEEN A EXCITING TIME SINCE, UH, SEPTEMBER I TOOK OVER THE INTERIM.
I'VE BEEN THE CIO FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN FOR GOSH, I GUESS ABOUT TWO AND A HALF MONTHS, NOT OFFICIALLY ON, SO I'M HAPPY TO BE HERE AND PRESENT ON A QUICK BRIEFING ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE HAVE COMING UP FOR THIS NEXT YEAR AND SOME OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT WE'VE ACHIEVED.
I'D LIKE TO ASK YOU, UH, CHRIS, WOULD YOU LIKE FOR US TO HOLD QUESTIONS? UH, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO MANAGE THE INTERACTIVITY OF YOUR PRESENTATION? I'M ACTUALLY GOOD EITHER WAY.
UM, I CAN KIND OF PAUSE BETWEEN, AND IT'S PROBABLY EASIER.
THERE'S A LOT, UM, TO GO OVER.
I HAVE VERY, I HAVE LIKE SIX SLIDES AT MOST.
UM, SO MIGHT BE BETTER JUST IF YOU, IF YOU CHOOSE TO ASK QUESTIONS AS, AS YOU WISH, UM, I CAN DEFINITELY ALLOW FOR THAT, YOU KNOW, TIME AND SPACE.
I'LL TRY NOT TO RAMBLE AND CONTINUE TALKING ENDLESSLY, BUT OUT OF BREATH, UM, IF THAT'S THE EASIEST WAY TO DO IT.
I'LL HAVE TO CONFIRM ONE THING.
UM, BECAUSE I HAVE TO NOW HERE ON THE RECORD, UM, I'D LIKE TO CONFIRM, UH, WERE YOU ABLE TO RECEIVE, UH, ANY ADVANCED NOTICE OF QUESTIONS THAT WE HAD PRIOR TO THIS PRESENTATION? UM, I HAD TWO, UM, COMMENTS FROM TARA THAT THERE WOULD BE SOME, UM, FOLLOW UP ON A COUPLE ITEMS THERE WEREN'T DIRECT QUESTIONS THOUGH IS JUST SOME UP THINGS, UM, FOR REALLY A COUPLE OF OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT WE KIND OF WORK WITH.
WELL THEN WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO JUST, UH, ASK, UH, FOR THE COMMISSION
[00:20:01]
TO FOCUS YOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE TIME BEING ON THE CONTENT OF THE PRESENTATION.AND IF THERE'S RELATED CONCERNS BASED ON OUR, UH, EXISTING BUSINESS THAT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED, FOR EXAMPLE, BUDGET REQUESTS THEN FEEL FREE TO, TO VOICE THOSE CONCERNS OR QUESTIONS.
UH, OTHERWISE, UH, WE WOULD LIKE TO GIVE CHRIS AN OPPORTUNITY TO, ESPECIALLY WITH OUR FULL AGENDA, UH, TO PERHAPS FOLLOW UP ON SOME OF THOSE OTHER QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT REQUIRE MORE IN DEPTH CONVERSATION AND PERHAPS EVEN WORK GROUP, UH, DISCUSSION.
BUT WITH THAT, THEN I'D LIKE TO TURN IT OVER TO YOU, CHRIS, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING HERE.
THANK YOU AGAIN, CHRIS STEWART, THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND START OFF WITH SOME ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATES THAT WE'VE GOT.
SO ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS I'M DOING RIGHT NOW IS DOING SOME DEPUTY CIO RECRUITMENTS.
SO UNDERNEATH MYSELF AS A CIO, I HAVE THREE DEPUTIES ASSIGNED.
THESE ARE EXECUTIVE LEVEL POSITIONS.
UM, WE ARE REPOSTING ALL THREE AND WE'RE GOING TO HIRE A NEW EXECUTIVE TEAM.
UM, AND THIS CAME OUT FROM A MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT GROUP THAT CAME IN SNAP MANAGEMENT TO LOOK AT THE CULTURE OF CTM AND THE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP WAS, UM, A TOPIC THAT CAME UP QUITE OFTEN, UM, OR FOLKS WHO REALLY WANTED TO BE ABLE TO, UM, LOOK AT SOME LEADERSHIP AND REALLY BE ABLE TO TRUST THAT WE ARE GETTING THE BEST PEOPLE, UM, AVAILABLE IT'S AUSTIN.
SO WE'D LOVE TO SEE SOME REALLY GREAT LEADERSHIP AND, UM, WE'RE GONNA MOVE THROUGH THAT PRETTY QUICKLY.
JULY 16TH, I WANTED TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY IS THE CLOSING OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY DEPUTY CIO.
UM, YOU SEE HERE THAT JULY 30TH IS OUR ENTERPRISE INFRASTRUCTURE, DEPUTY CLOSING, AND THEN AUGUST 7TH IS OUR ENTERPRISE APPLICATION.
SO THOSE ARE THE THREE PROGRAM AREAS THAT WE HAVE, UM, LOOKING FOR SOME REALLY GREAT LEADERSHIP, LOOKING FOR SOME GREAT APPLICANTS.
UH, SO IF YOU ALL KNOW ANYBODY, I'D LOVE FOR YOU TO HELP ME OUT RECRUITING THESE, UH, BUT WE'RE REALLY EXCITED TO BE MOVING ON THOSE RECRUITMENTS AND GETTING THOSE PERMANENT POSITIONS IN.
SO THAT'S A REALLY BIG TOPIC FOR US RIGHT NOW IS GETTING THIS EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP.
THEN WE'RE ALSO WORKING ON STRATEGIC DIRECTION.
SO I THINK WITH BRINGING IN A NEW CIO, UM, IT'S AN OBVIOUS QUESTION TO, TO LOOK AT HOW CTM, UM, COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS WITHIN THE CITY AS A SUPPORT SERVICE, HOW IT FUNCTIONS WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AS THEIR RESIDENT FOCUSED ORGANIZATION.
SO WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT WHAT'S THE ROLE OF THE CIO.
HOW DOES THE CITY WANT THE CIO TO MANAGE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN? SO THAT'S A CMO LEVEL DISCUSSION WE'RE WORKING ON THAT RIGHT NOW.
THAT'S KIND OF LEAD US INTO A NEW VISION AND MISSION OF CTM AND THEN HOPEFULLY INTO SOME NEW GOVERNANCE, WE REALLY WANT SOME FRESH GOVERNANCE MODELS TO HELP US GET THROUGH A LOT OF, UM, THE TECHNOLOGY DISCUSSIONS, THE BUDGET DISCUSSIONS, EVERYTHING WE DO AS AN ORGANIZATION, HOW WE UTILIZE TECHNOLOGY THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
WE THINK SOME NEW GOVERNMENT GOVERNANCE MODELS WOULD REALLY HELP US OUT THERE NEXT LINE.
SO A BIG TOPIC OBVIOUSLY, IS IT SECURITY? UM, YOU ALL ARE READING THE SAME THING AS I AM.
IT'S A SCARY WORLD WHERE WE'RE, EVERYBODY'S ALWAYS UNDER ATTACK.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE SECURING OURSELVES.
ONE OF THINGS WE'RE DOING IS WE HAVE A, THE CITY OBVIOUSLY HAS AN INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICE.
THEY HAVE A, WE HAVE A NEW CEO, A NEW CISCO OF ABOUT A YEAR AGO.
UH, SURELY HERB CAME INTO PLAY.
UM, SO WE'VE GOT AN ACTUAL OFFICE OF INFORMATION SECURITY.
WHAT WE DON'T HAVE THOUGH IS NCTM SECURITY PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE EMBEDDED INTO THE ORGANIZATION TO ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT AND MANAGE AND RUN THESE TECHNOLOGIES THAT W THAT CISCO IS LOOKING IN, THE ISO IS LOOKING AT SAYING, HEY, WE REALLY NEED TO GEAR UP IN A CERTAIN AREA.
WE NEED SOMEBODY WHO CAN ACTUALLY MANAGE THAT.
SO WE'RE RIGHT NOW HIRING A SECURITY OPERATIONS MANAGER WHO WILL BE RECEIVING HOPEFULLY SMITH TO EASIER.
AND
UM, AND ALSO TO WORK WITH THE INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICE TO IMPLEMENT, UH, WHAT THEY SEE FIT.
AND WHAT'S GOING TO HELP US BE AT A MORE SECURE PLACE.
SOME OF THE THINGS WE'RE DOING IS CYBERSECURITY STRENGTHENING AND AWARENESS.
THERE IS A SECURITY TRAINING PROGRAM THAT THE ISO RUNS EVERY YEAR, UM, THAT HAS BEEN COMPLETED FOR, UM, 20, 21.
WE ARE LOOKING AT, UM, ADDRESSING NEEDS FROM THE ISO.
SO THEY, THEY LOOK AT THE ENVIRONMENT AND LOOK AT WHERE WE CAN ADDRESS SOME CONCERNS OR THINGS THAT WE COULD REALLY GEAR UP
[00:25:01]
AND DO BETTER AT FOR INFORMATION SECURITY.WE ARE DOING SOME, SOME EXAMPLES ARE LIKE MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION.
THAT'S A PRETTY, A PRETTY BIG ISSUE THESE DAYS, EVEN FOR ALL OF OUR APPLICATIONS, WE USE, WE LOG INTO OUR BANKS AND WE LOG INTO THINGS DAILY.
IT MULTIFACTORS ARE PRETTY COMMON TOOL TO HELP US BE MORE SECURE.
SO WE REALLY ARE GETTING THAT OUT MORE.
UM, EDR IS AN ENDPOINT DETECTION, UM, PLATFORM THAT ALLOWS US TO SEE OUR DEVICES OUT WHEREVER THEY ARE.
SO THAT'S A GOOD MODEL FOR US TO BE ABLE TO KNOW WHAT'S THERE AND ALSO FOR SECURITY TO KNOW WHAT'S THERE.
SO WE'RE DOING A LOT OF BIG PROJECTS AROUND SECURITY, UH, SAFE AND SECURE BACKUPS OBVIOUSLY ARE, ARE A BIG TOPIC.
WE'VE TALKED ABOUT RANSOMWARE AND THAT THE FAIL FAILBACK IS ALWAYS YOUR BACKUP.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE AN APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF BACKUPS THAT THEY'RE SECURE.
WE'VE GOT APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES TO PROTECT OURSELVES.
SO WE'RE WORKING WITH THE ISO AGAIN WITH COUNSEL EVEN, UM, ON WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
WHAT'S THE BEST PROCEDURE, WHAT'S THE BEST PRACTICE FOR THE CITY TO FOLLOW.
AND WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY BEEFING UP THOSE AREAS.
UNLESS SOMEONE HAS A QUESTION.
I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SECURITY.
SO THIS A SECURITY OFFICE, BECAUSE IT HAS CITYWIDE AUTHORITY TO MANDATE STANDARDS TO ALL CITY DEPARTMENTS.
THEY DO, IT'S ACTUALLY WRITTEN INTO CITY CODE THEIR AUTHORITY.
THAT'S UH, THAT WAS MY QUESTION.
I'D LIKE TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT, UH, TO CLARIFY ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENTS THAT TYPICALLY MANAGE THEIR OWN BUDGETS AND HAVE THEIR OWN, UH, EXECUTIVE TEAMS DOES THAT IT DOES THAT INCLUDE THAT AS WELL? CAP METRO, AUSTIN ENERGY, NOT CAP METRO.
THEY'RE NOT CITY OF AUSTIN, BUT SO THE CITY CODES, DATES, UM, ALL CITY DEPARTMENTS, THE ISO HAS AUTHORITY.
SO THAT OF COURSE BEGS THE OBVIOUS QUESTION RELATED TO TECHNOLOGIES.
UH, UH, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE CONFUSION THERE, UH, THAT ARE INTERRELATED WITH, UH, OUR PARTNERS LIKE CAP METRO AND AUSTIN ENERGY.
UH, CAN YOU SPEAK TO HOW STANDARDS WILL BE LEVERAGED THERE TO MAINTAIN SECURITY? I DON'T WANT TO SPEAK FOR HER OFFICE.
THEY'RE NOT A FUNCTION OF CTM.
UM, BUT SHE IS WORKING AS WE DO WITH OUR PARTNERS.
AND PARTNERSHIP IS A BIG WORD.
WE USE QUITE A BIT WHERE WE DO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALL TOGETHER IN THIS.
UM, A GOOD EXAMPLE IS SAY THE COUNTY, OBVIOUSLY WE WORK WITH THE COUNTY A LOT.
WE HAVE INTEGRATIONS WITH CANADA, WE HAVE SHARED SYSTEMS. SO WE MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE IN THE SAME CONVERSATIONS.
WE HAVE COOPERATIVES LIKE GATTON AND GATORS, UM, FOR OUR NETWORK AND OUR RADIO SYSTEM THAT ARE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS.
AND WE DO MEET WITH THOSE, UM, COOPERATIVES AND COLLECTIVES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE.
SHIRLEY HAS PRESENTED TO MANY OF THOSE AS WELL TO GIVE HER, UM, HER PERSPECTIVE FROM HER OFFICES VIEW.
YOU KNOW, THERE'VE BEEN TWO VERY CELEBRATED RANSOMWARE INCIDENTS RECENTLY, THERE WAS ONE, AND I THINK A MONTH AGO, OR TWO MONTHS AGO, THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE WHERE IN THE EAST COAST, THE PIPELINE WAS SHUT DOWN.
WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THOSE TWO THAT HAS ALLOWED YOU TO MAKE YOURSELF OR THE CITY OF AUSTIN MORE SECURE PART OF THE TOURING FOR ANY FUTURE ACTIONS? DEFINITELY.
SO, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED BACKUPS.
THAT'S ALWAYS THAT, UM, THAT LAST COURSE OF ACTION FOR US, WHENEVER THEY, WHENEVER A INTRUDER LOCKS, ALL YOUR FILES AND YOU HAVE, YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES, YOU PAY YOUR, YOU DON'T PAY, YOU PAY, YOU CROSS YOUR FINGERS AND HOPE THEY CAN UNLOCK IT ALL, OR YOU PAY, AND THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING.
UM, THE, THE BEST OPTION OF COURSE, IS TO RUN BACK TO YOUR OWN BACKUPS, TO BE ABLE TO RESTORE BACK FROM A RECENT TIME BEFORE THEY WERE INFILTRATED AND BE ABLE TO RESTORE EVERYTHING BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS, HOPEFULLY SECURING YOUR ENVIRONMENT.
SO A SECURITY TRAINING IS ONE WE'RE MAKING SURE THAT OUR, OUR END USERS ARE TRAINED.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE WAY PEOPLE ARE GETTING IN IS CERTAINLY LOOKING AT ACCOUNTS THAT ARE OUT THERE AND UNMANAGED AND, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT BAD PASSWORD POLICIES, MULTIFACTOR IS ONE.
UM, SO WE'VE IMPLEMENTED QUITE A BIT OF SECURITY, BUT JUST THIS PAST YEAR, EVEN TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PROTECTED, BUT CERTAINLY, UM, UH, ANOTHER ONE, I GUESS, WITH ISO IS WE DO HAVE CYBERSECURITY LIABILITY INSURANCE TO HELP OUT AS WELL.
IF WE EVER DO HAVE A, AN INCIDENT WHERE WE NEED, UM, ADDITIONAL FUNDING
[00:30:01]
TO REMEDIATE, TO BRING PEOPLE IN, UM, WE'VE DEFINITELY MADE SURE EVOLVE, YOU KNOW, ALL THAT'S HAPPENING.WE HAVE GOOD CONNECTIONS WITH OUR LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
SO, UM, THE FEDERAL AUTHORITIES AS WELL, WE KNOW WHO TO CONTACT THE INCIDENT RESPONSE IS IN PLACE.
WE HAVE A CYBER SECURITY INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN FOR THE CITY.
SO WE'VE, WE'VE DONE QUITE A BIT TO MAKE SURE AS A CITY, WE'RE ALL WORKING TOGETHER ON THESE ISSUES.
HOW FREQUENTLY DO YOU BACK UP YOUR DESK SYSTEM? EVERY DAY? EVERY NIGHT WE HAVE THE INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICE HAS SET SOME STANDARDS FOR US THAT WE'VE MET, BUT I'D WANT TO DISCUSS THAT IN A CLOSED FORUM.
DO YOU, UM, DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT PLATFORM IN PLACE FOR THIS? YOU'RE STEALING MY SLIDES.
UM, SO WE HAVE I'M IN A CYBERSECURITY COMPANY, SO THAT'S ALWAYS TOP OF MIND BASIC.
UM, BUT THAT IS A, A TOOL THAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR THIS NEXT YEAR.
I SAW IT VERY MUCH LIKE US TO GET TO A MORE ROBUST, UM, I AM SOLUTION.
I THINK WE CAN PROCEED AT THIS POINT.
SO WE'VE DONE QUITE A BIT OF WORK AND WE'RE DOING QUITE A BIT FOR OUR IT INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, AND IT WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T NEGLECT AND SOMETHING THAT WE'VE MAINTAINED THROUGHOUT EVEN THE COVID YEAR.
CONTINUING OUR NETWORK IS A BIG ONE.
I DID WANT TO TALK ABOUT OUR NETWORK MODERNIZATION.
IT WAS ACTUALLY A PROJECT CALLED A NETWORK MODERNIZATION PROJECT THAT JUST ENDED.
AND I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A FEW NUMBERS, UM, THAT TELL A LITTLE STORY ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH WORK THAT WAS AND, AND KIND OF WHERE WE WERE AND WHERE WE ARE NOW.
THE, THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE PROJECT WAS TO REPLACE 750 END OF LIFE NETWORK DEVICES.
AND THAT'S BEEN ACHIEVED AT THE SAME TIME.
WE EITHER REPLACED OR INSTALLED NEW 970 WIRELESS ACCESS POINTS.
UM, 81 FIREWALLS AND FOUR OF OUR CORE SECURITY APPLIANCES HAVE ALL BEEN, UH, REPLACED AND UPGRADED WITH MUCH BETTER, UM, HARDWARE AND TECHNOLOGY.
IT'S THAT PROJECT WAS SUBSTANTIAL.
IT'S A, QUITE A, QUITE A WHILE.
AND AGAIN, THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS LAST YEAR AND A HALF OR SO DOING IT IN UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WE WERE IN IS QUITE AN ACHIEVEMENT.
SO I'M VERY, VERY PROUD OF, OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR DOING THAT.
UM, I'VE GOT CRITICAL NODE, UM, GENERATORS.
SO ONE THING WE FOUND DURING THE SNOWSTORM WAS WHEN AUSTIN ENERGY WAS MOVING IN, SHUTTING DOWN POWER AROUND TOWN, WE LOST SOME OF OUR NETWORK NODES THAT TOOK OUR WHOLE NETWORK DOWN.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING WITH BUILDING SERVICES TO GET SOME GENERATORS AT OUR SUPERNODE SITES SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE WE DON'T, WE DON'T HAVE THAT ISSUE ANYMORE.
WHERE IF WE DO LOSE POWER, WE HAVE GENERATOR, WE DON'T LOSE OUR CORE NETWORK AROUND THE CITY.
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, UH, TACKLE.
THAT'S ALSO A PART OF OUR CLIMATE RESILIENCE PLAN.
THE CITY HAS A CLIMATE RESILIENCE PLAN AND MAKING SURE THAT THOSE NODES ARE PROTECTED, UM, AS PART OF THAT AS WELL.
AND THEN OF COURSE, CLOUD FOUNDATIONS, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A GOOD CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE AND STANDARDS AROUND THAT.
UM, AWS AND AZURE ARE TWO PRIMARY.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT THE SERVICES THAT WE UTILIZE.
SO WE'VE GOT A LOT OF WORK AROUND CLOUD, UM, FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, EXCUSE ME, AUDIO VISUAL.
ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK YOU ALL WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS DEFINITELY AUDIO VISUAL.
UM, AS IT PERTAINS TO CITY HALL, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK THIS PAST YEAR ON VIDEO SWITCHING UPGRADES, AND THAT'S ALLOWED US TO BE IN THIS REMOTE ENVIRONMENT.
AND ESPECIALLY WHEN WE GO BACK IN A HYBRID MODE, UM, WE'VE INCREASED OUR CAPACITY TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT A LITTLE BETTER RIGHT NOW, AND THAT WE'RE ALSO PILOTING OTHER VIDEO CONFERENCING SOLUTIONS, UM, TO SEE WHAT'S A BEST FIT FOR THE CITY SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE A ONE SIZE FITS ALL OR A TWO SLOT, TWO SIZE FITS ALL AND WHO KNOWS, WE MIGHT, WE MIGHT UTILIZE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES THERE.
SO WE JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT VIDEOCONFERENCING, UM, WE HAVE THE RIGHT SOLUTIONS TO MEET THE NEEDS FOR, FOR INTEL USE.
AND OF COURSE ALSO FOR RESIDENT FOLK ISSUES, SECURITY AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT LOG AGGREGATION.
YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE ISSUES WHEN YOU'RE A SCRAPE PROFESSIONAL IS WHEN AN INCIDENT HAPPENS.
YOU NEED SOMETHING TO GO BACK TO, YOU NEED EVIDENCE AND LOGGING IS HOW YOU DO THAT IN AN INFRASTRUCTURE WORLD.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE APPROPRIATE LOGGING THAT IT'S SAFE, IT'S SECURE, WE'VE GOT AN APPROPRIATE, UM, DURATION OF LOGS SO THAT WE CAN MAKE, WE CAN HAVE OUR SECURITY PROFESSIONALS COME IN AND REALLY SEE WHAT'S GOING ON THERE.
OF COURSE WE USE THEM OPERATIONALLY.
[00:35:01]
WE GIVE SOME EXTREME VALUE WHEN YOU REALLY START TALKING ABOUT SECURITY IN GETTING INTO INCIDENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED.UM, FTP IS A PROTOCOL WE'RE TRYING TO, UM, LESSEN AROUND THE CITY.
SO WE'RE REALLY TAKING A LOOK AT A LOT OF MIGRATIONS THERE.
WE'VE GOTTEN RID OF ABOUT 400 FTP ACCOUNTS SO FAR.
WE REALLY LIKE KIND OF REDUCING THAT FOOTPRINT, UM, OF AREAS WHERE PEOPLE COULD ATTACK IDENTITY ACCESS MANAGEMENT, UM, THAT WE'VE ALREADY, WE MENTIONED SECURITY WOULD LOVE FOR US TO, TO LOOK AT THIS, UM, AT A CORPORATE LEVEL AND IMPLEMENT MORE AN IDENTITY ACCESS SYSTEM.
AND AGAIN, I TALKED ABOUT, UM, ENDPOINT MANAGEMENT, WE'RE LOOKING AT UNIFIED ENDPOINT MANAGEMENT THROUGHOUT THE CITY, SO WE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON.
WE KNOW THE STATE OF DEVICES AS EXIST AS THEY'RE ON THE NETWORK WHERE THEY ARE, AND WE'RE ABLE TO CONTROL THEM QUITE A BIT BETTER.
TELEPANY WE STILL HAVE OUR PBX SYSTEM.
WE'RE LOOKING AT MOVING TO A SYSTEMS-BASED TELEPANY SYSTEM.
SO AS YOU CAN TELL IT IN THAT INTEREST, IN THAT ONE AREA OF INFRASTRUCTURE, A LOT OF WORK COMING UP, A LOT'S BEEN DONE.
UM, BUT WE'VE GOT QUITE A, QUITE A LOT ON OUR PLATE FOR THIS YEAR, JUST ON THE INFRASTRUCTURE SIDE.
UH, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR A FEW QUESTIONS, UH, AS JESSE HOPEFULLY SHARED AND MADE REFERENCE TO, WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF BUDGET REQUESTS RELATED TO AUDIO VISUAL.
UH, CLEARLY THE REMOTE DISSIPATION BUDGET REQUEST IS, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, IN GENERAL, UH, THE, UH, ASSESSMENT OF VIDEO TECHNOLOGIES AND PLATFORMS FOR ENGAGEMENT.
UH, SO REALLY JUST WANTED TO, TO LEAVE IT TO YOU AND, AND ASK IF, IF, UH, YOU WERE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT OUR RECOMMENDATION AND, AND HOW YOU FELT ABOUT MOVING FORWARD WITH, UH, AT LEAST THE INITIAL GOAL THAT WE HAD TO PILOT AND TO SPIN UP YOUR CAPABILITIES AS BEST AS WE CAN TO SUPPORT THAT EFFORT FROM A BUDGET STANDPOINT.
YOU KNOW, WE THINK THAT IT'S, IT'S GOING TO BE A DEFINITE RIGHT.
WE'RE GOING TO BE MORE THAN LIKELY I WOULD SAY A HYBRID MODE.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT HAPPENS.
I SIGNED THAT, UM, AND AUTHORIZED IT TO GO OFF TO COUNCIL.
AND I KNOW THAT WE ARE GOING, MY UNDERSTANDING IS WE'RE GOING TO DISCUSS IT AT AUDIT AND FINANCE NEXT WEDNESDAY.
I BELIEVE IT IS A TOPIC ON THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE AGENDA.
THAT WAS MY UNDERSTANDING AS WELL.
UM, BASED ON OUR ROUND TABLE MEETING A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, JUST TO INFORM THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS, UM, WHICH WAS VERY PRODUCTIVE IN ADVANCING THAT GOAL.
I KNOW ONE OF THE THINGS, UM, UH, THAT I'D LIKE TO SPEAK TO AT LEAST ASK IF YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT INTO IS, UH, AROUND CAPABILITIES, UH, RELATED TO NOT JUST CITY HALL, BUT OTHER CITY FACILITIES THAT ARE EITHER UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR IN PLANNING.
UM, WE'RE HOPING TO, AT LEAST AT THE AUDIT PIRATES COMMITTEE TO BE ABLE TO, UH, BEGIN, UH, AUTHORIZING, IT SOUNDED REALLY CAPABLE OF, AND THAT'S AN INCLUDES FACILITIES ON A TRUCK OR A BIG BILL.
I'M NOT SURE IF THEY THOUGHT EVERYBODY GOT THAT, BUT IT KIND OF BROKE UP ON ME THERE FOR ANYONE ELSE.
BUT I THINK I GOT THE GIST OF A CHAIR WE ARE LOOKING AT.
SO WE DO HAVE OTHER THAT HAVE, UM, THIS KIND OF TECHNOLOGY, THE, THE MAIN PART OF IT, UM, FOR MOST OF OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS IS THE ATX N PART.
SO THAT'S THE CHANNEL SIX, UM, CITY OF AUSTIN THAT WE NEED THAT CONNECTIVITY TO DO A LOT OF THESE THINGS.
UM, BUT FOR A MEETING LIKE THIS, THAT'S NOT ALL THAT CRITICAL.
SO THERE'S, WE HAVE DIFFERENT FLAVORS AND VERSIONS OF OUR MEETINGS.
WE HAVE DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES, BUT USE, UM, DEPENDING ON HOW MANY CITIZENS ARE ENGAGED.
UM, SO THERE'S QUITE A, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
THERE'S A, THERE'S SEVERAL SOLUTIONS AND WE'RE TRYING TO SEE WHICH ONES FIT THE MODEL.
WE'RE ALSO TRYING TO LOOK AT WHAT STATE LAW IS GONNA ALLOW US TO DO.
UM, THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN THE CHALLENGE OF COURSE, PRE COVID WAS THERE ALWAYS ALLOWED FOR SOME VERSION OF THIS, BUT MEETING, UM, YOU KNOW, THE OPEN, UM, UH, THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT REQUIREMENTS CAN BE CHALLENGING TO MAKE SURE WE'VE GOT EVERYBODY ON CAMERA AND YOU, YOU CAN SEE PEOPLE'S FACES AND, UM, IT CAN BE A BIT CHALLENGING.
AND IF, IF CERTAIN PEOPLE DROP OFF NOW YOU'VE LOST YOUR MEETING QUORUM AND THE MEETING CAN BE, CAN GO OUT OF, OUT OF WHACK.
UM, SO WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE WE'RE DOING IT IN THE RIGHT WAY, BUT WE DO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS COMING UP.
UM, IF COUNSEL WOULD LIKE TO, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE THAT FUNDING THAT GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY TAKE A BROADER LOOK AT HOW WE CAN EVEN BETTER SUPPORT ALL OF THESE, BUT REGARDLESS, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR JOB IS TO
[00:40:01]
DO OUR DUE DILIGENCE TO TRY TO SUPPORT YOU ALL IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE IN ANY FORMAT, UM, HOSPITAL THAT KIRK'S OFFICE OBVIOUSLY ALLOWS US TO DO.I APOLOGIZE FOR MY VISUAL CHALLENGES HERE.
JUST RELATE RELATED TO THIS LAST PUSH AND ANSWER PERIOD.
UH, SO FIRST OF ALL, UH, DO ALL LIBRARIES NOW HAVE THEIR PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS AND WIFI CONNECTIONS, ADD ONE GIG TO THE NETWORK.
I'D HAVE TO CHECK ON ALL I KNOW.
I THOUGHT THE LAST I CHECKED, THE MAJORITY HAD GOOGLE FIBER CONNECTIONS.
UM, I BELIEVE THEY ALL HAVE PUBLIC WIFI.
I JUST, I CAN'T, I COULDN'T SAY IF THEY'RE ALL GOOD, BUT I CAN CHECK WITH, UM, THE LIBRARY CHECK WITH THEIR FOLKS AND, AND GET BACK TO YOU WANT TO, RIGHT.
SO YOU'RE NOT USING, UH, GATLIN FOR THE PUBLIC WIFI.
THEN MY UNDERSTANDING IS WHERE GOOGLE FIBER IS INSTALLED.
THAT IS THE CONNECTION FOR THE PUBLIC WIFI, BUT AGAIN, I WOULD DEFINITELY VERIFY FOR AND GET BACK TO YOU.
AND, UH, LET'S SEE, THE, THE OTHER QUESTION WAS WE HAD ONE OTHER INITIATIVE AND THAT WAS THE, UH, UM, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PUMPING TOWARDS FOUR.
AND IN THE FINANCE COMMITTEE WAS THE, UH, UH, RECOMMENDATION BY AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOODS COUNCIL TO HAVE SOME KIND OF A GIGABASE FOR, UH, COUNCIL VOTES.
AND, YOU KNOW, IF, UH, THAT'S ON ANY, UH, SCHEDULED CALENDAR, WHEN I GOT THAT EMAIL FROM, FROM TAR, THAT WAS THE FIRST I HAD HEARD OF AN OFFICIAL, I KNOW IT'S BEEN A, IT'S BEEN TALKED ABOUT FOR QUITE A WHILE, UM, HOW TO DO THAT BETTER, BUT I CAN CHECK WITH THE CITY CLERK, THEY WOULD BE THE ONES WHO WOULD HAVE TO, UM, AT LEAST APPROVE THAT AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THE SOLUTION IS.
MOST LIKELY CTM WOULD BE A BIG PART OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT, BUT I CAN CERTAINLY CHECK ON IF THEY HAVE PLANS OR IF THAT'S SOMETHING THEY PLAN TO ADDRESS AT ALL IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
UH, COMMISSIONER GATES, UH, JUST TO BE CLEAR AS WELL.
UH, I ANTICIPATED THERE MIGHT BE DISCUSSION AND SLIDES AROUND, UH, INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE, UH, AND, UH, GIVE US AN OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY DISCUSS OTHER THINGS AS WELL.
SO I W I DON'T WANT TO GET AHEAD OF YOU, BUT, UH, I APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT THAT WAS CALLED TO YOUR ATTENTION AT THIS TIME.
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS UP TO THIS POINT WITHIN THE CONTENT? OKAY, GREAT.
SO THIS IS GOING TO BE OUR APPLICATIONS, UH, PROGRAM AREA, WHICH ENCOMPASSES ALSO OUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE AND OUR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT OFFICE, DOING A LOT OF WORK WITH PERMITTING.
UM, AMANDA, IF YOU'VE HEARD OF IT IS THE APPLICATION THE CITY USES, UM, TO WORK WITH OUR DEVELOPERS AND RESIDENTS ON ALL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, AND IT'S THE WAY THEY, UM, INTERACT WITH THE CITY ON, ON GETTING THINGS DONE.
WE'VE DONE QUITE A BIT OF WORK REPLACING WHAT'S CALLED THE ABC PORTAL, UH, WITH A MUCH MORE MODERN PLATFORM.
IT HAS AN INCREDIBLE, INCREDIBLY IMPROVED USER DESIGN USER EXPERIENCE.
AND WE ARE RIGHT NOW MOVING FORWARD WITH A PRETTY MAJOR UPGRADE OF THE AMANDA APPLICATION, WHICH IS CALLED AMANDA BACK OFFICE.
SO WE'RE DOING QUITE A BIT OF WORK, UM, PERMITTING WORKING WITH OUR DEPARTMENTS.
UM, DSD IS OBVIOUSLY A VERY LARGE CUSTOMER THERE, BUT A LOT OF WORK GOING ON IN THAT ARENA.
OUR GIS FOLKS ARE DOING TREMENDOUS WORK.
THEY ARE, THEY'VE BEEN IMPLEMENTING OUR JS PRO, UM, AND RJS ONLINE TO ABOUT 2,500 USERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, THAT INCLUDES QUITE A BIT TO ALL THE WAY DOWN TO DIRECT, UM, TRAINING ON HOW TO USE THE NEW PLATFORMS THAT WE MAKE SURE AS WE PUSH THINGS OUT AND PROVIDE THESE TOOLS THAT ARE END-USERS.
I USE THEM AND USE THEM PROPERLY AGAIN WITH GOD.
WE'RE LOOKING AT GEOSPATIAL CLOUD STRATEGIES.
UM, WE'RE LOOKING AT CUSTOMER JOURNEY AND A LOT OF THAT'S HAPPENING THROUGH OUR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP MANAGERS, AND EVEN THROUGH OUR GIS, UM, ORGANIZATION DIRECTLY IS HOW ARE WE UTILIZING JS? IT'S ONE OF THESE SHARED SERVICES WHERE IT'S A DECENTRALIZED MODEL, CTM SUPPORTS THE CORE GIS APPLICATIONS
[00:45:01]
AND CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE, WHERE THE DEPARTMENTS END UP DOING A LOT OF THEIR MAPPING AND ADD, YOU KNOW, UM, A LOT OF THE APPLICATIONS AND DATA MANAGEMENT AROUND, THEY UTILIZE GIS TO THAT END.WE WERE ALSO LOOKING AT THE ENTERPRISE STREET NETWORK.
IT'S ONE OF THOSE THAT WE DO MAINTAIN THAT SHARED, UM, AND ENRICHING THAT, UM, EASEMENTS ARE REALLY WHAT COME IN QUITE A BIT.
WE TALK ABOUT ENRICHING THE STREET NETWORK ON MODERNIZING THAT REALLY MAKING IT MORE USEFUL FOR ALL OF OUR, UM, DEPARTMENTS WERE DOING A LOT OF WORK ON, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE MOVING FORWARD? BUT THOSE ARE LARGE PROJECTS.
THAT'S, IT'S A LOT OF EFFORT TO WHEN YOU START DIGGING INTO EVERY STREET AND THE LABOR THAT LOOKS LIKE, ESPECIALLY AS YOU START GOING UNDERGROUND, EXCUSE ME, IT'S A, YEAH, IT'S A BIG, UM, IT'S A BIG JOURNEY, BUT WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR DEPARTMENTS ON, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? HOW DO WE BEST SERVE EVERYONE IN THAT CAPACITY ASSET MANAGEMENT AS A PROGRAM AREA, REALLY FOR THE SAVE AUSTIN, THAT WORD, DOING A LOT OF WORK ON, UH, RIGHT NOW WE'RE WORKING ON PROJECTS TO IMPLEMENT NEW ASSET MANAGEMENT AND WORK ON IMAGE AND SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, OR REVAMPING AND IMPROVING WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
UM, SOME OF THE DEPARTMENTS WE'RE WORKING WITH HEAVILY RIGHT NOW, OUR PARKS AND REC, UM, CONVENTION, PUBLIC LIBRARY, WATERSHED SHED, AND PUBLIC WORKS.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE AREAS THAT WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT THEIR ASSET MANAGEMENT AND THEIR WORK ORDER MANAGEMENT TO CONSOLIDATE INTO THIS CENTRAL, THE LAST SYSTEM.
UM, I DID WANT TO PITCH OUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM.
WE ARE LOSING OUR, OUR MANAGER OVER THERE.
UM, JAMES GRAY HAS BEEN HERE FOR, FOR SEVERAL YEARS RUNNING TO OUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE.
HE'S GOING TO BE RETIRING AND A COUPLE OF MONTHS HERE.
SO WE'LL BE LOOKING AT A NEW MANAGER AND YOU'RE THERE, UM, TO, TO REVAMP OUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE AND SEE HOW WE CAN EVEN PROVIDE BETTER SERVICES THROUGH THAT AREA.
AND THEN, AND OUR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT TEAM WE ARE HIRING RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE ABOUT TO DO SOME CANDIDATE SELECTION ON A NEW MANAGER THERE, UH, WE'VE ADDED ANOTHER PERSON TO OUR SAFETY PROGRAM AREA.
SO THAT'S UNDER RAY ARIANO ACMR ARIANO, AND WE'RE REALLY FOCUSING ON BUSINESS VALUE FROM CTM.
SO THESE FOLKS WORK DIRECTLY WITH EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT FROM OUR DEPARTMENT MINTS AND THEY DREAM APP, WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE THEY DOING AS A BUSINESS AND HOW CAN CTM REALLY HELP DRIVE THEIR BUSINESS BETTER? AND SO THE CONCEPT THAT WE'VE IMPLEMENTED NOT TOO LONG AGO, IT'S A PRETTY NEW, UM, VENTURE FOR US.
BUT I THINK IT'S A REALLY SUCCESSFUL ONE AT ONE THAT OUR, UM, OUR DEPARTMENTS ARE REALLY HAPPY TO WORK WITH AND GET MORE DIRECT ACCESS INTO CTM, INTO THEIR REAL PLANNING OF HOW IT HAPPENS INSTEAD OF PLACING IN A REQUEST.
AND WE ANSWERED THE REQUEST, UM, PLACING IN A PROJECT, YOU KNOW, A BUSINESS NEED, AND WE ANSWER THAT IT'S A, FULL-TIME DIRECT ACCESS IN THE CTM AND INTO IT AS A WHOLE.
SO THAT'S A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THAT PROGRAM AREA.
UH, JUST QUICKLY I'D LIKE TO ASK, UM, IT'S OF COURSE, VERY USEFUL INFORMATION AND IMPRESSIVE.
I'D LIKE TO ASK WITH REGARD TO CITY SERVICES, UM, AS PERMITTING, OF COURSE, IS, IS BEING CALLED OUT, UH, WHICH OF COURSE IS VERY IMPRESSIVE.
ARE YOU PREPARED TO DISCUSS ANY OTHER CITY SERVICES, UH, AND, AND HOW THEY'RE BEING AFFECTED OR, OR HOW THINGS ARE GOING WITH THEM ON, UH, ON CITY SITES AND, AND ACCESS POINTS? ABSOLUTELY.
SO THE NEXT SLIDE IS GOING TO BE OUR DIGITAL SERVICES.
SO IT'S GOING TO TALK ABOUT OUR WEBSITE, THOSE PLATFORMS. UH, SO THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT NEXT.
ISN'T WHAT ELSE ARE QUESTIONS? SO MANY QUESTIONS THAT, WOW, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
THE CHAMPIONS TEAM, I THINK I GOT A COMMISSION.
UM, SO I, I NOTICED THAT IN YOUR SLIDES, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PLACES WHERE EITHER SOMEONE IS RETIRING OR SOMEBODY IS, UH, IT'S AN, IT'S AN OPEN POSITION YOU'RE TRYING TO RECRUIT.
UM, IS THAT PART OF NORMAL BUSINESS THEY'RE ALL MEANS LIKE THIS, OR IS THIS SOME EXTRAORDINARY SITUATION AND HOW IS THAT IMPACTING YOUR ABILITY TO GET THE JOB DONE? YOU TOLD ME, OKAY.
THE, THE MAIN CIRCUMSTANCE WAS DURING, UM, COVID FOR THE MOST PART OF THE QUARANTINE, THE CITY HAD ABOUT A 10 MONTH HIRING FREEZE.
SO AS WE WERE LOSING PEOPLE IN NORMAL OPERATIONS, UM, YOU JUST, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR RETIREMENT AND PEOPLE MOVE ON, UM, WE WERE UNABLE TO HIRE THEM.
SO WE HAD A LOT OF ACTING ROLES, ESPECIALLY IN MOST OF OUR MANAGEMENT, UM, CHAIN.
WE HAD SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS OF ACTING ROLES AND FOR QUITE A LONG TIME.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING THROUGH, WE'VE BEEN, WE'VE BEEN HIRING NOW SINCE ABOUT OCTOBER.
[00:50:01]
UM, I THINK WE'RE UP TO 40 OR SO, UM, HIRING TRANSACTIONS WE'VE MADE SINCE THEN.UH, SO WE'RE REALLY TURNING PEOPLE OVER, UM, AND GETTING THESE ACTING ROLES FILLED AND THAT KIND OF MOVES THINGS AROUND QUITE A BIT.
WE'VE DONE A LITTLE BIT OF REORGANIZATION THAT HAS CREATED A COUPLE OF B'S.
UM, GOOD EXAMPLES ARE LIKE THE SECURITY MANAGER, THAT POSITION DIDN'T EXIST BEFORE.
IT'S WHEN I CREATED FROM ANOTHER TITLE, RAISING IT UP TO THAT.
UM, SO SOME OF IT'S JUST NORMAL OPERATIONS, BUT WE ARE QUITE A BIT BEHIND BECAUSE OF, UM, IN, IN LARGE PART TO THAT 10 MONTH HIRING RATES.
I HAVE A QUESTION CONCERNING TECHNOLOGY GOVERNANCE AT THE CITY LEVEL.
SO WHAT THIS SLIDE SHOWS IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATIONS OVER A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS.
SO IS THERE STILL SOME KIND OF A GOVERNING ORGANIZATION THAT DETERMINES PRIORITIES FOR MAJOR PROJECTS THERE USED TO BE, UM, WILL BE CALLED THE, THE D DAG TO DO THE DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS GOT TOGETHER AND TALKED ABOUT PRIORITIZING THOSE, UM, THAT NO LONGER FUNCTIONS.
SO RIGHT NOW WE, WE DON'T, WE DO, WE DO IT BASED ON, UM, AN INTAKE PROCESS.
SO WE'RE ACTUALLY REVAMPING THAT RIGHT NOW.
AND WHAT DOES INTAKE LOOK LIKE? SO WE'RE CALLING IT A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THING.
THE IT STEERING COMMITTEE IS STILL TECHNICALLY THERE.
WE, WE MEET, UM, A BIG QUARTERLY RIGHT NOW, AND THAT FUNCTION WAS REALLY TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS NEEDS AND KIND OF APPROVE WHAT THEY WANTED AS THEIR TOP SEVERAL PROJECTS, BUT THAT'S GOING TO BE INTO WHERE WE COME INTO THIS NEW GOVERNANCE MODEL.
I REALLY WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT AND COMPLETELY REVAMPED THAT.
SO RIGHT NOW I THINK THE GOVERNANCE MODEL REALLY NEEDS, UM, TO BE COMPLETELY UPDATED, UM, TO REFLECT OUR CURRENT, UM, NEEDS AND WANTS.
OKAY, THANK YOU FOR THAT ANSWER.
AND I BELIEVE THAT THIS COMMISSION COULD HELP ADVOCATE ON A CITY-WIDE BASIS FOR WHATEVER KIND OF SOLUTION THAT YOU FEEL WOULD REALLY HELP.
SO, UH, MAYBE YOU, YOU NEED TO COME BACK AT SOME POINT WHEN YOU COME UP WITH A SOLUTION.
AND, UH, HERE, HERE, DEFINITELY ECHO THAT SENTIMENT.
LOOK FORWARD TO WHATEVER YOU GUYS COME UP WITH AND BEING ABLE TO HELP ANY OF THE QUESTIONS REGARDING THE SLIDE.
SO THIS IS OUR DIGITAL SERVICES, AND THIS IS ACTUALLY A NEW, UM, DIVISION OF CTM THAT I'VE BEEN ABLE TO PUT TOGETHER.
WE HAD DIGITAL SERVICES WAS REALLY THE WEB TEAM.
IT WAS CALLED AND IT WAS KIND OF, IT WAS TUCKED INTO OUR APPLICATIONS TEAM.
IT, IT JUST FELL INTO ONE OPEN APPLICATION AREA, BUT REALLY FELT LIKE DIGITAL SERVICES AS A PROGRAM WAS A MUCH MORE APPROPRIATE MODEL FOR THE CITY TO UNDERTAKE.
SO WE REORGANIZED, UM, PUT WHAT WE CALL A CORPORATE MANAGER.
THAT'S A DIVISION MANAGER LEVEL ADDED SOME IT MANAGERS UNDER THERE AND REALLY TOOK OUR WEB DEVELOPMENT TEAM, OUR WEB TEAM UNDER THERE.
UM, WE PUT THINGS LIKE SHAREPOINT AND ANY OF THE WAYS THAT WE PROVIDE DIGITAL SERVICES.
WE REALLY WANT IT UNDER ONE AREA, SO THAT THEY'RE ALL FOCUSING ON THESE.
UM, AND OBVIOUSLY WITH EVERYTHING GOING ON, IT'S, UH, IT'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO ADDRESS AND ADDRESS QUICKLY.
SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO RESOURCE THAT NOW.
SO I'M REALLY HAPPY WITH THE ABILITY TO BUILD A CRATE THAT DIVISION, UM, AND WORK ON STAFFING IT AS WELL.
SO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON, IT'S CLEARLY IT'S A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN CTM, UH, CPIO, WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE CONTENT, UM, OF OUR WEBSITE.
AND THEN OF COURSE OUR ADA OFFICE.
UM, AND THAT'S AGAIN WITH THE FOCUS ON THE SITE, BEING A AA COMPLIANT PER THE WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES.
AND THEN ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE DOING IN THIS NEXT YEAR IS LOOKING AT TRANSLATION AS A SERVICE, AND THAT'S KIND OF THAT SAME AREA.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING'S ACCESSIBLE AND USABLE.
AND THOSE ARE SOME AREAS THAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON FOR THIS NEXT YEAR.
OBVIOUSLY LOOKING AT THE AUDIT AND DIGITALIZATION OF MORE THAN 700 OF OUR PDF FORMS. SO AGAIN, PROVIDING THESE SERVICES IN A MUCH MORE USABLE MANNER, UM, IT REDUCING THE NEED FOR RESIDENTS TO, TO COME ONSITE AT ALL.
UM, WE LOVE IT WHEN THEY DO, WE'VE GOT QUITE A BIT OF, UM, SERVICES FOR FOLKS WHO, WHO WALK IN THE DOOR AND SAY PC OR, UH, MANY PLACES IN THE CITY, BUT A LOT OF FOLKS DON'T WANT TO, THEY WOULD MUCH PREFER JUST TO OPEN UP THEIR COMPUTER AND
[00:55:01]
HAVE ACCESS TO THESE SERVICES.DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
ALSO, WE'VE GOT, WE'RE WORKING ON RFP RIGHT NOW FOR A CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM, UM, TO REALLY TAKE A LOOK AT THE STORAGE, UM, AND HOW TO SERVICE UP OUR DIGITAL ASSETS.
AND IT REALLY SHOULD HELP US, UM, IN THE FUTURE MOVING FORWARD WITH, UM, WITH ALL OF THAT WORK.
SO IT'S A MORE CENTRALIZED APPROACH.
UM, AGAIN, MAKING THINGS MORE EFFICIENT FOR US.
SO IF I, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE, WE'RE BUILDING ON THESE, UM, WE'RE IMPROVING SERVICES AND THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, OF COURSE, OUR AWESOME TEXAS.GOV SITE, UM, A HUGE WIN FOR US AS IT LAST WEEK, WE UPGRADED FROM DRUPAL EIGHT TO DRUPAL NINE HUGE UPGRADES GOT, ALLOW US TO MOVE FORWARD AND ADVANCE AND ALLOW THE NEWER FEATURES OF THE PLATFORM.
I'M REALLY HAPPY TO SAY WE DID THAT WITH NEARLY NO SERVICE INTERRUPTION.
UM, BUT WE, THERE WAS ONE SITE THAT HAD A SERVICE INTERRUPTION THAT WAS ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY, UH, WHICH IS SUBSTANTIAL OR FOR THE NUMBER OF THOUSANDS OF SERVICES THAT ARE PROVIDED FROM OUR WEBSITE.
I'M REALLY PROUD OF THE TEAM FOR ALL THE WORK THEY DID THERE.
AND OF COURSE WE'RE CONTINUING TO ENHANCE FEATURES, UM, ENHANCE SECURITY AND STABILITY OF OUR CITY WEBSITE.
I KNOW THERE'S GOING TO BE SOME QUESTIONS ON THIS SLIDE.
UM, I'D LIKE TO ASK A FEW, UH, TO BEGIN WITH AND, UH, I'M GETTING A, A QUESTION THERE OR SOMEONE'S REACHING OUT.
I THOUGHT I HEARD SOMEONE SAY CHEER PITS.
I'LL HAVE SOME QUESTIONS AFTER YOU DO.
THANK YOU GOD, IF YOU MISS YOUR GATES.
UM, I GUESS WHAT I'D LIKE TO ASK, UH, TO BEGIN WITH IS IF YOU'RE PREPARED TO SPEAK TO, UH, ANY OF THE HISTORICAL, UH, EVOLUTION TO, TO THIS POINT IN THIS CALL, UH, TO BEGIN WITH AND, UH, TO REALLY JUMP INTO ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, UM, I CAN SPEAK TO, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE RECENT HISTORY SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE.
UH, WHEN I GOT TO CTM, WE HAD, OBVIOUSLY, I JUST THINKS THAT GO HAS BEEN OUR CITY PLATFORM FOR, FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
UM, WE HAD A TEAM LOOKING AT SOME NEW, SOME WAYS TO PROVIDE NEW SERVICES OR SERVICES IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
AND THAT WAS CALLED, WE HAD AN ALPHA TEAMS THAT WERE REFERRED TO THEM ADS.
AND SO THEY WERE REALLY LOOKING AT, UM, RESIDENT FOCUSED, UM, DESIGN, UH, RESIDENT FOCUSED, UM, ARCHITECTURE REALLY MAKES SURE THAT YOU'RE ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF, OF RESIDENTS.
THEY LOOKED AT A DIFFERENT PLATFORM AS WELL.
UM, SO INSTEAD OF USING THE CNS DRUPAL, LOOKING AT DIFFERENT PLATFORMS, SO THEY HAD STARTED, UM, TESTING AND WHAT WERE REFERRED TO AS THE SANDBOX ENVIRONMENT AND ACTUALLY MOVED LIKE A COUPLE OF SERVICES OVER, ONTO THIS OPPOSITE SITE.
IT WAS ABOUT A THREE-YEAR PROJECT THAT THERE HAD BEEN WORKING ON TO DO THAT.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THE POLICE MONITOR HAD MOVED OVER.
THERE WAS ONE OTHER DEPARTMENT I BELIEVE MOVED AND THEN SOME KIND OF SERVICES THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UM, WERE BEING, UM, THEY WERE TESTING, BUT THEY WERE IN PRODUCTION BEING TESTED.
SO RESIDENTS WERE ACCESSING THESE.
SO WHEN I, WHEN I CAME ON BOARD, I WAS ASKED FROM THE DEPUTY CITY MANAGER TO THINK A LOOK AT THIS KIND OF ROLE, UM, FUNCTION THAT WE WERE DOING.
WE HAD TWO TEAMS WORKING ON TWO DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CITY WEB SERVICES.
WE REALLY WANTED TO FOCUS ON, ON ONE.
WE REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO BE PAYING FOR, UM, TWO DIFFERENT, UM, SYSTEMS WHEN WE REALLY SHOULDN'T BE FUNDING TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. SO WE TOOK, WE DID A LOT OF WORK LOOKING AT BOTH AND CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT WE REALLY WANTED TO FOCUS EFFORTS ON OUR AUSTIN, TEXAS.GOV PLATFORM.
IT'S WHERE 99% OF OUR SERVICES ARE NOW.
UM, WE KNEW THAT WE COULD GET TO A MUCH BETTER PLACE IN AN AUDIT, I BELIEVE IN 2018, UM, THAT HAD CALLED OUT SOME ISSUES WITH COMPLIANCE, UM, IN PARTICULAR ADA COMPLIANCE SO THAT OUR RESIDENTS HAD BETTER ACCESS TO THESE SERVICES.
AND WE BELIEVE THAT WE COULD PRETTY EASILY GET TO A PLACE WHERE WE CAN START TO ADDRESS THEM.
UM, SO HE DID MAKE THE DECISION TO MOVE TO THAT, NOT MOVE, SORRY TO FOCUS ON OUR AUSTIN, TEXAS.GOV PLATFORM AND TO, TO MOVE AWAY FROM ALPHA AS A PLATFORM.
BUT WITH THAT SAME RESIDENT FOCUSED, UM, DESIRE TO SERVICE THOSE NEEDS.
SO THE HISTORY FROM SINCE WHEN I GOT HERE, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I CAN SPEAK TO YOU.
YOU'RE ON MUTE YOUR, THANK YOU FOR THAT STATEMENT.
UM, TO, IN A BRIEF MOMENT, I'D LIKE TO OPEN IT UP TO SOME OTHERS FOR QUESTIONS.
[01:00:01]
UM, I DO KNOW THAT, UH, THERE'S IMPORTANT CONTEXT FOR US TO GAIN UNDERSTANDING AROUND, UH, THE MANAGEMENT OF CITY WEBSITES DURING THE PANDEMIC AS THE WHOLE CITY WAS FORCED TO RESPOND WITH OUR CITIZENS COMMUNITY, THE MIND, REALLY WITH THE BIG UNPARALLELED CIRCUMSTANCES.UH, I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT THIS COMMISSION DID A GREAT JOB.
I THINK, UH, ALONG WITH, UH, OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION OFFICE AND TARA, UH, TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY IN THAT TIMEFRAME, UH, WITH OTHER PARTNERS, UH, AISD, UH, OTHER PROVIDERS WITH CREATIVE SOLUTIONS.
SO, UH, THAT, THAT SPIRIT OF, UH, YOU KNOW, NECESSITY AND INNOVATION AND IN A TIME OF REAL NEED WAS IMPORTANT.
AND, UH, I'M VERY THANKFUL FOR OUR WORK THERE.
UM, UNDERSTANDING THAT, OF COURSE, UH, YOU WERE ALSO TRANSITIONING AND LEADERSHIP DURING THAT TIME, UH, INTERIM LEADERSHIP AND MANAGING THINGS.
UM, I'D LIKE TO GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK, UH, PROACTIVELY, UH, TO THE AUSTIN HEALTH DEPARTMENT SITE ISSUES, UH, BEFORE ANY QUESTIONS ARE ASKED.
I ACTUALLY WAS GOING TO ASK IF I COULD, I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN I GOT HERE WE WERE, UM, SO THE AUSTIN HEALTH PLATFORM, THE SALESFORCE PLATFORM THAT THEY HAD SPUN UP WITH A LOT OF SUPPORT FROM CTM, UM, HAD STARTED OFF AS A, UH, TESTING, UH, SITE.
SO IT WAS A WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAD TESTING DONE AND THEN OF COURSE, TRANSITIONED INTO VACCINATION.
AND THAT, THAT TRANSITION TO VACCINATION WAS THE CHALLENGING PART.
UM, INITIALLY IT HAD SOME, SOME USABILITY ISSUES, UM, AND THE PRIMARY ISSUE WAS REALLY JUST NUMBERS.
UM, WE HAD HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TRYING TO GET 1200 SHOTS AT A TIME.
WE RELEASED 1200 SHOTS AND A COUPLE HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE FIGHTING TO GET THEM.
THAT'S GOING TO BE PROBLEMATIC.
IT'S JUST A MATH PROBLEM, BUT THE INTERFACE WAS POOR.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE IN A MUCH BETTER WAY, SO QUICKLY, UM, PUBLIC HEALTH AND CTM WORKED WITH THE VENDOR TO ADDRESS THAT.
UM, AND IT'S, IT'S QUITE A PLATFORM NOW AND, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE THINGS I, WHAT I WANTED PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND IS HOW I HEAD OF THE GAME.
WE WERE, SO SOME OF THE NUMBERS FOR THE SALESFORCE VACCINE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION, WE WERE THE THIRD IN THE COUNTRY TO DO IT.
UM, WE WERE BEHIND THE CDC AND THE CITY OF CHICAGO IN DOING THIS.
WE WERE THE FIRST IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, UM, BEHIND THE SPORT HEB AND THE STATE OF TEXAS ITSELF.
UM, WE WERE NUMBER ONE WITH THE SALESFORCE TESTING SOLUTION, AND THAT ALLOWED US TO HAVE THE ONLINE PORTAL, THE SELF-SCHEDULING, UM, AND THEN TO RECEIVE LAB RESULTS.
SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE, WE REALLY WANTED TO BE OUT THERE AND PUBLIC HEALTH WANTED TO BE OUT THERE HELPING RESIDENTS, UM, WITH THESE ISSUES QUICKLY AND BEING FIRST AND SECOND, THIRD ALWAYS COMES WITH SOME HICCUPS AND WE DEFINITELY EXPERIENCED SOME HICCUPS.
I THINK THE TEAM WORKED REALLY HARD TO ADDRESS THAT IN A, JUST A CRAZY TIME.
UM, BUT WHEN WE LOOKED BACK AND AFTERWARDS SAW THESE NUMBERS ON JUST HOW AHEAD OF THE GAME WE WERE, I'M REALLY PROUD OF THE WORK THAT THEY'VE DONE, UM, TO ADDRESS THOSE NEEDS.
AND I KNOW IT WAS A FRUSTRATING TIME FOR QUITE A FEW OF OUR RESIDENTS AND OURSELVES.
OF COURSE IT WAS, IT WAS CHALLENGING THERE FOR A WHILE, BUT REALLY, REALLY PROUD OF THE WORK THEY DID.
THE LIGHT TO GO AHEAD AND OPEN IT UP TO, UH, OUR COMMISSIONERS, OTHER COMMISSIONERS FOR QUESTIONS.
I KNOW COMMISSIONER GATES WAS THE FIRST, UH, TO, TO, UH, EXPRESS, WANTING TO ASK QUESTIONS.
AND I KNOW COMMISSIONER, DASGUPTA ALSO ASKED QUESTIONS AND THEN WE'LL GO AHEAD AND, UH, CHECK FOR OTHERS AFTER THOSE TWO COMMISSIONERS HAVE SPOKEN.
SO YEAH, I'VE GOT TWO QUESTIONS.
FIRST IS WHAT IS THE CURRENT BANDWIDTH OF THE INTERNET GATEWAY FOR AUSTIN FOR, UH, THE PUBLIC AND THE SECOND QUESTION, UH, CONCERNS, UH, DRUPAL, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THE DRUPAL PLATFORM IS, UH, IS, IS A FREE OPEN SOURCE AND THAT THERE ARE ALSO COMMERCIAL VR, UH, PLATFORMS THAT ARE AVAILABLE, SO THAT EFFICIENT STAY WITH DRUPAL.
WAS THAT REALLY BUDGET OR IS IT ASHLEY AS THE PERIOD OF TECHNOLOGY? LET ME GET YOU THE MOST CURRENT SPEEDS.
UM, COMMISSIONER WE'VE DEFINITELY, WE DID A, AN UPGRADE NOT TOO LONG AGO, UM, TO BUMP THAT UP AGAIN, UM, AT OUR DATA CENTERS, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK WITH OUR, WITH OUR TWO DATA CENTERS, UM, MIGRATING INTO FINALLY OUR BACKUP DATA CENTER AT OUR CTECH FACILITY.
UM, SO LET ME GET THE CURRENT SPEEDS FOR YOU.
[01:05:01]
ADDRESS THAT IMPROPERLY AND THE WEB PLATFORM IT'S IT WAS REALLY TO FOCUS EFFORTS ON WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW.UH, WE'VE GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OUR RESIDENTS.
UM, AND THEN WE KNOW THOSE CONCERNS THEY'VE BEEN, THEY'VE BEEN ADDRESSED.
THEY'VE BEEN BROUGHT UP BY OUR RESIDENTS BY THE AUDIT TEAM.
SO RIGHT NOW WE WANT TO GET TO A BETTER PLACE IN THE CURRENT PLATFORM.
EXCUSE ME, THAT DOESN'T MEAN IN THE FUTURE THOUGH, WE DON'T LOOK AT A NEW CMS, A NEW CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, A NEW FRONT END, UM, TO, UM, YOU KNOW, PROVISION OUR WEBSITE.
UM, BUT FOR NOW WANT TO FOCUS ALL THOSE EFFORTS, NOT ON A MASSIVE RFP TO GET A NEW CMS, BUT I WANT TO FOCUS THE TEAM ON WHAT WE HAVE TO IMPROVE IT AND ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF RESIDENTS, BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT'S OUR QUICKEST ROUTE, UM, TO GET TO THAT GOAL.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS THE VACCINE, UH, WEBSITE IS CONCERNED, I GOT VERY DEEPLY INVOLVED WITH AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
I WORKED WITH THEM AND I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT FROM A CUSTOMER POINT OF VIEW, I GOT INVOLVED SO DEEPLY THAT I WAS ACTUALLY HELPING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE GETTING LOGGED INTO THAT SERVICE.
AND I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU THAT THERE WERE TOO MANY HELENS PUNCHING AWAY OR KEYBOARDS IN RELATION TO THE FEW VACCINES THAT WERE AVAILABLE.
IT WAS A CLASSIC QUEUING THEORY PROBLEM.
BUT HAVING SAID THAT, I HAVE TO TAKE ISSUE WITH THE FACT THAT I HAD ACTUALLY A VIDEO CONFERENCE WITH THE ARCHITECT FROM SALESFORCE, THEIR USE OF THAT DARK APH QUALIFIER.
THAT WAS AN ADD ON TO THE LOGIN ID WITHOUT DOCUMENTING.
AND IT WAS AT MY INSISTENCE THAT I TOLD THE GENTLEMAN TO GET OFF THE CALL AND FIX THAT WITH A NOTE ON THE FRONT PAGE SAYING THAT YOU CAN'T LOG IN, PLEASE ADD DOT APH.
HOW THAT, HOW COULD YOU PUT IT ALLOWED THAT TO HAPPEN, WHERE YOU ADDED THAT FEATURE AND NOT DOCUMENTED WAS ABSOLUTELY UNCONSCIOUSLY.
YOU CANNOT IMAGINE HOW MANY 80 SOMETHING AGED PEOPLE WERE FLOUNDERING FOR DAYS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IN.
AND I THINK THAT'S A REPORT CARD YOU SHOULD PROVIDE TO SALESFORCE THAT THEY SHOULD NEVER PLAY THOSE SHENANIGANS AGAIN.
THAT WAS ONE OF THOSE WHEN I, WHEN I CAME IN, IT WAS A SURPRISING TO ME THAT THAT WAS A SOLUTION THAT HAD BEEN PROVIDED.
UM, YOU'RE, YOU'RE YOU'RE RIGHT.
IT WAS, AND IT WAS ONE THAT WE COULDN'T UNDO ONCE IT WAS DONE, WHICH I'M SURE YOU WERE FRUSTRATED WITH TOO.
UM, SO HOPEFULLY THAT ABSOLUTELY.
WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT AS WE WORK WITH OUR VENDORS IN THE FUTURE, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
UM, THAT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING I'D LIKE DO IS, UM, I TRUST, BUT I ALWAYS VERIFY.
AND WHEN IT COMES TO THE VENDOR RELATIONSHIPS, I WANT TO WORK WITH THEM.
UM, I DON'T LIKE SOLUTIONS THAT ARE IMPLEMENTED WITHOUT OUR CONTROL.
UM, AND SO MOVING FORWARD, I KNEW WHEN, UH, EVERYTHING THAT WE WERE WORKING WITH, THE PROJECT TEAM, UM, PERFECT THING.
WHEN I STARTED HERE, WE MADE SURE THAT WE WERE ON THE CALLS.
WE WERE DOING THE, YOU KNOW, WE WERE DOING THE WORK, WE WEREN'T ALLOWING, UM, THINGS TO GO THROUGH WITHOUT RSA.
SO THAT WAS DEFINITELY AN AREA THAT, THAT CAUSED A LOT OF CONSTERNATION.
AND, AND YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
ESPECIALLY WITH THE AUDIENCE WE WERE TRYING TO REACH THE MOST WAS AFFECTED THE MOST NEGATIVELY BY THAT, UM, BY THAT CHANGE.
AND YOU KNOW, WHAT I WAS REALLY TRYING TO SAY IS THAT THEY DIDN'T DOCUMENT, I UNDERSTAND WHY THEY DID IT, BUT THEY DIDN'T DOCUMENT.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR THAT, MR. SCOOPED.
I KNOW, UH, JUST TO BE CLEAR TO THE POINT OF TRUSTING OBVIOUSLY, AND THEN VERIFYING, UH, WE APPRECIATE THE EXPERTISE, UH, THE COMMISSIONERS HAVE, AND THEY BRING THE PASSION THEY BRING, UH, TO, TO THIS COMMISSION THEY'RE CLEARLY PASSIONATE AND INVOLVED, AS YOU CAN SEE CONDITION THAT'S COOP TO WAS DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THAT EXERCISE.
ALTHOUGH THE COMMISSION TO BE CLEAR WAS NOT DIRECTLY INVOLVED, UH, IN, IN EVALUATION OF SALESFORCE OR CRITIQUE OF SALESFORCE EFFORTS, UH, AND SAID THAT, UH, THROUGH YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, UH, CHRIS, WE APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT THESE FACTS HAVE COME TO LIGHT.
AND, UH, ANY THING OBVIOUSLY THAT YOU COULD DO TO HOLD, UH, ANY VENDOR ACCOUNTABLE, UH,
[01:10:01]
IN SERVICE OF OUR COMMUNITY, WE'D APPRECIATE.UM, HAVING SAID THAT I'D LIKE TO ASK IF THERE'S ANY OTHER QUESTIONS AT THIS POINT, UH, PERTAINING THE PRESENTATION.
UH, I DEFINITELY HAVE MORE QUESTIONS AND I THINK THERE'S, UH, QUESTIONS OTHERS WILL HAVE, BUT WE ARE ON A TIGHT AGENDA AND WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME NOW HERE'S EVEN FOR PROGRESSIVE.
SO WE MIGHT NEED TO TIGHTEN UP OUR QUESTIONS A LITTLE BIT, UM, THE CRYSTAL BALL AND HOW MUCH IS LEFT AND, OR EITHER WAY, UH, CIRCLE BACK WITH YOU.
BUT WE'D LIKE TO CERTAINLY BE A CHANCE TO CONTINUE AND FINISH YOUR PRESENTATION.
CHRIS, I HAVE ONE MORE SLIDE AND I CAN MAKE IT PRETTY QUICK.
SO OUR LAST PROGRAM AREAS ARE PUBLIC SAFETY AREA.
UM, THEY'RE DOING FANTASTIC WORK, AND THIS IS A GAME WHERE THOSE AREAS THAT THIS DIDN'T SLOW DOWN BECAUSE OF A PANDEMIC, WE STILL HAVE TO MAINTAIN PUBLIC SAFETY.
WE STILL HAVE TO SUPPORT OUR PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES.
UM, A MAJOR EFFORT THAT THEY'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW IS REIMAGINATION.
UM, AS WE KNOW, APD HAS BEEN, UM, RE-IMAGINING ITSELF AND COUNCILS REIMAGINING, AND THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF WORK GOING ON.
UM, WITH THAT, SOME OF IT'S EVEN DOWN TO WORKING ON WHAT THESE EFFORTS ARE.
THE, SO A LOT OF US ARE WORKING WITH THE POLICE MONITOR.
WE'RE WORKING WITH APD ON WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS DECOUPLING.
UM, AS WE ROLL PEOPLE, DEPARTMENTS, WORK GROUPS OFF OF AWAY FROM APD THAT THERE'S A LOT OF TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES THERE TO MAKE THAT WORK.
SO WE'VE BEEN VERY HEAVILY ENGAGED IN ALL OF THOSE PROCESSES.
AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE SUPPORTING ANY NEW DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE SPUN UP ANY WORK GROUPS THAT ARE MOVED, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL THEIR TECHNOLOGY NEEDS ARE MET, THAT WE'RE MEETING SECURITY CRITERIA, THAT WE'RE DOING ALL THE THINGS WE NEED TO DO, UM, TO MAKE, TO MAKE SURE THE OPERATIONS AREN'T AFFECTED BY ANY KIND OF A DECOUPLING EFFORT AGENCY SOLUTIONS.
WE HAVE SO MUCH GOING ON AT PUBLIC SAFETY, BUT I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT A FEW OF THE BIG ONES.
UM, THESE ARE, THESE ARE QUITE LARGE, OUR COMPUTER AIDED DISPATCH SYSTEM AT, AT TECH, WE'RE DOING AN RFI ON.
SO THEY WENT ON TO LOOK AT WHAT IS AVAILABLE TO US AND ALL OF OUR PARTNER AGENCIES.
UM, AND THAT DOES INCLUDE, UM, TRAVIS COUNTY FIRE, EMS, APD.
WE ALL UTILIZE THE SAME, UM, COMPUTER-AIDED DISPATCH SYSTEM.
SO IT'S GONNA BE REALLY INTERESTING TO SEE KIND OF WHAT'S OUT THERE RIGHT NOW.
UM, IN THE, UM, IN THE MARKET, WE'RE ALSO DOING A RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, RFP, UM, THAT IS AN APE PROJECT TO LOOK AT THEIR RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
UM, AND THAT'S REALLY WHERE THEY THAT'S KIND OF THEIR, THEIR POWERHOUSE.
SO NEXT TO THE DISPATCH SYSTEM, RMS IS IT'S REALLY THEIR, THEIR CRITICAL APP THAT THEY, THEY KEEP EVERYTHING IN EVERY PHONE CALL THAT'S MADE INTO ANOTHER ONE THAT, THAT GOES INTO A RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, EVERYTHING THEY DO, THAT'S THEIR APPLICATION.
UM, SO IT'S VERY, VERY IMPORTANT TO THEM AS AN ORGANIZATION.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO US AND THE POLICE MODERN IN PARTICULAR, TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THEY GET ACCESS TO THAT DATA, UM, SO THAT THEY CAN DO THEIR JOBS WELL.
UM, FINALLY, WE'RE LOOKING AT A CAD INTERFACE FOR, UM, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY, UM, TO ENHANCE MUTUAL AID.
SO OUR PARTNERS AND IN OUR, UM, ADJACENT COUNTIES AND, AND SERVICE DISTRICTS HAVE WHAT WE CALL MUTUAL AID AGREEMENTS SO THAT, UM, A COUNTY LINE OR A CITY DISTRICT, OR, UM, DOESN'T, PROCLUDE A, AN EMERGENCY VEHICLE FROM PROVIDING SERVICES.
UH, THIS CAT CAT INTERFACE ALLOWS OUR COMPUTER-AIDED DISPATCH SYSTEMS TO LOOK AT EACH OTHER.
SO WE CAN DO THIS VERY SEAMLESSLY, UH, MUCH LIKE WHERE OUR RADIO NETWORK EXTENDED BEYOND OUR CAPACITY.
WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO OTHER, UM, PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES AS WELL.
UM, THEY'RE VERY LARGE AND THERE'S QUITE A BIT MORE GOING ON PUBLIC SAFETY, BUT YOU KNOW, A LOT OF GREAT WORK HAPPENING OUT THERE.
SOME THINGS THEY'VE DONE ARE THIS END POINT DETECTION I TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, THEY'VE DEPLOYED THIS THROUGHOUT 6,600 DEVICES.
THEY DID A SIGNIFICANT NETWORK UPGRADE RAY PD OUT AT TECHNO CENTER.
UM, WE JUST DID A MAJOR CAD UPGRADE, THIS COMPUTER-AIDED DISPATCH SYSTEM.
UM, AND AGAIN, THE RMS THAT RE RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AGAIN, ANOTHER MAJOR UPGRADE.
AND THEN WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS FULL RADIO ENCRYPTION FOR ALL AGENCIES.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR RADIO TRAFFIC IS ENCRYPTED AND THAT'S A, QUITE A CHALLENGE AT THE SIZE AND SCALE OF THE RADIO SYSTEM THAT WE SUPPORT FOR AS MANY AGENCIES AS WE SUPPORT IT FOR.
IT'S A LOT OF WORK, BUT WE THINK IT'S PRETTY CRITICAL, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE IN A SECURE ENVIRONMENT WHEN OUR, WHEN OUR PUBLIC SAFETY FOLKS KEY THAT RADIO, THEY WANT TO, THEY WANT IT TO BE PRIVATE AND SECURE, AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT HAPPENS.
AND THAT IS IT FOR MY SLIDES AND CHAIRMAN COMMISSIONER.
AND YOU DEFINITELY HERE FOR ANY
[01:15:01]
OF YOUR QUESTIONS.THANK YOU AGAIN, CHRIS, FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
UH, KATE, DO YOU MIND RETURNING TO THAT LAST SLIDE THOUGH, BEFORE WE PROCEED? UH, THERE WAS ONE HOT TOPIC, UH, THAT I'D LIKE TO ASK YOU ABOUT BEFORE WE LEAVE THE PRESENTATION.
UH, AS RELATES TO APD, ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH ATLAS ONE? I'VE HEARD IT.
I'M NOT SURE WHY THAT'S FAMILIAR ATLAS ONE.
IT'S INTERESTING AND REMARKABLE, UM, BECAUSE, UH, A PRESS RELEASE WAS ISSUED BY THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE ABOUT ATLAS ONE SPEAKING TO ITS CAPABILITIES AND, UH, THE PARTNERSHIP THAT APD HAD, UH, WITH THE PROVIDER, UH, FOR, UH, THE SOFTWARE, UH, THEY PRESENTED AT THE WORKING GROUP LEVEL, UH, TO US.
AND WE HAD SOME FOLLOWUP QUESTIONS, BUT WE CLEARLY NEED TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ABOUT THAT BECAUSE, UH, THERE ARE SOME OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS STILL, UH, AND, UH, THEIR ABSENCE FROM THIS SLIDE IS BASICALLY REMARKABLE.
UH, SO I THINK WE SHOULD JUST FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ON THAT.
WELL, UH, COMMISSIONER GATES HAS A QUESTION.
IT LOOKS LIKE, UH, BEFORE WE GO, YES.
BACK IN 2019, THIS COMMISSION WAS INVESTIGATING SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE POLICE VIDEO.
THERE WAS A BOTTLENECK BETWEEN THE, UH, THE POLICE VIDEO, GETTING THE FLEET VIDEO OVER TO, UH, TRAVIS COUNTY AND TO THE PROSECUTORS.
AND I'M WONDERING IF THIS WAS EVER RESOLVED, IT INVOLVED, NOT ONLY BANDWIDTH, BUT THE ABILITY TO ACCESS AND RECALL, UM, CERTAIN VIDEO AND TAGGING AND CATALOGING.
SO THERE, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PROBLEMS WITH THIS NAME, IT JUST IN TERMS OF THE STRUCTURE AND THE, THE BANDWIDTH TO GET THINGS THERE AND PERSONNEL.
HAS ANYTHING BEEN RESOLVED WITH THIS THAT YOU KNOW OF? LET ME VERIFY.
I REMEMBER JUST OFF HAND, CAUSE I WAS, I WAS NOT WITH CTM AT THE TIME.
UM, THAT DA WAS HAVING SOME ISSUES, GETTING ACCESS TO ALL, ESPECIALLY THE DEMO VIDEO.
UM, I HAVE NOT HEARD ANY COMPLAINTS AT ALL ABOUT THIS SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE SINCE SEPTEMBER, AND I DOUBT A PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCY OR THE DAY'S OFFICE WOULD HAVE BEEN SILENT ON THIS FOR THAT LONG.
SO I'M GOING TO ASSUME IT HAS BEEN ADDRESSED, BUT I WANT TO, I CAN FIND OUT HOW IT'S BEEN ADDRESSED FOR YOU.
UM, I KNOW THAT IT IS A CONCERN AS WE TALK ABOUT DECOUPLING AGAIN, IF WE START MOVING THINGS AROUND AND MOVING THINGS OUT OF APD AND HOW WE CAN SECURELY DO THAT, UM, DECOUPLING DEFINITELY BRINGS A LOT OF QUESTIONS INTO HOW DO WE MAINTAIN SEE JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, CERTIFICATION WHILE WE'RE DOING THESE THINGS, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S ONLY PART OF THE TOPICS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, MAKING SURE THAT WE MAINTAIN ACCESS AND THAT WE DO IT SECURELY.
SO I THINK THAT'S A GOOD CONVERSATION, BUT LET ME VERIFY IF AND HOW, BUT AGAIN, IT HAS NOT COME UP AT ALL TO ME.
AND I, AGAIN, I, I, IT WOULD HAVE GONE THIS LONG WITH BEING SILENT.
OH, THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER GATES.
AND JUST TO ADD TO THAT, TO CLARIFY, WE'VE GOT LOTS OF NOTES AND INFORMATION TO SHARE ABOUT THAT EFFORT.
UH, IT SPOKE REALLY TO A LEGACY SYSTEMS AND A NEED FOR A REALLY INTENSIVE MIGRATION AND BASED UPON THE LEADERSHIP ROLE OF GOVERNANCE THAT, UH, CTM WILL BE PLAYING, UH, THEN WE DEFINITELY WANNA MAKE SURE, UH, THAT NO NEWS IS REALLY GOOD NEWS, UH, FOR, FOR YOUR SAKE, BECAUSE THERE'S A WHOLE LOT GOING ON BEFORE.
I WANT TO VERIFY THAT FOR SURE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS AT THIS POINT BEFORE WE GO AHEAD AND, UH, CHRIS GETS THROUGH THE REST OF HIS EVENING.
WELL, THANK YOU AGAIN, CHRIS, FOR YOUR TIME.
UH, AND FOR MEETING WITH US, CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN, ON YOUR NEW ROLE, WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR LEADERSHIP AND TO WORKING WITH YOU COLLABORATIVELY AND IN SERVICE OF THE COMMUNITY.
EVERYBODY HAVE A GOOD EVENING.
SO WITH THAT, THEN WE'LL PROCEED WITH OUR AGENDA AND A FORMAL ONE HERE.
UH, YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN HOPEFULLY THE UPDATED AGENDA ITEMS AS THEY WILL READ AS I'M ABOUT TO READ THEM, UH, FOR THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE.
UH, THERE WAS A SLIGHT TYPO AND THE INITIAL AGENDA.
SO I'M GOING TO BE OFFICIALLY READING THE AGENDA ITEM NOW, WHICH IS TO BE
[2B. Briefing on the Solicitation for Media Access and Public Broadcast Services (John Speirs, Program Manager, TARA) ]
A BRIEFING ON THE SOLICITATION FOR MEDIA PRODUCTION TRAINING AND PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION FACILITIES MANAGEMENT BY JOHN SPEARS, OUR[01:20:01]
TELECOM LOCATIONS AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS, UH, DIRECTOR, PROGRAM MANAGER, UH, TARA AND JIM HOWARD.I WAS THE PURCHASING PERSON WITH THAT.
THANK YOU, CHAIR PITCH, UH, COMMISSIONERS.
MY NAME IS JOHN SPEARS AND I AM A PROGRAM MANAGER WITHIN THE CITY'S OFFICE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS.
I WILL BE PRESENTING SOLO TONIGHT WITHOUT THE REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE PURCHASING OFFICE, BUT NONETHELESS, WE'LL BE ABLE TO CONVEY THE INFORMATION NEEDED THAT WE INTEND TO BRIEF YOU ALL ON.
SO THIS NEXT SLIDE IS JUST TO CAPTURE THE, THE OVERALL, UM, INFORMATION THAT WILL BE SHARED WITH THE COMMISSION HERE, AS FAR AS THE INTRODUCTION, UH, AND PURPOSE RESEARCH AND IN ENGAGEMENT AND OUR CONTRACT GOALS AND INCLUDING THE EVALUATION CRITERIA, TIMELINE AND RECOMMENDED VENDOR.
UM, IF WE CAN SLIDE FORWARD A FEW TO, I BELIEVE JESSE, OR THAT OUR TTM COLLEAGUE THAT'S, UH, IN BUILDING SLIDES.
LET ME GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND FORWARD ONE, PLEASE.
UH, SO FROM AN OVERALL 360,000 FOOT LENS, PUBLIC ACCESS AND TELEVISION IS A COMPONENT OF OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION STRATEGIC PLAN ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IN 2014.
THIS VISION IS FOR EVERY RESIDENT TO BE FULLY ENGAGED IN DIGITAL SOCIETY ACCESSING AND USING DIGITAL AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY.
UH, IT IS THROUGH THE, UH, PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION AND MEDIA PRODUCTION TRAINING SERVICES AT OUR PUBLIC ACCESS TO TELEVISION FACILITY AT 1, 1 43 NORTHWESTERN IN DISTRICT ONE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO RENDER ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY SERVICES THAT REALLY INCREASES THE ABILITY FOR RESIDENTS TO USE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND TO DEVELOP RELEVANT SKILLS.
UH, THE WE'LL TALK ABOUT, UH, HERE IN A SECOND RELATED TO MEDIA PRODUCTION, UM, AND PROVIDES A VENUE FOR WORKFORCE TRAINING.
SO A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ON WHAT PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION IS AND WHAT IT MEANS TO AUSTIN, UH, FOR OUR CURRENT SERVICES IS THAT THE FEDERAL CABLE ACT IN CHAPTER 66 OF THE STATE OF THE UTILITIES CODE PROVIDE THAT STATE ISSUED CABLE AND, AND CHAIS IS, UM, ARE REQUIRED TO SET ASIDE CHANNELS FOR PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL AND GOVERNMENTAL PURPOSES.
THESE PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNELS REALLY PROVIDE A FORUM TO DISTRIBUTE COMMUNITY INFORMATION AND LOCAL CONTENT.
UH, THIS INCLUDES, UH, REALLY, UH, SERVING, UH, THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE UNDERSERVED.
UM, THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS SEVEN ACTIVE PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL AND GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNELS OF WHICH THE CITY COUNCIL HAS ALLOCATED BREE FOR THE VERY PURPOSE OF PROVIDING PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION.
AUSTIN HAS A LONG HISTORY OF, UH, PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION, INCLUDING THE LONGEST CONTINUALLY OPERATING PUBLIC ACCESS STATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
AND THAT WILL BE ENJOYING ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY HERE IN 2023.
UH, THIS CONTRACT PROVIDES CONTINUING MANAGEMENT OF THE CITY'S PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION ASSETS, AND THESE ASSETS, UH, INCLUDE THE MEDIA PRODUCTION FACILITY, DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT, AND TRAINING CLASSES.
A KEY FEATURE OF THIS CONTRACT MOVING FORWARD WILL BE A PARTNERSHIP THAT THE RECOMMENDED VENDOR THAT WILL TALK ABOUT FAIRNESS.
SECOND AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY WILL BE ENGAGING WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS OF THE CAPITAL AREA OR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TRAINING IN THE CREATIVE SECTOR.
LET ME FORWARD TWO SLIDES, PLEASE.
SO TO TALK ABOUT HOW DID WE GET HERE? UM, WE HAVE GENERATED INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS THAT HAVE BEEN PROVIDED FROM THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY, BOSTON, WHICH REPRESENTS A WORKING GROUPS OF, UH, WORKING GROUP OF NON-PROFITS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PRIVATE TECH COMPANIES.
UH, THIS INSIGHT HAS ALSO BEEN PROVIDED BY THE CITY'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT IN, UM, COLLABORATION WITH INSIGHTS THAT ARE BEING PROVIDED FROM THE CAPITAL AREA WORKFORCE MASTER PLAN AND THE AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY DEPARTMENT AND INSIGHTS FROM OUR COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY
[01:25:01]
MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT.THESE KEY FINDINGS HAVE REALLY LED STAFF TO AN UNDERSTANDING WE NEED A MORE STRUCTURED WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAM TO OCCUR WITHIN THE AUSPICES OF THE PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION, THIS FACILITY WITH THESE MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS, THROUGH DRESS PRINCIPLES OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION, SO THAT WE CAN CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS AND COMMUNITIES OF AUSTIN, AND TO SUPPORT THE CREATIVE SECTOR EMPLOYMENT PIPELINE.
ONE THAT HAS BEEN, UH, HIGHLY IMPACTED THROUGH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
THIS SECTION WILL HIGHLIGHT WHAT THE PROCESS IS FROM THIS UNDERSTANDING FOR THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.
IF YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO ON APRIL 12TH, 2021 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY'S PURCHASING OFFICE, THE SOLICITATION WAS ISSUED FOR THE FIVE-YEAR, UM, TERM CONTRACT FOR PUBLIC ACCESS SELGIN FACILITIES.
AND THE SOLICITATION POSED ON MAY 18TH OF THIS YEAR, A FOUR MEMBER OF THAT EVALUATION TEAM WITH EXPERTISE IN THIS AREA, COMPLETED THE PROCESS AND RECOMMENDED THE AWARD OF THE CONTRACT TO FILM SOCIETY OF AUSTIN.
YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT THE EVALUATION CRITERIA AND PUT IN A PROPOSED SOLUTION, WHICH TALKS ABOUT THE METHODOLOGY FOR THE SERVICES TO BE RENDERED PRIOR EXPERIENCE AND PERSONNEL, INCLUDING IN DEPTH, UM, BACKGROUND ON THE, UH, PROPOSERS PRIOR EXPERIENCE AND DEMONSTRATED CAPABILITIES TO RENDER THE SERVICES COST, UH, THE PROPOSERS BUDGET, INCLUDING, UH, DETAILED ALLOCATIONS IN THE AREAS OF GENERAL OPERATIONS AND STAFFING AND A LOCAL PREFERENCE.
THAT'S AWARDED TO VENDORS WITH A PRIMARY BUSINESS LOCATION IN AUSTIN, UH, FROM THIS, UH, WE DID RECEIVE ONE PROPOSAL.
UH, THAT ONE PROPOSAL HERE IS FROM THE FILM SOCIETY OF AUSTIN.
UH, AND THIS IS, UH, WHAT THE REVIEW COMMITTEE, UH, SCORED AT 84, THE RECOMMENDATION TO AWARD THE FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT TERM TO THE RECOMMENDED VENDOR OF FILM SOCIETY OF AUSTIN.
THE NEXT STEPS FOR THIS CONTRACT, UH, SOLICITATION PROCESS ARE TO, UH, BRING THIS BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL AT THEIR AUGUST 26TH COUNCIL MEETING FOR APPROVAL.
UM, AND THE CONTRACT, UH, LLOYD COMMENCE ON OCTOBER 1ST, 20, 21 OR A FIVE-YEAR TERM.
AND THIS COMPLETES MY VERY BRIEF UPDATE ON THE SOLICITATION OR PUBLIC ACCESS MEDIA AND WORKFORCE TRAINING.
UH, I AM AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS IF THE COMMISSION MAY HAVE ANY, THANK YOU, JOHN, FOR SHARING THAT.
I'VE GOT A COUPLE, BUT I'LL GO AHEAD AND, UH, LET THOSE THAT ARE EAGER TO ASK QUESTIONS.
I LIKE TO GIVE ANYONE WHO HASN'T ASKED ANY QUESTIONS, A CHANCE TO ASK IF YOU MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN, OKAY.
COMMISSIONER GATES, UH, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO GO AND ASK YOU A QUESTION.
SO THE LAST TIME THAT THIS COMMISSION HAD A MEETING OVER THERE AT THE, UH, PUBLIC ACCESS TV OVER THERE ON NORTHWESTERN, UM, I SPOKE WITH SOME OF THE TECHNICAL STAFF.
NOW, THIS HAS GOT TO BE YEARS AGO, WELL BEFORE KOBE.
UH, BUT, UH, UM, THERE WAS A SLIGHT TECHNICAL PROBLEM IN THAT THERE WAS A LINK BETWEEN PUBLIC ACCESS, TELEVISION AND CITY HALL THAT WENT OVER THE GAP NETWORK.
AND IF THERE WASN'T A REDUNDANT PATH, AND SO THIS IS KIND OF DOWN TO THE WEEDS TECHNICAL ISSUE, BUT I'D LIKE TO SEE IF SOMEONE COULD ADDRESS THAT AND SEE IF NOW THAT THERE IS A REDUNDANT PATH SO THAT THE, UH, THE LINK IT'S A REALLY CRITICAL LINKAGE BETWEEN THE PUBLIC ACCESS TV AND CITY HALL THAT THE REDUNDANT LINK IS THERE, SO THAT THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY INTERRUPTION IN PROGRAMMING.
COULD SOMEBODY ADDRESS THAT QUESTION? SURE, SURE.
THE REDUNDANT PATH, UH, HAS BEEN ADDRESSED, UM, AS PROGRAM MANAGER, IT'S BEEN ONE, UM, OBJECTIVES TO RIGHT-SIZE THE TECHNICAL OPERATIONS AT THE PUBLIC ACCESS TO HEALTH FACILITY, INCLUDING THE REDUNDANCY NEEDED TO MAINTAIN CONTINUOUS OPERATIONS AND CONTINUOUS, UH, CHANNEL DISTRIBUTION.
SO WE, WE DO NOT HAVE ANY REDUNDANT PATHWAYS SET UP, UH,
[01:30:01]
THAT IS IN COLLABORATION WITH OUR COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT SO THAT WE HAVE THAT CONTINUOUS.UM, UH, JOHN, UM, I JUST WANT TO BE SURE WHAT THE EXPECTATION IS OF THIS PRESENTATION.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A VOTE OF SUPPORT FROM THIS COMMISSION? ARE YOU LOOKING FOR US TO COMMUNICATE THIS TO OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS OR ALL OF THE ABOVE? WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOUR EXPECTATION? I JUST WANT TO BE SURE.
UH, COMMISSIONER DESCOPED, UH, THIS IS, UH, FRAMED AS A BRIEFING, SO NO ACTION ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ITEM.
UM, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO INFORM THE COMMISSION OR YOU ALL TO POSE ANY QUESTIONS HERE NOW TO STAFF, SO THAT WE MAY CLARIFY ANY ATTEMPT, ANY INTENT RELATED TO THE OVERALL SOLICITATION.
AND, UM, YOU ALL ARE FREE TO SHARE THIS WITH YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS.
WE ARE VERY PROUD OF THIS PROJECT.
UM, AND THIS ISN'T REALLY A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO ADVANCE A LONGSTANDING CONTRACTS THAT WE'VE HAD WITHIN, UH, OUR SERVICE PORTFOLIO HERE IN THE TERROR OFFICE, BUT ALSO ONE THAT REALLY ADDRESSES SOME OF THE MOST PRESSING NEEDS IN OUR COMMUNITY, AS PART AS ADDRESSING SOME OF THE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CREATIVE SECTOR.
SO, UM, HOPEFULLY THAT IS CLEAR AS FAR AS WE'RE NOT HERE ASKING FOR A SPECIFIC, UH, UH, SIGN OFF OR APPROVAL BECAUSE OF THIS JUST POSTED AS A BRIEFING.
UM, BUT YES, SHARE THIS WITH YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS SO THAT THEY'RE AWARE OF THIS, UM, ITEM THAT WILL BE COMING BEFORE THEN, THEN AUGUST.
SO THIS IS GOING TO BE PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL IN AUGUST.
I MEAN, THERE'S A BUDGET IMPLICATION.
YOU SHOW THE, YOU KNOW, THAT IT'S A FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT.
SO IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S A DONE DEAL IT'S GOING TO CONTINUE BECAUSE IT'S SUCH A CRITICAL, UH, FUNCTION.
THIS IS WHERE I'M GOING TO ASK MY BOSS, UH, RHONDELLA HAWKINS THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS OFFICER TO HELP ME SPEAK TO SOME OF THE, UH, MOST RECENT BUDGET UPDATES ON THIS, UH, THIS CONTRACT AND, UH, WHAT THAT MEANS FOR THE RESPONSE TO YOUR QUESTION.
SO RUN DOLLAR CHEWED UP TO SPEAK.
I'M KIND OF OWN YOU OUT HERE, BUT YEAH, I'M GOOD.
HI, GOOD EVENING, RYAN DELLA HAWKINS.
UM, BEFORE RESPONDING, I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY THAT THE CONTRACT TERM, THE PROPOSED CONTRACT TERM IS AN INITIAL THREE YEARS, UM, AND THEN TWO, ONE YEAR EXTENSION OPTIONS.
SO IT IS A TOTAL OF FIVE AND IN OUR PROPOSED BUDGET, UH, WE DO HAVE FUNDING FOR THIS, UH, CONTRACT.
UM, IT'S THE, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN THE STANDING $475,000 IN OPERATING FUNDS.
UM, AND OF COURSE THAT HAS TO, YOU KNOW, THAT'S CONTINGENT UPON COUNCIL APPROVAL OF THE BUDGET.
SO, AND, AND, AND IN THE CONTRACT, IT'S VERY CLEAR.
EACH ADDITIONAL YEAR IS CONTINGENT UPON AVAILABLE FUNDING THAT'S, UH, APPROVED.
UM, WE ARE, YOU KNOW, WORK SINCE WE'RE PIVOTING MORE TOWARDS THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMPONENT, WE ARE WORKING WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UM, UH, TO, UH, HOPEFULLY FOR SOME ADDITIONAL FUNDING.
AND AGAIN, THAT'LL BE CONTINGENT UPON THE COUNCIL APPROVAL.
UM, BUT THAT WILL BE, IT'S NOT POSTED YET.
UH, THIS COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM IS NOT POSTED YET.
UH, IT'LL PROBABLY BE, UM, WHAT, TWO WEEKS, AUGUST THE, WHATEVER THAT IS, UH, THE SECOND WEEK OF AUGUST THAT THE, ALL THIS INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED.
AND, UH, SO WE HAVE, WE REALLY WANTED TO BRING THIS, UM, BEFORE YOU ALL AS A REVIEW AND JUST TO KIND OF GIVE YOU AN UPDATE BECAUSE, UM, IT IS REALLY THE SCOPE OF WORK WAS REALLY, UM, I THINK WE REALLY CHA UPDATED IT TO BE LEVERAGING MORE OF THE RESOURCES THERE, UM, THE EQUIPMENT, THE TRAINING, UM, FOR, FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, CREATIVE INDUSTRY, BUT ALSO WE HAVE TO ALSO HAVE TO COMPLY WITH THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS OF, YOU KNOW, SO MUCH ORIGINAL CONTENT AND PROGRAMMING HAS TO BE PUT ON THOSE THREE CHANNELS IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THAT RIGHT, BECAUSE IT'S ALL ABOUT CONTENT CREATION.
WELL, HOPEFULLY I ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION.
THANK YOU, RON, DELLA, APPRECIATE THAT.
[01:35:01]
DAVID, YOU HAVE A QUESTION THUMBS UP.ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK THIS TIME? OKAY.
UH, I DO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, BUT IN THE INTEREST OF OUR TIME TABLE, I'LL, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH THEM AND WOULD LIKE TO INVITE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS BRIEFING AT THE WORKING GROUP LEVEL.
UM, I'D LIKE TO, OF COURSE, GET THAT SCHEDULED, UH, AS WE'VE HAD TO DELAY OUR WORKING GROUP, DIGITAL INCLUSION, DIGITAL INCLUSION WORK GROUP MEETING NOW WITH GOOD REASON.
UH, SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET THAT ONE SET UP HERE IN SHORT TIMEFRAME AND I'LL GIVE US A CHANCE TO DIVE IN FURTHER.
SO THEN IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND PROCEED IN OUR AGENDA.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT PRESENTATION, JOHN.
SO THAT BRINGS US TO AGENDA ITEM THREE A AGAIN, THERE'S A, AN EDIT THAT TAISHAN FROM THE EXISTING POSTED AGENDA.
IT SHOULD BE AGENDA ITEM THREE, A
[3A. Presentation on the Residential Technology Study (Commission Discussion and Possible Action) ]
AND IT SHOULD BE POSTED AS A BRIEFING AND IT SHOULD READ BRIEFING ON RELIABLE AND AFFORDABLE BROADBAND INTERNET FOR ALL PROJECTS FROM THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS OFFICE.UH, THIS PRESENTATION WILL BE FACILITATED BY, UH, RHONDELLA HAWKINS, UH, BY CO-TENANT HARMON AND BY JOHN SPEARS.
UH, COLTON HARMON IS OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION FELLOW.
UH, BUT WITH THAT, I'LL GO AHEAD AND HAND IT OFF, UH, TO RUN BELL, I BELIEVE IS STARTING THE PRESENTATION.
AND YES, THIS IS A TAG TEAM, UH, PRESENTATION, AND I'M JUST HERE TO KICK IT OFF.
UM, UH, RYAN AND DYLAN HAWKINS TELECOM AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS OFFICER, AND, UH, JUST RURAL, I'M EXCITED TO PROVIDE THIS, UH, UPDATE ON OUR, UH, PROJECT, UH, TO THE FULL COMMISSION.
WE HAVE, UH, WE HAVE, UH, PROVIDED THE UPDATE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, TO THE WORKING GROUPS AND GOTTEN SOME GOOD FEEDBACK, WHICH WE HAVE INCORPORATED INTO THIS PRESENTATION.
SO I GUESS IF WE COULD GO TO THE VERY FIRST SLIDE, I THINK WE'RE AT THE VERY END HERE, BUT, UM, AND YEAH, I DON'T WANT TO SPEND TOO MUCH TIME.
UM, SO YEAH, WE WANTED TO BRING, UH, BRING THE, THIS, UH, BRING AN UPDATE TO THE COMMISSION ON ARE AFFORDABLE AND ARE RELIABLE AND AFFORDABLE BROADBAND INTERNET FOR ALL, UH, PROJECT, WHICH, UM, AS YOU KNOW, I MEAN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THIS COMMISSION, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON, YOU KNOW, WORKING TO, YOU KNOW, UM, ON DIGITAL INCLUSION, DIGITAL EQUITY, UH, FOR MANY YEARS AND, YOU KNOW, THE COVID, UM, IT BROUGHT, IF YOU COULD GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, IT BROUGHT IT BACK.
IT BROUGHT TO LIGHT THE ESSENTIAL SERVICES OF, UM, YOU KNOW, INTERNET CONNECTIVITY AND DEVICES AND VISUAL LITERACY.
AND, UH, WE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE PROJECT HERE.
AND, UM, ANYWAY, THIS IS JUST OUTLINING THE, THE PROJECT, UM, AS PART OF OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION STRATEGIC PLAN.
UM, THIS COMMISSION HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON DIGITAL INCLUSION AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENTS WITH WORKING GROUP AND INCLUSION FOR ALL, UM, THROUGH THE WORKING GROUP AND FOR THE FULL COMMISSION.
AND WE HAVE, UH, REALLY, UM, ROLLED OUR SLEEVES UP AND HAVE REALLY ENGAGED A LOT OF STAKEHOLDERS, UM, DURING THIS, THIS PROJECT, UM, MORE THAN I THINK WHAT WE'VE EVER DONE BEFORE, BECAUSE WE HAVE THE, THE DIGITAL INCLUSION FELLOW AND, UH, HAS BROUGHT A LOT OF, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST A LOT MORE BANDWIDTH, SO TO SPEAK, UM, RESOURCES TO, TO US.
AND SO WE'RE ALSO, UM, WITH THE, WITH THE PANDEMIC, THE, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A HUGE ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE RESILIENCE PROGRAM OUTLINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND BY OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
SO IF YOU COULD GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, BRIEFLY YEAH, BRAC BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF THIS EFFORT, UM, TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'VE DONE AND HAVE LEARNED SO FAR THROUGH THE PROCESS IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS, UM, THROUGH A LOT OF THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITH A VARIETY OF STAKEHOLDERS.
AND THEN JUST LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT'S NEXT, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO JUST, UM, JUST AS A, HOW WE GOT HERE, UM, AGAIN, JUST LOOKING THROUGH, UM, THE PREVIOUS EFFORTS, YOU KNOW, OF CITY SUPPORTIVE PROJECTS, UM, THIS COMMISSION HAS, UM, HELD SPECIAL, YOU KNOW, SPECIAL MEETINGS AND CONVERSATIONS WITH, UM, AUSTIN RESIDENTS, REALLY GETTING INSIGHT ON WHAT THEIR LIVED EXPERIENCES FROM, FROM, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY
[01:40:01]
WITH THE, WITH THE COVID AND, UM, THE LACK OF, YOU KNOW, BROADBAND AND DEVICES AND TRAINING FOR EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND JOB TRAINING.UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THIS, THIS VIRTUAL PA THIS VIRTUAL PIVOT TO, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, TO, UH, WORKING REMOTELY OR LEARNING REMOTELY AND ALL OF THIS, YOU KNOW, COMBINED WE'VE GOT, UM, THERE WAS A LOT OF DISCUSSION BY SOME, YOU KNOW, BY MANY IN THE COMMUNITY THAT WE NEED A LONGER TERM SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION FOR, UM, FOR, YOU KNOW, DIGITAL INCLUSION IN THE CITY.
WE'VE MANY PROGRAMS AND THERE'S A LOT OF EFFORTS AND IT'S JUST, WE NEED SOMETHING MORE COHESIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE AND WELL, ACTUALLY CHRIS STEWART AND I, UM, WE SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION TO LEADERSHIP AUSTIN AND, UH, WHICH IS ACTUALLY FUNDED BY ST DAVID'S FOUNDATION.
AND, UH, THEY, THEY APPROVED A FELLOW, UH, FOR, FOR US, UH, FOR ONE YEAR THROUGH, UM, THIS THROUGH 2021.
AND, AND Y'ALL, AND MOST OF YOU HAVE MET
UM, WE HADN'T PUT TOGETHER GOALS AND AREAS FOR THE PROJECT, AND WE'VE DEDICATED QUITE A, I MEAN, AS FAR AS A CITY PROGRAM STAFF, ESPECIALLY IN TARA, UM, WE'RE A SMALL TEAM, BUT WE'VE, UH, ALIGNED, UM, STAFF TO HELP SUPPORT THE FELLOW AND COORDINATING ACTIVITIES, UM, AND HELPING TO HAVE WHERE, AND EVEN THE COMMISSION AND WORKING WITH OTHERS TO IDENTIFY STAKEHOLDERS, TO ENGAGE IN HIS PROJECT.
SO, UM, THE SCOPE OF OUR PROJECT FOR RELIABLE AND AFFORDABLE BROADBAND FOR ALL, UM, THE GOALS AND THAT WE IDENTIFIED IN OUR APPLICATION AND WHICH WE SOLIDIFIED, UH, WITH OUR FELLOW IS, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT OUR COMMUNITY.
WE NEED A FELLOW TO ASSESS, IDENTIFY AND DEVELOP VIABLE LONGER-TERM SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF DIGITAL EQUITY, TO ENSURE RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE BROADBAND FOR ALL.
AND, UM, WE ALL KNOW THAT THE AVAILABILITY OF THE INTERNET IS CRITICAL TO PARTICIPATE, UM, WHETHER IT BE EDUCATION, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, HEALTHCARE, OR DIGITAL SOCIETY, UM, AND TO PROVIDE EQUITY, UM, AND IN ALL THOSE AREAS.
SO, UH, THERE'S A FEW DELIVERABLES, UH, THAT, UH, WE HAVE, UH, FOR, UH, LIKE THE FIRST REPORT I WAS TO DO A, UM, YOU KNOW, ASSET MAPPING IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WHAT IS THE EXISTING DATA THAT EXISTS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHERE BROADBAND IS, WHAT'S THE SPEED OF THE PRIVATE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE, AND ALSO WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR BARRIERS TO BROADBAND ADOPTION? AND, AND, AND WE THINK MOST OF US KNOW THAT, UM, BEFORE COVID, THERE WAS A QUESTION ABOUT RELEVANCY THAT WAS PART OF WHY, MAYBE A REASON WHY PEOPLE WERE NOT SUBSCRIBING TO INTERNET OR USING THE INTERNET.
UM, BUT I THINK COVID TOTALLY BLEW THAT OUT THE WINDOW.
LIKE, YOU KNOW, IT'S RELEVANT.
WE KNOW THAT'S NOT, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S RELEVANT.
SO AFFORDABILITY, UM, IS, IS DEFINITELY GETS DOWN TO THE BOTTOM LINE.
UM, AND ALSO LOOKING AT THE, UH, DIFFERENT MODELS, WHETHER IT BE WITHIN THOSE, OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE TO BE IN TEXAS, WE'RE IN TEXAS.
WE HAVE CERTAIN, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE DIFFERENT REGULATIONS THAN OTHER STATES, BUT THERE'S MODELS AND BEST PRACTICES.
AND, UM, AND IN OUR STATE, AS WELL AS NATIONALLY, UM, THAT WE CAN LOOK AT TO, UH, TO RECOMMEND.
AND, UM, AND WE'VE HAD, YOU KNOW, STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT THROUGH, YOU KNOW, THROUGH THE YEARS, UM, BECA FOR EXAMPLE, UH, BUT WE BROUGHT A LOT OF NEW, UM, ORGANIZATIONS AND STAKEHOLDERS INTO THIS PROCESS BECAUSE WE WANT IT TO BE MUCH BROADER CROSS SECTOR.
UM, AND SO THAT IS, UM, SO AGAIN, THAT'S A REALLY BIG PART.
AND AGAIN, UH, WE'VE SPENT PROBABLY LIKE THE PAST SIX, YEAH.
ABOUT SIX MONTHS, UM, SETTING UP MEETINGS AND THEN IT'S LIKE, YOU JUST, IT JUST, IT JUST REALLY IMPORTANT TO BE, UM, VERY INCLUSIVE, UM, BEYOND WHAT WE HAVE ATTEMPTED BEFORE.
AND I THINK THE NEXT SLIDE IS THAT THAT'S, UH, SO THOSE ARE, UM, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE, UM, WE'RE GONNA TAKE A BRIEF PAUSE, UM, BEFORE THEN JOHN IS GOING TO GO INTO HIS SECTION, AND THEN IF
[01:45:01]
THERE'S OTHER QUESTIONS, WE HAVE GOT SOME NATURAL PAUSES HERE, BUT JUST FEEL FREE TO ASK AS WE GO.IT WAS A NATURAL PAUSE BECAUSE WE'RE GOING INTO THE HORIZON.
UM, WELL, UH, ANY QUESTIONS THAT, THAT JUMP OUT NOW? I KNOW THERE WAS SOME QUESTIONS SUBMITTED, UM, BASED UPON OUR WORKING GROUP DISCUSSIONS.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE WANTS TO RESTATE A QUESTION THAT'S ALREADY BEEN ASKED, UH, OR ADDRESSED IN THAT SETTING.
UH, BUT I'D LIKE TO GIVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ANYONE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME, COMMISSIONER APODACA.
UM, OH, I HAD SUBMITTED SOME QUESTIONS, UH, AFTER THE WORKING GROUP MEETING WAS WONDERING IF YOU ALL WERE PREPARED TO ADDRESS THOSE YES.
WE ACTUALLY DISTRIBUTED RESPONSES IN DETAIL, UH, VIA EMAIL AT FIVE 30 THIS EVENING.
UM, BUT I, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ACTUALLY RECEIVED THE DOCUMENT THAT WAS SENT OUT.
THANKS FOR CLARIFYING THAT, JOHN, UM, MR. APODACA, I WASN'T CERTAIN IF EVERYONE HAD GOTTEN THAT OR NOT, BUT, UH, WHEN I REFERRED TO THE QUESTIONS AND THAT, THAT THERE WERE SOME ANSWERS PROVIDED THERE.
SO JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY IF YOU WANT IT TO RESTATE ANY OF THOSE QUESTIONS ON THE RECORD AND TO DISCUSS THE ANSWERS ON THE RECORD.
WE CAN DO THAT AS WELL, NECESSARY COMMISSIONER DACA, JUST IN CASE OR NOT, UH, THAT EMAIL DIDN'T MAKE ITS WAY TO.
I FORWARDED THE QUESTIONS AND THE RESPONSES TO YOU.
UH, THIS WENT OUT TO A DL THAT WE HAVE SET UP OR THE COMMISSION.
UM, BUT GENERALLY, UM, WE HAVE PROVIDED DETAILED RESPONSES TO YOUR QUESTIONS IN THE ENTIRE PORT COMMISSION.
SO THIS IS ACTUALLY A GOOD OPPORTUNITY.
IF ANY COMMISSIONER HAS NOT RECEIVED THE DETAILED Q AND A, UH, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
AND I'LL FORWARD THAT TO HERE NOW.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SENDING IT.
UM, I JUST HAD ONE FOLLOW-UP FROM THE ANSWERS THAT Y'ALL HAD SENT OVER.
THEY'RE REALLY HELPED CLARIFY THE RESEARCH PORTION I WAS, UM, ASKING ABOUT, DO WE, UM, YOU MENTIONED THREE DIFFERENT DATA SETS THAT YOU'RE KIND OF WORKING TOWARDS.
DO YOU HAVE TIMELINES ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF THOSE, UM, RESEARCH POINTS ON WHEN YOU THINK YOU'LL BE ABLE TO INCORPORATE THAT INTO THE OVERALL PLAN FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE OF A CALENDAR QUARTER? YES.
UM, SO FROM THE LENS OF THE THREE CONCURRENT DATA SETS, UM, CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH IS OUR PARTNER TO LEVERAGE THE, UH, SOURCE DATA FROM THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY THAT WAS DONE IN 2019.
THAT'S THE MOST RECENT SURVEY CAUSE THEY TAKE A YEAR OFF DURING THE CENSUS, UM, THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED AND READY THIS SUMMER.
SO SUMMER QUARTER 2021, UH, THE QUALITATIVE LIVED EXPERIENCE WILL BE PUBLISHED IN FALL, UM, TWO WINTER OF 2021.
SO KIND OF BRIDGING, UM, THE, THE TWO QUARTERS THERE AND THEN THE QUANTITATIVE DATA WOULD BE FUNDED IN THE CITY'S FYI 22 BUDGET, WHICH WILL START OCTOBER 1ST.
AND SO LIKELY WE WILL START TO SEE THAT DATA, UH, KIND OF INCREMENTALLY COME OUT OR COMMUNITY BENEFIT LIKELY AS EARLY AS SPRING TO SUMMER OF NEXT YEAR IS WHAT WOULD BE A REASONABLE PROJECTION FOR CALENDAR QUARTER ASSOCIATED WITH THAT DATA.
SO HOPEFULLY THAT'S RESPONSIVE TO YOUR QUESTION.
UH, ONE LAST QUESTION ABOUT, UH, THE QUESTIONS IN GENERAL AND IN THE INTEREST OF OUR TIME TABLE, UH, HAVE THE ANSWER HAS BEEN INTEGRATED INTO, TO THE PRESENTATION, UH, AS THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MIGHT HAVE SIMILAR QUESTIONS, OR SHOULD WE LOOK PURELY TO THAT QUESTION AND ANSWER FORMAT FOR THE ANSWERS? I WOULD SAY THAT STAFF SKULL WITH THE PRESENTATION WAS REALLY TO PROVIDE A BROAD UPDATE AND OVERVIEW TO THE PROJECTS TO INFORM THE COMMISSION, UM, BUT ALSO TO YIELD INSIGHTS AND QUESTIONS.
THE DETAILED Q AND A HERE IS A REALLY GREAT OPPORTUNITY, I THINK FOR, FOR STAFF TO ALSO PUBLISH THIS INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITES AND PUSH IT OUT THROUGH OUR VARIOUS CHANNELS.
[01:50:01]
I THINK THAT WE CAN WORK THIS, UM, DOCUMENT INTO SOMETHING THAT'S PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.I WASN'T NECESSARILY ASKING FOR THAT.
I JUST WANTED TO CONFIRM THAT IF WE WERE GETTING AHEAD BY ADDRESSING QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT ANSWER HAVE ALREADY ANSWERED IN THE UPDATED PRESENTATION THAT WERE REFERENCED IN WHAT YOU PROVIDED.
AND AGAIN, WE'RE, WE'RE HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MAY HAVE, SO PLEASE ASK AWAY, BUT, UM, I GUESS WITH THAT, MAYBE I'LL SEGUE INTO, OKAY.
SO YOU SAID THAT THE QUANTITATIVE DATA WOULD BE AVAILABLE SOMETIME IN SECOND QUARTER OF 22, UH, BY QUANTITATIVE DATA.
ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE MAPPING OF UNDERSERVED AREAS FROM THE YES.
UM, AND LET ME KIND OF SAY THAT YES, WITH A CAVEAT THAT THAT MAPPING OF UNDERSERVED AREAS WOULD BE A DIRECT RESULT OF THE SURVEY THAT WOULD OCCUR THROUGH THE QUANTITATIVE STUDY THAT WOULD COMMENCE IN OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR.
SOME OF THAT MAPPING WOULD, UM, UH, FOR, WITH THE 2019 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY DATA, THIS IS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH, HOWEVER COVID HAS HAPPENED, AND THINGS HAVE CHANGED IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT WE NEED MORE RELEVANT MAPPING AND DATA SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHERE THOSE CORE NEEDS ARE.
SO, UM, THIS IS, UH, OUR EFFORT HERE WITH, UH, AGGREGATING SOME OF THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY DATA FROM 2019 IS TO AT LEAST GET A BASELINE UNDERSTANDING OF SOMETHING THAT'S MORE TIMELY THAN IT, THE DATA THAT WAS GENERATED IN 2018 TO HELP US REALLY UNDERSTAND THAT POTENTIAL SNAPSHOT OF AREAS THAT WE REALLY NEED TO FOCUS ON ROLLY, ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES ON CONNECTING AND WORKING WITH COMMUNITY TO ADVANCE THESE SCALE OF SUCCESS WITH THE SURVEY, SO THAT WE'LL, WE'RE APPROACHING OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
WE CAN ALSO REALLY INCORPORATE THOSE NODES AND DISCONNECTED ISOLATED COMMUNITIES THAT WOULDN'T OTHERWISE RESPOND TO THAT, THAT SURVEY.
UM, SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THERE WOULD BE UPDATED MAPPING, UM, FROM THE QUANTITATIVE STUDY THAT WOULD OCCUR NEXT YEAR.
SO, UM, COULD THIS SPEED OF AMERICA ONLINE SURVEY SERVE IN THAT PURPOSE? YEAH.
LIKE WE'RE REINVENTING THE WHEEL OTHERWISE.
UM, AND I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO HAVE HOTEN, UH, SPEAK TO THAT.
WE, WE WORKED IN DEPTH ON THE SPEED TEST AND THAT THE BROADBAND MAPPING AND THE MAPPING OVERALL.
UM, SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT I OPEN UP THE FLOOR TO MY, MY SKILLFUL TEAMMATE HERE ON THE MAPPING PORTION.
I'M THE 2021 LEADERSHIP AUSTIN DIGITAL INCLUSION FELLOW WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, IN TERROR, UH, IN THEIR, UH, DIGITAL INCLUSION PORTFOLIO.
SO, UM, COMMISSIONER UTES, I KNOW THIS IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION THAT YOU HAVE RAISED, AND I WANT TO BE SURE THAT I ANSWER IT VERY THOUGHTFULLY BECAUSE WE'RE STILL EXPLORING IT.
WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS THAT THE CONCEPT OF THE SPEED TEST AND HOW WE MIGHT OPERATIONALIZE IT AND IMPLEMENT IT, IT'S STILL EMERGING.
WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS IT'S NOT QUITE READY FOR A PROJECT PLAN AND KICKOFF.
UH, IT, WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO IS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
THAT'S WHY WE'RE HAVING SO MANY MEETINGS TO UNDERSTAND THEIR INTEREST AND INVOLVEMENT IN A SPEED TEST.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE'RE LOOKING AT NOT ONLY DATA, BUT TRIANGULATING THE DATA WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE.
SO COULD WE UTILIZE THE DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK, OCTOBER 4TH, THROUGH THE EIGHTH IN 2021, TO ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY AND EMPOWER THE COMMUNITY TO DO THEIR OWN TESTING, HAVING SOME PLATFORM THAT THEN THEY WOULD REPORT THE DATA TO, TO CREATE AN INTERACTIVE MAP FOR AUSTIN.
WE'RE ALSO TRYING TO EXPAND THE SCOPE OF THE SPEED TEST WITHIN THE REGION THROUGH COLLABORATION, ESPECIALLY WITH TRAVIS COUNTY, SINCE AUSTIN IS WITHIN TRAVIS COUNTY, AND THERE'S SO MUCH OVERLAP.
SO THAT'S AN INITIAL PERSPECTIVE, BUT WE WILL CERTAINLY KEEP YOU APPRAISED OF IT.
AND WE WOULD LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK ON THIS.
AS WE MOVE FORWARD IN THINKING THROUGH SPEED TESTS, THERE ARE A COUPLE MODELS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT WE'RE NOT QUITE READY TO DISCUSS FULLY BECAUSE ONE REQUIRES MORE DEVELOPMENT, MORE APP DEVELOPMENT, AND IT COULD BE MORE OF A COMMUNITY
[01:55:01]
SOLUTION.THE OTHER ONE IS ONE THAT IS UTILIZED BY OUR BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND ISP, AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL THE DATA THAT IS GATHERED CAN BE SHARED WITH THE COMMUNITY.
SO WE WILL CERTAINLY KEEP YOU APPRISED.
IF I MAY, UH, JUST TO ADD, UH, WE WELCOME YOU OF COURSE, BATON TO JOIN US AT THE WORK GROUP LEVEL FOR MORE CANDID DISCUSSIONS, UH, WHERE WE COULD GET INTO SOME OF THOSE DETAILS.
WE'LL BE SEEING MORE OF HER SOON, UM, THE OUT THE WORKING GROUP STATUS.
UM, THE NEXT SLIDE IS REALLY A THREE HORIZON VIEW OF WE'VE GOTTEN A, A LITTLE TOO FAR THERE, BUT THE SLIDES.
SO LET ME, UH, THE THREE HORIZON VIEWS.
SO FROM OUR LENS OF HOW DO WE APPROACH THIS PROJECT ON OUR LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS AND HOW DO WE BRIDGE THOSE GAPS AND HOW DO WE ADDRESS IMMEDIATE NEEDS AND HOW DO WE RUN CONCURRENT PROCESSES THAT HELP US TO LEARN OF EVALUATE AND IMPROVE OUR ABILITIES THROUGH AND THROUGH, TOWARDS THOSE LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS.
AND THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE CREATED AS THE THREE HORIZON VIEW OF THOSE CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS.
SO RIGHT NOW, IN SERVICE OF ADDRESSING THOSE IMMEDIATE NEEDS, WE ARE ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF TECHNOLOGY ACCESS CITY-WIDE IN 2021, WE ARE DEVELOPING THAT PLAN AND THIS BRIEFING SPEAKS TO THAT PLAN FOR THOSE CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS FACING THE LEAST DIGITALLY INCLUDED AND WHAT RESOURCES AND PROGRAMS MIGHT HELP IN SERVICE OF THE BRIDGING THE GAPS.
WE ARE DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK TO IDENTIFY AND LEVERAGE THE ASSETS AND RESOURCES OF AUSTIN'S PUBLIC AGENCIES AND PRIVATE SECTOR COLLABORATORS THROUGH THIS ENGAGEMENT OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
SO THAT WE HAVE THAT UNDERSTANDING ON HOW WE MIGHT EXPAND INTERNET CAPABILITIES AND CONNECTIVITY OF THOUGHTS THAT COMMUNITY, AND THIS WILL LEAD TO A FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR US TO CONSIDER THAT STRUCTURE AND MODEL FOR INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN THE FUTURE AND IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THAT LONG-TERM HORIZON IS REALLY, UH, AN ASPIRATION IN WHICH WE'RE BUILDING AN EQUITABLE AND LONG-TERM APPROACH TO SOLVING THE CONNECTIVITY PIECE AND ADDRESSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO THROUGH THIS ENGAGEMENTS OF OUR IMMEDIATE NEEDS AND THREE, THE BRIDGING OF THE GAPS, WE'RE ABLE TO REALLY CREATE SOME LONGTERM VIABLE SOLUTIONS HERE.
AND THIS WILL SHIFT TO A, THE NEXT SLIDE, WHICH HAS TWO SLIDES FROM NOW TO OUR SLIDE KEEPER, UH, ABOUT THE WORK THAT WE HAVE DONE AND WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED THUS FAR.
SO I JUST SPOKE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE'RE AGGREGATING SOME OF THE DATA FROM THE 2019 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY, RIGHT BEFORE THAT IN 2018, WE CONDUCTED A STUDY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN THAT HAD A RELATIVELY LOW RESPONSE RATE.
SO FOR 11,000 RANDOM ADDRESSES THAT, UM, RECEIVED THE SURVEY, UM, THERE WERE 997 RESPONSES TO THAT STUDY.
UH, SO THAT'S A 9% RESPONSE RATE FROM THE LENS OF ACADEMICS THAT PROVIDED A STATISTICALLY VALID RESPONSE RATE FOR THEM TO WORK WITH THAT DATA.
AND IT WAS ENOUGH TO GENERATE SOME ASSUMPTIONS.
UM, SO THIS, UH, STUDY AND THIS SURVEY REALLY INDICATED THAT, UH, WHEN, UM, THE, THE, THE STUDY INDICATED THAT WE HAVE 95% OF RESIDENTS THAT HAVE A HOME BROADBAND INTERNET CONNECTION.
SO WHAT THIS SHOWED US WAS THAT NUMBER TRENDED UP FROM 2014, IN WHICH THAT RESPONSE INDICATED 92% OF RESIDENTS OUT A HOME INTERNET CONNECTION.
SO WE IMPROVED FROM 2014 TO 2018, UH, FROM AN OVERALL LENS.
THIS DOES TELL US WHAT WE ASSUME TO BE TRUE THAT AUSTIN HAS MUCH HIGHER ACTIVITY THAN COMPARABLE NATIONAL STATISTICS, WHICH STAND AT 65%, ACCORDING TO THE PEW RESEARCH CENTER.
THOSE, UM, THOSE INSIGHTS REALLY HELPED US TO UNDERSTAND THAT ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF THE RESPONDENTS WITHOUT HOME BROADBAND USE THE INTERNET IN SOME WAY.
SO IT'S ON A SMARTPHONE OR AT A PUBLIC LOCATION.
SO THEY'RE GOING AND ACCESSING THE INTERNET ELSEWHERE IN TERMS OF DEVICES.
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM 2018 IS THAT THERE IS A REALLY
[02:00:01]
HIGH USE OF CELL PHONES.99% OF RESIDENTS HAVE ONE, UH, 97% OF RESIDENTS RESPONDING TO THIS SURVEY, HAVE A SMARTPHONE, 76%, A LAPTOP, 69%, A TABLET AND 48% A DESKTOP.
SO THIS DATA WE KNOW IS INCLUDING AN ASTERISK THAT THIS IS PRE COVID.
THIS DOES NOT REALLY HELP US TO UNDERSTAND WHERE WE'RE CURRENTLY OUT, BUT IT WAS THE SNAPSHOT THAT WE HAD AVAILABLE AT THE TIME.
AND THIS WILL HELP US TO COMPARE THAT DATA TO WHAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO BENEFIT FROM HERE THROUGH THE STUDY THAT WE'RE, UM, AGGREGATING THE DATA FROM THE 2019 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY AND WITH OUR FUTURE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA THAT'S COMING OUT FROM THE QUANTITATIVE STUDY.
SO WITH THAT NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM AND WHERE DOES IT EXIST? SO THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE WORK THAT HAS GONE ON TO EXPAND OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHALLENGES.
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THESE DISPARITIES, UM, IN DIGITAL ACCESS, WE'RE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT THE COMMUNITIES THAT TEND TO FACE THE HIGHEST BARRIERS, UM, IN OTHER REGARDS AS WELL, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, LOW INCOME INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES, OLDER ADULTS, LIMITED ENGLISH, PROFICIENCY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
SO THIS REALLY HELPS US TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THIS IS A SYSTEMIC EQUITY CHALLENGE, NOT JUST A DIGITAL ACCESS CHALLENGE.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THIS, UM, IS A PROBLEM WHERE DEVICE GAPS EXIST FOR EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, HEALTH USE.
WE STILL KNOW THAT TELE-HEALTH HAS A LOT OF CHALLENGES, UH, BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE THROUGH COVID.
WE KNOW THAT EDUCATION WELL, WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT STORY WENT.
UM, AND EMPLOYMENT, IT'S REALLY HARD TO SHIFT FROM A HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY JOB TO A, UM, IT, UH, SUPPORT SPECIALIST JOB WITHOUT THE SKILLS MEANS AND SUPPORT TO GET THERE.
SO THAT PIVOT IN YOUR EMPLOYMENT AND YOUR BACKGROUND IS REALLY CHALLENGING AFFORDABILITY AND SKILLS GAPS ARE THE PRIMARY BARRIERS FOR PEOPLE WHO DO NOT USE THE INTERNET.
SO THIS IS REALLY WHAT WE SPOKE TO JUST IN THE PRIOR BRIEFING ABOUT CREATING THOSE SKILLS AND THOSE OPPORTUNITIES IN SECTORS TO REALLY HELP ADDRESS THE PIVOT IN OUR ECONOMY THAT HAS RESONATED, UM, AND BEEN DEVELOPED OUT OF THE, THE COVID PANDEMIC.
SO WITH THIS, I'M GOING TO SHIFT IT TO MY TEAM AT PROTON TO SPEAK TO ST.
PAUL'S OF THE EARLY CHILD, UH, CARE.
SO WE ARE LOOKING AT, UH, THE SOLUTIONS THAT WE'RE SEEKING ARE ALIGNED WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN COUNCIL PRIORITIES FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE.
AND SO ONE OF THEM, IF WE COULD PLEASE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE IS AROUND EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION THAT IS HIGH QUALITY AND AFFORDABLE.
AND THAT SEEMS TO BE TIED TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, SUPPORTING PARENTS AND FAMILIES TO HAVE CHILDCARE SUPPORT SO THEY CAN RETURN TO WORK.
UM, SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS THE CHILDCARE EXAMPLE.
THERE ARE 2000 DAYS BETWEEN BIRTH AND KINDERGARTEN.
THOSE ARE VERY, VERY SPECIAL TIMES TO BUILD QUALITY FOUNDATION FOR OUR YOUNGEST LEARNERS IN THE COMMUNITY AND SUPPORT FAMILIES AND STRENGTHEN COMMUNITIES BY ALLOWING PARENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WORKFORCE.
THIS WILL, OF COURSE, ENSURE CONTINUED ECONOMIC GROWTH AND RESILIENCE FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
CURRENTLY, THERE ARE ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT 34,000 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF SIX THAT LIVE IN POVERTY IN THE AUSTIN AREA.
HOWEVER, CURRENTLY THERE ONLY 3000 CHILDCARE SPOTS AVAILABLE FOR THESE CHILDREN IN REGULATED CHILDCARE PROGRAM CENTERS, FAMILY CARE ACROSS THE REGION, WHICH THESE INCLUDE OF COURSE, REGISTERED HOMES, LICENSED HOMES, AND LICENSED CENTERS.
THERE ARE 429 LICENSED CHILDCARE PROVIDERS AND 134 REGISTERED FAMILY CARE HOME PRACTITIONERS, UH, WITH ONLY 31 OF THEM ACCEPTING SUBSIDIES.
SO YOU CAN ALREADY SEE THE, WITH THE MATH HERE, 80% OF CHILDCARE CENTERS HAVE 20 EMPLOYEES OR FEWER.
SO DURING COVID 5% OF THESE VERY PRECIOUS LICENSED CENTERS PERMANENTLY CLOSED, AND 10% OF LICENSED REGISTERED HOMES PERMANENTLY CLOSED.
SO THE NUMBER THE SUPPLY SIDE, UH, DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY FOR FAMILIES,
[02:05:01]
UM, AND OUR COMMUNITY.SO THE STRATEGIES THAT WE'RE TRYING TO PROMOTE AND ACTUALLY EXPLORE RIGHT NOW, OUR SHARED SERVICES MODEL, A SORT OF A BACK OFFICE FOR ALL DAYCARE BUSINESSES, REGARDLESS OF THEIR SIZE OR ZIP CODE BACK OFFICE, AS YOU KNOW, HANDLES MARKETING, HR, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, AND IT SUPPORT THAT'S WHERE THE DIGITAL INCLUSION PIECE COMES IN.
ALSO CHILDCARE AS A GATEWAY FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, BECAUSE WE'RE LOOKING AT RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE.
SO CHILDCARE CENTERS AND HOME-BASED DAYCARE PROGRAMS NEED COACHING AND MENTORSHIP TO BECOME HIGHLY FUNCTIONING, SMALL BUSINESSES TO START AND RESTART JOBS, CREATE JOBS, AND OF COURSE, DEVELOP IN THEIR QUALITY TO BECOME LICENSED, REGISTERED HIGH QUALITY CARE BUSINESSES, TO ATTRACT PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS TO ACCESS THEIR SERVICES.
IF WE COULD GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO WHAT IS THE REALITY OF DIGITAL INCLUSION IN AUSTIN POST COVID? THAT'S THE QUESTION WE'RE SEEKING, AND WE ARE LEARNING THIS THROUGH A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH.
JOHN SPOKE TO THE THREE CONCURRENT DATA SETS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO WORK WITH.
WE ALSO REALIZED THAT OUR COMMUNITY IS DATA FATIGUE.
EVERYBODY IS ASKING EVERYONE WHAT HAPPENED DURING COVID, WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT DIDN'T WORK.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE OPTIMIZING DATA SHARING AND MINIMIZING ADDITIONAL SURVEYS.
WE HAVE REACHED OUT ON OUR PARTNERING WITH OUR FRIENDS AND MISSION CAPITAL CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH, OUR DECO PARTNERS, SOCIAL ISOLATION, TASK FORCE, AND CITY OF AUSTIN DEPARTMENTS, SUCH AS THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OR SOME PUBLIC HEALTH AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AMONG OTHERS.
AND OF COURSE, OUR JOHN TALKED ABOUT A NEW APPROACH TO THE BI-ANNUAL, UM, RESIDENTIAL TECHNOLOGY SURVEY.
OF COURSE IT WAS DISRUPTED IN 2020 IS HOW TO GO FORWARD SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE WE GET THE OPTIMUM RESPONSE.
THAT WAS ONE OF THE CHALLENGES IS HOW TO REACH BACK OUT.
AND WE THINK THAT WE HAVE A VERY STRONG NETWORK, UH, THROUGH ALL THE PARTNERS AND OUR CROSS SECTOR PARTNERS, TO BE ABLE TO DO AN OUTREACH.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WE KNOW THAT YOU ARE ALSO EXPLORING, AND IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMMISSION.
UM, HOW DO, HOW DO BROADBAND AVAILABILITY QUALITY, SPEED, AND COST VARY ACROSS AUSTIN? DO WE GET, DO ALL GET A DOLLAR'S WORTH OF INTERNET FOR EVERY DOLLAR THAT THEY SPENT? HOW ARE EXISTING SERVICES WORKING OR NOT WORKING FOR RESIDENTS? WHAT COMMUNITY NEEDS ARE NOT ADDRESSED BY EXISTING SERVICES? WHAT TYPES OF CHALLENGES RESIDENTS HAVE EXPERIENCED FROM COVID? WAS IT THEN WITH LIMITATIONS WAS A LACK OF ACCESS TO DEVICES.
WAS IT NOT HAVING TRAINING AND, OR IT SUPPORT THE SO-CALLED LIFELINE WAS MISSING? WHAT CHANGES HAVE RESIDENTS MADE TO COPE WITH COVID-19 PEOPLE HAVE BECOME QUITE RESILIENT AND THEY'RE QUITE RESOURCEFUL.
AND PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS IS, ARE THESE CHALLENGES SHORT-TERM OR LONG-TERM WILL THEY BE RESOLVED WHEN COVID IS OVER OR NOT? I'M GOING TO PAUSE THERE FOR A MOMENT AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CAPTURING THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL ARE ALSO THINKING ABOUT.
IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE US TO ADD, AS WE MOVE FORWARD, I'D LIKE TO ASK THE QUESTION.
UM, AND I THINK IT GOES RIGHT OFF WITH THIS SLIDE.
UM, JUST TO, FOR CONTEXT, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAD SUBMITTED TO YOU ALL, UH, PREVIOUSLY WAS, UM, UH, JUST ABOUT QUANTITATIVE DATA AND WHETHER YOU ALL ARE, UM, PARTNERING WITH THE ISP AS ONE PIECE OF THAT, TO GET THAT.
AND IT SOUNDS, AND IN YOUR RESPONSE, YOU INDICATED THAT YOU ARE MEETING WITH THE ISP IS TO ENSURE THAT THEY'RE PART OF THE SOLUTION.
JUST CURIOUS, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT OTHER, UH, WHAT OTHER SORTS OF QUESTIONS ARE YOU ALL ASKING? UH, THE ISP IS AT THIS MOMENT AND HOW ELSE DO YOU ALL PLAN TO PARTNER WITH THEM AND PERHAPS THE MEDIUM AND LONG-TERM? WELL, IT'S A WONDERFUL QUESTION.
I DO WANT TO ADDRESS THAT COMMISSIONER
SO THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT IS HOW TO ENSURE THAT THE DATA WE'RE RECEIVING IS RELIABLE AND VERIFIABLE.
SO, UM, WE ARE WORKING WITH, WE HAVE BEEN MEETING WITH THE ISB, UH, I THINK RHONDELLA CAN SPEAK TO THIS A BIT MORE.
UM, AND WE KNOW THAT THEY'RE DEFINITELY PART OF THE SOLUTION.
WE HAD, UH, ONE OF THE ISP TODAY IN A MEETING THAT WE WERE IN, WHO WAS TALKING ABOUT EMERGENCY
[02:10:01]
BROADBAND SERVICES AND HOW THEY'RE TAKING AN ACTIVE ROLE IN THAT.AND THEY ARE TRYING TO ASSIST THE COMMUNITY TO ENSURE THAT THEY DO HAVE THE SUBSIDIES AND DEVICES NEEDED FOR CONNECTIVITY, EVEN IN THE SHORT-TERM I RUN.
DELLA, CAN I ASK YOU TO STEP IN ABOUT THE ISD ISP? EXCUSE ME.
SO, UH, SO THE, THE AVAILABILITY OF LIKE THE INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES, BROADBAND MAPPING AND, YOU KNOW, THE QUALITY SPEED, UM, IT IS, IT'S NOT READILY AVAILABLE, UM, TO US ONTO, YOU KNOW, TO US.
AND, AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION DOES RECEIVE REPORTS FROM, UH, SELF SELF-REPORTED, UH, INFORMATION TO, BY THE, THE INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS TO, TO THE AGENCY.
HOWEVER, IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT THE MOST ACCURATE.
AND THE FCC IS, UM, WORKING ON, YOU KNOW, IMPROVING THE RELIABILITY, THE VERIFIABILITY AND THE ACCURACY OF THAT REQUIRE DATA, UH, FROM PROVIDERS.
SO THERE IS A NATIONAL, YOU KNOW, EFFORT BY THE FCC.
I MEAN, THERE'S ALSO NOW WITH OUR STATE BROADBAND OFFICE, UM, THEY ARE GOING TO, WHICH HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED.
I DON'T THINK IT WAS, YOU KNOW, I THINK OCTOBER, SEPTEMBER 1ST WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE LEGISLATION, BUT, UM, OR MAYBE IT'S IMMEDIATE, BUT RE UH, HOWEVER, UM, THEY'RE ALSO LOOKING AT THE BROADBAND MAP, MAPPING DATA, UH, THE QUALITY, UH, AND THEY'RE REALLY LOOKING TO THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, BUT THAT MAY NOT BE THE, YOU KNOW, W WE AREN'T SURE WHAT THAT'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
SO WE, THAT'S WHY WE'RE TRYING TO TAKE A LOCAL, THIS LOCAL, UM, LENS.
AND WHENEVER WE COULD DATA, WE CAN SCRUB BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S NOT READILY AVAILABLE, UM, FROM THE PROVIDERS.
AND THAT'S WHY, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT THE SPEED OF AMERICA AND YOU'VE GOT OTHER WAYS THAT WE CREATIVE WAYS OF TRYING TO GET TO THE DATA AND THE QUALITATIVE AND A QUANTITATIVE STUDY THAT WE'LL BE DOING.
UM, YEAH, THAT CERTAINLY SPEAKS TO, UM, THE DATA THAT HOPEFULLY THEY CAN PROVIDE.
AND, YOU KNOW, THE SECOND PART OF MY QUESTION, JUST CURIOUS, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE BEING ASKED OF THEM AT THIS POINT, UM, IN THE SHORT TERM, OR DO YOU ALL HAVE PLANS TO PARTNER WITH THEM AS THE, AS THIS PROJECT PROGRESSES? UH, ONE OF THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE HAVE HAD WITH ALL THE SERVICE PROVIDERS IS IN THE EMERGING POSSIBLE PILOT PROJECTS ALIGNS WITH THE, UM, WITH THE, UH, THE CRITICAL NEEDS THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN COUNCIL HAS, UH, LET US KNOW AROUND HOMELESSNESS CHILDCARE, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, AND FOOD AND HOUSING ACCESS.
SO AROUND THE, UH, SO WE'RE, WE'RE STILL EXPLORING.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN ANSWER THAT FOR YOU, BUT THERE DEFINITELY.
AND IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I WOULD LIKE TO, MAYBE THIS WILL HELP ANSWER IT.
UH, WE ARE EXPLORING CROSS SECTOR SOLUTIONS.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, THE BUSINESS SIDE IS CRITICAL TO SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS AND THEY ARE LISTED THERE.
SO THE ISP AND BUSINESS CHAMBERS AND MEMBERS OF HIGH-TECH MANUFACTURING, FOR EXAMPLE, THE CHAMBERS OF HELP GET THE WORD OUT ALONG WITH THE PROVIDERS ON EBB.
SO THEY WERE VERY HELPFUL WITH THAT, BUT THEN WORKING SPECIALLY THE ISB, WE WANT TO KNOW HOW TO PARTNER WITH, UM, AROUND PILOTS.
AND SO FAR, THEY ALL SAY THEY'RE INTERESTED IN EXPLORING THAT FURTHER WITH US.
SO THERE IS A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH AND, UH, WE WANT TO CO-DESIGN SOLUTIONS.
WE KNOW THAT ADOPTION IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PROVIDERS AND WE'RE TRYING TO ENSURE THAT THE COMMUNITY CAN, UH, THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE ARE ABLE TO BECOME CUSTOMERS FOR OUR PROVIDERS IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY, BUT THAT MAY BE A LONGER, UM, COLLABORATION AROUND THAT.
AND WE CAN DISCUSS THAT AS WE DEVELOP IT FURTHER, BUT HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AS WE DEVELOP IT.
AND WE INVITE YOU TO BE PART OF THOSE DISCUSSIONS.
SO HERE, IN TERMS OF EXPLORING SUSTAINABLE CROSS-SECTOR SOLUTIONS, AS YOU CAN SEE, IT IS A LONE STAR WE'RE TEXANS.
WE HAD ACTUALLY STARTED WITH THREE GROUPS.
WE THOUGHT THIS WAS ACTUALLY ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE GOVERNMENT AND THEN SOCIAL SECTOR AND BUSINESS, AND THROUGH OUR LEARNING AND CONSULTATION WITH OTHER MODELS AROUND THE COUNTRY, ESPECIALLY DETROIT, HARLEM, NEW YORK AND OTHER PLACES, SAN ANTONIO.
AND WHAT WE'RE REALIZING IS THAT THE COMMUNITY ELEMENT HAS TO LEAD THE PROJECT.
WE ARE TRYING TO LEARN AROUND WHAT THAT MEANS TO BECOME TRUE STEWARDS
[02:15:01]
OF COMMUNITY CARE WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, DIGITAL INCLUSION, CLEARLY BUSINESS, AS WE JUST DISCUSSED AS PART OF A CRITICAL SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION IN TERMS OF BUSINESS PLANNING, BUSINESS THINKING PRODUCTS, AS WELL AS PROCESSES, THE SOCIAL SECTOR, THEY ARE SERVICE DELIVERY EXPERTS.THEY WORK WITH OUR FRIENDS IN THE COMMUNITY AND THEY KNOW WHAT THE NEEDS ARE AND HOW TO ADDRESS THEM.
WE DEFINITELY NEED THE GOVERNMENT AS RESOURCE AND STEWARDSHIP.
AND THEN ALSO WE REALIZED VERY QUICKLY THAT WE NEEDED TO BE DATA-DRIVEN IN THE PROCESS.
SO HOW TO BE PROCESSED ON PRODUCT AGNOSTIC AND HOW TO FOCUS ON REAL IMPACT AS WELL AS RETURN ON INVESTMENT.
AND OF COURSE WE HAVE YOU GUYS POSITIONED.
WE DON'T KNOW IF YOU AGREE, BUT WE THINK THAT COMMUNITIES IN TECH AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION BRIDGES THE GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY, AND WE TURN TO YOU FOR GUIDANCE AND FEEDBACK FOR THE COMMUNITY AS STEWARDS OF THE RESOURCES AND SERVICES TO THAT COMMUNITY.
SO ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR MODEL? ARE WE MISSING ANYONE? DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS? I'D LIKE TO JUMP IN, UH, BRIEFLY, UH, TO CIRCLE BACK ON COMMISSIONER DOCKER'S LAST QUESTION, AND THEN TO CHIME IN ON THIS ONE AS WELL, UH, TO SPEAK TO SOME OF THE THINGS I KNOW THAT WE'VE ALREADY DISCUSSED, UH, THAT YOU WILL BE DOING AND THAT WE'VE ALREADY DONE, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO THE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT COMPONENT AND THE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING, UH, THAT WAS ONE OF THE EARLIER OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE ACTUALLY GAVE PROVIDERS TO, UH, BE INVOLVED IN THAT DISCUSSION.
AND WHAT WE'VE DONE IS REALLY CONSISTENTLY ENGAGED PROVIDERS AS A COMMISSION, UH, CREATIVELY TO BE INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY PROJECTS.
UH, THE, ONE OF THE MOST RECENT EXAMPLES OF COURSE, IS THE AFFORDABLE BROADBAND, UH, EXCUSE ME, THE EMERGENCY BROADBAND BENEFIT PROGRAM, WHERE ONCE WE FOUND OUT ABOUT THE ROLLOUT, WE IMMEDIATELY ENGAGED OUR PROVIDERS HERE LOCALLY TO GIVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO LET US KNOW, TO LET THE COMMUNITY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING, TO LEVERAGE THAT PROGRAM.
UH, THE STAKEHOLDERS SUMMIT THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO HOST IN THE FALL DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK.
THAT'S ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY WHERE WE'LL DIRECTLY ENGAGE PROVIDERS CREATIVELY.
AND IN THAT SETTING, THEN THE IDEA EXCHANGE AND POSSIBILITIES REALLY BECOME INFINITE, UM, AS WE START TO GET TOGETHER, BUT IT BEGINS WITH US, UH, BOTH, UH, THE FELLOW AT OUR COMMISSION, REACHING OUT TO THE PROVIDERS TO SHARE BRIEFINGS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY.
SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE IT'S CLEAR THAT WE'RE THERE, WE'RE DOING THOSE THINGS AS A COMMISSION NOW, AND WE'VE OUTLINED SOME WAYS TO WORK WITH THE FELLOW TO DO THEM IN THE FUTURE, EVEN THOUGH THEY WEREN'T NECESSARILY SPOKEN TO, UM, UH, DIRECTLY.
I, I KNOW THAT THEY'RE PART OF THE DISCUSSION BECAUSE WE HAD THOSE DISCUSSIONS IN THE WORKING GROUP SETTING, UM, WHERE, UH, WE CERTAINLY HAVE EXPRESSED SUPPORT FOR THIS MODEL AS A COMMISSION.
SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT'S CRYSTAL CLEAR THAT OUR COMMISSION DOES SUPPORT THIS, UH, AS WE'VE EXPRESSED IN THE WORKING GROUP SETTING.
AND AS WE MUST NOW STAY ON THE PUBLIC RECORD, UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO OF COURSE, GIVE ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS, A CHANCE TO SPEAK IN THIS MODEL AGAIN, ON THE PUBLIC RECORD, IF THEY'D LIKE TO ALTER THEIR THOUGHTS AS CONVEYED IN THE WORKING GROUP SESSIONS OR TO EXPAND ON THEM.
UH, WE'RE DEFINITELY HERE TO HELP.
I HAVE ONE COMMENT ABOUT THE, UH, UH, THIS DIAGRAM HERE AND THAT IS THAT INSTEAD OF RESEARCH, UH, POSSIBLY THAT WOULD BE, UM, ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION.
I CAN DEMIC INSTITUTIONS AND TECHNICAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT WOULD PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE ALL OF THE OTHERS POINTS ARE ACTUAL ORGANIZATIONS, UH, AND, UH, THE RESEARCH THAT IS SOMETHING THAT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE EPHEMERAL.
IF WE COULD PLEASE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO WHERE WE STARTED IS THAT WE BEGAN TO DO AN ASSESSMENT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES AROUND DIGITAL INCLUSION AND WHO WAS NOT CONNECTED IN THE Y.
AND WE, UM, AS I MENTIONED, WE DID STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION.
AT FIRST, WE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS THREE SECTORS, PRIVATE SECTOR, SOCIAL SECTOR, AND GOVERNMENT, BUT THEN WE SAW THIS BEAUTIFUL FLOWERING INTO THE LONESTAR, AND THEN ALSO THE DIGITAL INCLUSION SOLUTIONS.
UH, WE BELIEVED AT FIRST IT WAS ACCESS DEVICES AND SKILL TRAINING, BUT THROUGH OUR CONSULTATION, WE REALIZED, AND THROUGH SO MANY CONVERSATIONS WITH SO MANY FOLKS AROUND THE COUNTRY AND IN THE STATE AND LOCALLY, AND, UH, AROUND THE REGION THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE INFRASTRUCTURE
[02:20:01]
HAS TO BE THERE, BUT AFFORDABILITY IS NUMBER ONE AFTER INFRASTRUCTURE, WHICH HAS TO DO WITH DIGITAL SOLUTIONS AND THEN IT IS ACCESS AND THEN DEVICE THIS APPROPRIATE DEVICES FOR APPROPRIATE TASKS, SKILL TRAININGS, AND THEN AN IT SUPPORT ELEMENT THAT WASN'T IN THERE BEFORE.AND HOW IS THAT OFFERED THE MODELS? OF COURSE, WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT VARIOUS MODELS, MANY OF WHICH DO NOT FIT TEXAS BECAUSE OF THE CHALLENGES, WHAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO GLEAN SOME INSIGHTS FROM ANY MODEL AND EVERY MODEL.
AND I'VE BEEN VERY GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT AND FOLKS ACTUALLY GETTING ENGAGED WITH US TO HELP US LEARN AND GAIN INSIGHT, AND ALSO LEARN FROM THE AUSTIN, UH, EXPERIENCE AND MODEL AS WELL.
SO LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO ONE OF THE KEY LEARNINGS TO THE GUY THIS BECAME VERY CLEAR, THIS IS NOT A TECHNOLOGY PROBLEM THAT BECAME CLEAR VERY, VERY QUICKLY.
AND WHAT WE'RE REALIZING IS THAT THE SOLUTION WILL NOT BE SOLELY A TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION.
I WISH IT WERE, IT WOULD BE SUCH A QUICK FIX, BUT IT IS NOT.
THAT'S WHY THERE ARE THREE HORIZONS TO TRY TO GET THIS DONE.
THAT CROSS SECTOR COLLABORATION AND PLANNING IS ABSOLUTELY KEY TO SUSTAINABLE LONG-TERM SOLUTION.
SO EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE BUILDING TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE LONG-TERM SOLUTION.
EVEN THE SHORT TERM IS ALL OF THAT IS CONTINUOUSLY BUILDING TOWARDS CHANGE OF CULTURE, CHANGE OF POLICY, CHANGE OF PRACTICES, AND A BREAKTHROUGH OF SILOED EFFORTS, RESOURCES AND FOCUS.
UH, I THINK ONE OF THE GIFTS OF COVID, IF ONE COULD EVEN SAY THAT.
AND THEN OF COURSE, SNOWBIRD, AS IT WAS CALLED IN FEBRUARY, WAS THAT IT SHOWED THE POWER OF COLLABORATION, THE NEED FOR COLLABORATION, AND ALSO THE SILOED EFFORTS IS NOT SERVING THE WHOLE OF THE COMMUNITY, HOW TO SHARE RESOURCES, HOW TO ALIGN OUR FOCUS, EXISTING SOLUTIONS, FOCUS ON ALLEVIATING IMMEDIATE NEEDS OR CONTINUING PROGRAMS FOR SERVICES FOR DEEPENING NEEDS MADE APPARENT THROUGH COVID.
WE DID REALIZE THAT WE CAN BUILD TOWARDS THE SUSTAINABLE LONG-TERM UNLESS WE'RE ACTUALLY SOLVING AND ADDRESSING THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS.
AND THE MOMENTUM OF COURSE, WILL DEPEND ON COLLABORATION, PLANNING, AND EXECUTION IN VERY DISTINCT TIMELINES THAT WORK IN HARMONY.
SO, UM, LET'S SEE, WHAT IS NEXT HERE? SO I AM GOING TO PASS THIS ALONG TO MY COLLEAGUE, DELLA, I BELIEVE YOU ARE NEXT, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO AS WE, UM, AS WE ARE FRAMING THE PROJECT, WE ARE, YOU KNOW, UH, HOTEN HAS MENTIONED THE, UH, CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES FOR RELIEF AND RECOVERY, WHICH WERE OUTLINED IN THIS RESOLUTION, THE HOMELESSNESS EARLY CHILDCARE AND EDUCATION, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND FOOD AND HOUSING INSECURITY.
UH, THERE ARE OTHER STRATEGIC PRIORITIES THAT ARE ALIGNED IN THE CITY'S STRATEGIC DIRECTION, 2023, UM, THERE'S OTHER STRATEGIES AND POLICIES.
UM, AND TO SAY, SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS STAY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK, UM, OF THESE VARIOUS PRIORITIES AND STRATEGIES AND, UM, AND NEXT SIDE, PLEASE.
AND, UH, AS WELL, UM, THIS COMMISSION, UM, HELD THE, UH, SPECIAL CALLED MEETING AND IT WAS REALLY TO, UM, TO MEET WITH AND HEAR FROM, UH, STAKEHOLDERS FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, FROM THE COMMUNITY AS THEY, UM, YOU KNOW, THE CHALLENGES THAT THEY HAVE WITH DIGITAL EQUITY AND DIGITAL INCLUSION AND ACCESSING TECHNOLOGY.
AND, UH, THIS IS, UH, THESE, THESE, UH, THESE CHALLENGES AND IT'S NOT ALL OF THEM THAT WERE IDENTIFIED, BUT WE WANTED TO HONE IN ON, ON THESE FOR THOSE PERSONS, WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT, UH, LIKE NO UNIVERSAL SCREEN READER, UM, THE DIGITAL SKILLS, YOU KNOW, TRAINING FOR PARENTS AND WORKING STUDENT FAMILIES, UH, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, INSUFFICIENT, HOT SPOT, UH, SHARED WIFI.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT THERE'S SOME AREAS THAT FOR EXAMPLE, THAT STUDENTS WERE ISSUED, UM, AND THIS WAS FROM THE HOUSING AUTHORITY.
STUDENTS WERE ISSUED SOME OF THOSE, YOU KNOW, WIFI, HOT SPOTS, BUT THEY ACTUALLY, THE LEVEL OF SERVICE, UM, IN, IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD WAS INADEQUATE.
AND IT WAS REALLY PROVED NOT TO HAVE, IT WAS RATHER NOT, UM, IT CANNOT BE UTILIZED, UM, AND JUST, YOU KNOW, THERE'S JUST THE LACK OF GEOGRAPHICALLY EQUITABLE BROADBAND OTHERS FOLKS, UM, THAT THEY, THEY
[02:25:01]
DON'T TRUST THE INTERNET.UM, THE QUESTION OF RELEVANCY DID COME UP.
UM, BUT THERE'S, AGAIN, THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS THAT WERE, THAT WERE PROVIDED, UM, IN THIS DISCUSSION, THIS COMMUNITY DISCUSSION THAT THE COMMISSION, SO THEY, THESE ARE INCORPORATED INTO, UM, AND INTO OUR, INTO OUR, OUR PROJECT.
AND I THINK THAT NOW I AM HANDING THIS BACK OVER TO HOTEL, I'M GOING TO CATCH IT MIDAIR AND I WILL, OH, BAKED YOU'RE LIKE, THIS IS THE CRAZIEST THING, THE PONG GAME EVER.
UM, THAT'S BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, UM, REALLY IDENTIFYING WHOM IN THE COMMUNITY, UM, REALLY SPEAKS TO OUR WORK, UM, AND REALLY SPEAKS TO HOW WE'RE PRIORITIZING OUR WORK, I SHOULD SAY.
UM, SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE JUST WANTED TO AFFIRM HERE.
WE SPOKE TO THIS EARLIER, THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT REALLY FACE THE BIGGEST BARRIERS TO DIGITAL INCLUSION.
AGAIN, OLDER ADULTS, PEOPLE WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY, THOSE ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, LOWER INCOME COMMUNITIES, PEOPLE DISABILITIES HOUSEHOLDS WAS SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN.
IT'S HAN SPOKE ELOQUENTLY TO THE EARLY CHILDCARE, UH, 2000 DAYS, I BELIEVE IT IS.
UM, AND THAT IS REALLY OUR FOCUS HERE.
SO WE'RE LASER FOCUSED ON THOSE MOST ISOLATED COMMUNITIES.
UM, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT REALLY HELPS US STAY LASER FOCUSED.
AND WE'RE ALWAYS ASKING OURSELVES WHO IS MOST ISOLATED FROM THE RESOURCES AND SERVICES OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO THIS REALLY HELPS US TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE NEED TO CALIBRATE OUR WORK, UM, AND HOW WE'RE ABLE TO FOCUS AND DEFINE THOSE PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE NEED TO ENGAGE IN TO REALLY FACILITATE NOT ONLY CONNECTIVITY, BUT SCREAM IN GENUINE SOLUTIONS TO HELP IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THESE COMMUNITIES.
AND SO WITH THIS, UM, I'M GOING TO HAND IT TO HOLD ON, TO SPEAK ABOUT THE FIVE PILLAR PILLARS OF SUSTAINABLE DIGITAL INCLUSION SOLUTIONS.
SO, UM, AS WE MENTIONED EARLIER, WE THOUGHT THAT INITIALLY, UM, HISTORICALLY THERE ARE THE THREE LEGS OF THE STOOL OF DIGITAL INCLUSION, WHICH ARE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY, DEVICES AND TRAINING.
WHAT WE REALIZED THE KEY DRIVERS ARE ACTUALLY AFFORDABILITY.
IS THERE COMPETITION FOR PRICING? UH, IS THERE, UH, A AVAILABILITY FOR BULK PURCHASE, FOR EXAMPLE, INTERNET CONNECTIVITY, RELIABLE HIGH QUALITY INTERNET CONNECTION EVERYWHERE, REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU LIVE, REGARDLESS OF YOUR ZIP CODE DEVICES, ARE THERE APPROPRIATE DEVICES FOR APPROPRIATE USE THAN AGE, EVERYTHING FROM WEARABLE TO PHONES, TO TABLETS, TO LAPTOPS, DESKTOPS, TO THE RASPBERRY PI THAT I'M HEARING SO MUCH ABOUT COMPUTERS IN A BOX, WHAT ARE THE APPROPRIATE DEVICES THAT MIGHT BE ABLE TO BE UTILIZED TO PROCESS AND PRODUCT AGNOSTIC, NOT TO TRY TO PUSH A CERTAIN PRODUCT, BUT TO FIND OUT WHAT THE REAL NEED IS.
AND THEN TRAINING, TRAINING, AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT ON THE DEVICES THAT ARE LANGUAGE AND INTERPRET CREATE.
AND THEN OF COURSE THE VERY IMPORTANT IT SUPPORT CONTINUED DIGITAL ACCOMPANIMENT, DIGITAL NAVIGATION, POST-TRAINING TO ENSURE FULL ADOPTION USE, AND HOPEFULLY WITH A GOAL OF MASTERY OF DEVICES AS WELL.
SO I'M GOING TO SEND IT BACK TO JOHN TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
CAN WE HAVE THE SLIDESHOW PLEASE? THANK YOU SO MUCH.
UM, SO THIS REALLY HIGHLIGHTS THE, THE PRIORITY PROJECTS, UM, THAT WE SPOKE TO EARLIER ABOUT THE QUALITATIVE STUDY.
UM, WE'RE CURRENTLY UNDERWAY AROUND OUR COMMUNITY CONVENING FOR BROADBAND FOR ALL, AND THE MAPPING INTERNET COVERAGE, AND SPEED.
SO FIRST UP A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE QUALITATIVE STUDY.
OUR DESIRED OUTCOMES HERE ARE REALLY, UM, THREE FOCUS AREAS, AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE MOST ISOLATED WITH.
WE'VE SPOKEN ABOUT THEM IN DEPTH HERE IN THIS PRESENTATION INSIGHTS ON HOW DIGITAL INCLUSION SERVICES COULD WORK BETTER FOR THOSE COMMUNITIES AND WHAT THOSE UNMET NEEDS ARE.
AND IF POSSIBLE, CONNECTING THOSE COMMUNITIES TO EXISTING RESOURCES.
UH, THE TIMEFRAME FOR THIS STUDY IS THAT WE HAVE NAMED OUR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PARTNER.
THAT PARTNER IS MEZZER AUSTIN.
[02:30:01]
INTO A CONTRACT WITH MEASURE AUSTIN TO FACILITATE THIS WORK.OUR FIRST TEAM PLANNING MEETING WILL OCCUR IN THE FIRST WEEK OF JULY, AND WE EXPECT MORE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, MORE COMMUNITY AWARENESS, UM, SUBSEQUENT TO THAT MEETING SHORTLY THEREAFTER.
UM, SO PER THE UPDATE THAT I PROVIDED TO COMMISSIONER ISLAND EARLIER, WE WOULD EXPECT THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY, UH, AND FALL OF THIS YEAR.
UM, THE COMMUNITY CONVENING, UH, WITH EARLY RESULTS, UH, AND IS A RESULT OF THIS CONTINUED ENERGY IT'S CONTINUED WORK.
UM, AND THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US AND OUR COMMUNITY CONVENIENT PARTNERS TO REALLY ACTIVATE AROUND THE CHALLENGES THAT ARE IN FRONT OF US AND IDEATE AROUND PILOT OPPORTUNITIES WITH TOM SPOKE TO THOSE PILOT OPPORTUNITIES THAT MAY BE PRESENT WITH OUR INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS THAN MAY BE PRESENT WITH OUR ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS AND OUR TEACHER COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, UM, AND WHAT THOSE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES, UH, ALSO ARE AROUND A IMMENSE AMOUNT OF FEDERAL FUNDING THAT IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE.
UM, SO THIS COMMUNITY CONVENING IS CURRENTLY IN THE PLANNING STAGE.
OUR KEY CONVENING PARTNER IS UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL TEXAS.
UM, AND THIS IS IN THE PLANNING STAGE SO THAT WE CAN DEVELOP A CONVENING THAT IS, UH, REALLY REFLECTIVE IN NATURE WITH REGARDS TO REFLECTING ON SOME OF THE DATA THAT IS CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT WITH CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH AROUND THAT 2019 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY DATA, UH, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OURSELVES TO IMMERSE IN THAT DATA, AND ALSO HAVE SOME LOOK FORWARD, UH, TO DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK.
UM, AND WHAT SORT OF OPPORTUNITIES MAY EXIST WITH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN PREPARATION AND PLANNING FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK AND THIS PARTICULAR, UH, COMMUNITY CONVENIENT THAT I'M SPEAKING TO WOULD HAVE HER HERE, UH, BY END OF SUMMER, SO THAT WE'RE ABLE TO HAVE A STEPPING STONE TOWARDS DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK IN OCTOBER.
UH, AND THE WORK IS CURRENTLY IN A WAY OF HOTEL AND SPOKE TO THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENTATION IN RESPONSE TO COMMISSIONER NEEDS.
UM, THIS MAPPING AND INTERNET COVERAGE AND SPEED IS REALLY IN THE EXPLORATION STAGE.
WE'RE REALLY IDENTIFYING THOSE KEY STAKEHOLDERS, UM, SO THAT WE REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE NEEDS ARE, WHAT ARE THE WANTS FROM OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
UM, WHAT ARE THE, UH, DESIRED FOCUS AREAS WITH REGARDS TO HOW THAT DATA MAY HELP INFORM THEIR WORK? UM, AND THIS IS REALLY FROM A BIG PICTURE PERSPECTIVE, UM, THE BROADBAND, OR I'M SORRY, THE INTERNET COVERAGE AND SPEED MAPPING WILL HELP US UNDERSTAND THOSE NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITY AREAS FOR PILOTS AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS.
SO WE CAN REALLY FOCUS ON SPECIFIC INTERSECTIONS WHERE WE MAY WANT TO POST A PILOT.
UH, THIS COULD INVOLVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO LEARN AND EXPLORE BULK INTERNET SUBSCRIPTIONS.
ONE OF THE PARTNERS, UH, ONE OF OUR INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS, UH, AT TODAY'S DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT AND COMMUNITY BOSTON SPOKE ABOUT HOW COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND SIGN UP FOR BULK INTERNET SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR THEIR CLIENTS.
SO WE ARE ENGAGING AND PARTNERING WITH THOSE PROVIDERS SO THAT WE'RE PROVIDING THAT, THAT OPPORTUNITY TO OUR RESIDENTS AND OUR COMMUNITY, UM, AND THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE FOR THE, UH, INTERNET COVERAGE AND SPEED MAP WOULD ALSO HELP US TO, FROM A BASELINE LENS, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE SPEED AND QUALITY OF INTERNET CONNECTIONS FOR RESTAURANTS RUN.
DELLA SPOKE TO SOME OF THE FEDERAL REGULATORY CHANGES COMING DOWN FROM THE FCC AROUND MAPPING SOME OF THE, UH, UM, THE VOLUNTARY MAPPING, THE DATA OKAY.
THEY SUBMIT, AND THAT, THAT NEEDS SOME REWORK.
UM, AND THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY AS WELL FOR US TO BUILD UPON THAT ENERGY FOR US TO GET MORE GRANULAR, GET MORE ACCURATE, AND GET MORE, UM, SPEED DATA FOR THE COMMUNITY.
FROM THE LENS OF WHAT IS STAFF DOING AROUND ALL THE FEDERAL FUNDING? WELL, WE'RE TRACKING, MONITORING AND SUPPORTING.
SO REALLY THOSE THREE OBJECTIVES ARE WHAT OUR KEY INDICATORS ARE.
UM, HASSAN AND I MET EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON TO REALLY TALK ABOUT LEVERAGE OPPORTUNITIES WITH OUR INTERNAL PARTNER AT AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY AROUND THE, UM, EMERGENCY CONNECTIVITY FUND DO IN A MONTH, UH, AROUND OPPORTUNITIES TO ALIGN THAT STRATEGICALLY WITH EXISTING CITY PLANNING EFFORTS FOR AREAS, UH, FOCUSED ON COLONY PARK,
[02:35:01]
UM, AND THAT ALIGNED WITH EXISTING STRATEGY FROM THE CITY.UM, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THERE ARE A MULTITUDE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE.
WE KNOW THAT THE EMERGENCY BROADBAND BENEFITS IS A SUBSIDY THAT'S AVAILABLE FOR THOSE QUALIFYING RESIDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN IF THEY SIGN UP.
UM, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE KNOW THAT FUNDING IS GENERALLY AVAILABLE, UM, UNTIL EARLY FALL.
WHAT ELSE STORES ARE STARTING TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WILL BE POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO DEVELOP SOME, UH, NEXT, UH, KIND OF INTERMEDIATE PROGRAMS THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE AFTER THE EMERGENCY BROADBAND BENEFIT PROGRAM FINISHES? UM, SO THIS IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE ARE KEEPING AND MONITORING THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
SO WE CAN, UH, GENERATE THE AWARENESS TO OUR COMMUNITY ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY OF SUBSIDIZED INTERNET SO THAT THEY CAN GAIN BENEFIT FROM HIGH SPEED INTERNET OR COST.
UH, WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FROM THE PURPA FUNDS, THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN, UM, AND THIS FUNDING IS REALLY, UH, AT A LEVEL THAT WOULD BE, UH, UNDER THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY FRAMEWORK THAT HAS BEEN ADOPTED BY THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.
UM, AND ONE IN WHICH THERE MAY BE USED SOME UNIQUE LEVERAGE OPPORTUNITIES THAT OUR OFFICE IS ABLE TO GAIN BENEFIT FROM CREATING SOME, UH, OPPORTUNITIES TO REALLY ENHANCE SOME OF THE CURRENT SERVICES THAT WE HAVE.
UM, AND MORE TO COME ON THAT AS WE'RE ABLE TO CONDUCT WITH OUR INTERNAL DEPARTMENTS, UH, AROUND US FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES.
WE ALSO HAVE THE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM FROM THE NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION AND ILLUSTRATION.
UM, THIS WOULD BE DUE ALSO LATER IN THE SUMMER, ALONG WITH THE CONNECTING MINORITY COMMUNITIES PILOT PROGRAM, WHICH REALLY FOCUSES ON BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY, UM, HOSTING, UH, INCREASE OR POSTING THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PILOT PROGRAMS THAT REALLY DEMONSTRATE THE ABILITY TO INCREASE BROADBAND FOR CERTAIN AREAS, UM, WHERE A HISTORICALLY BLACK UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE WOULD SERVE AS THE FISCAL AGENT, UM, FOR THOSE FUNDS, THE, UM, TEXAS STATE BROADBAND OFFICE OF COURSE, UH, WOULD BE A PASS THROUGH FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.
ONE OF THE, THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STATE OF TEXAS PASSING THAT LEGISLATION WAS NOT MISSING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS ANYMORE.
UM, SO THIS'LL BE A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE THAT OFFICE WOULD ESSENTIALLY ENABLE GRANTS AND OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES, LOCAL AGENCIES, INCLUDING CITIES AND COUNTIES, UH, TO, UH, APPLY FOR FINES SO THAT THEY CAN SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE BUILD OUT.
UM, THERE ARE LOCAL FUNDS THAT ARE AVAILABLE.
THIS IS AGAIN, UH, THIS WILL BE A PLUG FOR
UM, THE GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM HAS SCALED TO MULTIPLE PATHWAYS, INCLUDING G TOPS, MANY G TUFTS CAPACITY AND G TUFTS CORE THAT DO PROVIDE A BENEFIT TO OUR COMMUNITY, UH, FOR AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS TO INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT AND RESOURCES AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESIDENTS AND COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS ALIKE.
AND ALONG WITH THAT, WE ARE PARTNERING, COLLABORATING WITH A MULTITUDE OF FOUNDATIONS AND PRIVATE INVESTMENT, UM, UM, ENTITIES HERE IN AUSTIN TO REALLY COLLABORATE ON THOSE EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE THOSE, UH, PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS WITH, UH, INFORMATION ON THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO I BELIEVE THIS ONE IS FOR ME AND I'VE RUN DELLA ACTUALLY.
SO I MISSED THAT PING PONG SURROUND ELEMENT TO YOU.
AND, UH, SO WE'RE, WE'RE NEARING THE, THE, UH, THE CLOSE OF THE PRESENCE OF OUR PRESENTATION TO YOU ALL.
AND I REALLY THINK, UM, AS JOHN JUST ARTICULATED IN THAT PRIOR SLIDE, LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF FEDERAL FUNDING AND THE FUNDING THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR BROADBAND AND DIGITAL INCLUSION.
UM, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S A PRIORITY, UM, AND IT IS EVIDENT THAT, UM, AND IT'S EVIDENT THAT THERE IS A GREAT NEED.
AND, UM, SO I JUST, YOU KNOW, FOR US, UM, WORKING, UH, WITH THE COMMISSION, UM, WE HAVE THIS, YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF EVERY, AT THE PRESENTATION, WELL, WHAT'S THE ASK, RIGHT? UM, SO WE'RE JUST REALLY LOOKING FOR ADVOCACY AND RESOURCES TO MAKE THIS A PRIORITY FOR AUSTIN.
UM, YOU KNOW, AT SOME POINT, IF THERE ARE ANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMISSION TO OUR CITY COUNCIL, UM, AND NOTHING IS, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TONIGHT, BUT, UM, JUST KIND OF SETTING THE SETTING THE STAGE AND JUST, YOU KNOW, YOUR INPUT IS INVALUABLE.
[02:40:01]
YOU KNOW, THE FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE GOT, THE QUESTIONS, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED FROM THE PRESENTATIONS TO THE WORKING GROUPS WERE VERY, VERY HELPFUL, AND PLEASE CONTINUE.UM, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE FOCUSING ON THE RIGHT AREAS, IF THERE'S SOMETHING WE'RE MISSING, UM, IN THIS APPROACH, UH, HOPEFULLY THIS PRESENTATION WAS REALLY HELPFUL, TOO, BUT REALLY TO, TO, YOU KNOW, TO TALK ABOUT WHAT IS OUR APPROACH, WHAT'S OUR PROCESS, WHAT ARE WE THINKING? WHO'S BEING, YOU KNOW, THE STAKEHOLDERS, UM, AND, UH, JUST, YOU KNOW, CONTINUING TO HELP US, YOU KNOW, WORK FOR, UM, DEFINING WHAT DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP IS IN HERE.
AND LOOKING AHEAD, UM, AND ONE OF THE, UH, IN OUR APPLICATION TO THE LEADERSHIP AUSTIN, UM, WE, YOU KNOW, PUT IN THERE, WE WOULD LIKE TO FORM A STEERING COMMITTEE OR A, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT, BUT IT IS MORE OF A, OF A WORKER, A GUIDING, UH, GUIDE, GUIDING A DIRECTION FOR THIS LONG-TERM PROJECT.
THIS IS NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, THIS 20, 21 IS WITH CM.
THIS IS GOING TO BE CONTINUING, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE, UM, THE, THE PHASES AND THE AMOUNT OF TIME, UM, THAT WE HAVE TO INVEST.
AND, UM, WE WERE STILL TRYING TO LIKE THE STEERING GROUP, UM, STEERING COMMITTEE, BUT THIS COMMISSION WOULD DEFINITELY, UM, BEING PART OF THAT, REPRESENTING THE, YOU KNOW, THE COMMUNITY.
UM, SO WE'RE STILL GIVING THIS SOME THOUGHT AS FAR AS KIND OF LIKE THIS WORKING GROUP STEERING COMMITTEE, BUT THE COMMISSION IS, UH, YOU KNOW, INTEGRAL INTEGRAL INTO THAT, UM, INTO WHATEVER THAT I'M NOT GOING TO SAY GOVERNANCE.
I THINK IT'S JUST MORE OF LIKE, WE WANT A CROSS SECTOR, UM, ONGOING, UM, COMMUNITY DISCUSSION SO THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, CONTINUING ON DOWN THE PATH THAT WE'VE, UM, THAT WE'VE STARTED.
SO THAT REALLY ENDS OUR PRESENTATION FOR THE EVENING AND OPEN FOR QUESTIONS.
UM, AND IF ANY OF THE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS HERE HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD? UM, I THINK WE'LL OKAY.
I DO WANT TO, UH, GIVE, UH, UH, TIME FOR ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, BUT I DO WANT TO MAKE SURE TO CALL OUT THE TIMEFRAME THAT WE'RE ON RIGHT NOW.
UM, BECAUSE WE ARE BOUND, UM, TO, UH, THE, THE DURATION, WHICH WE'VE, WE'VE USED.
WE'RE, WE'RE ALLOCATED THE SPACE AT CITY HALL, WHICH IS CRITICAL FOR THIS BROADCAST.
UM, SO WE NEED TO END AS CLOSE TO NINE 30 AS WE CAN.
UM, SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK IF THERE'S ANY BURNING QUESTIONS THAT ANYONE HAS TO ASK AT THIS STAGE, KNOWING THAT WE HAVE A WORK GROUP DISCUSSION, UH, REALLY THAT NEEDS TO TAKE PLACE WITH ALL THE COMMISSIONERS INVOLVED IN THAT WORK GROUP.
UM, AND THAT, THAT SHOULD REALLY, UH, BE A PRIORITY IN SCHEDULING THAT, AND WE'LL WORK ON THAT IN OUR, UH, IN THE APPROPRIATE TIMEFRAME WITH THE WORK GROUP DISCUSSIONS.
UH, BUT THERE'S ANYTHING PRESSING NOW, UH, UH, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND, UH, WE'LL GO AND SEE, WE'LL GET THAT ANSWERED.
IT LOOKS LIKE EVERYONE'S OKAY WITH WAITING AND, OR JUMPING INTO A DISCUSSION WITH WORK GROUPS LATER.
WELL, I THOUGHT THAT WAS A WONDERFUL PRESENTATION, UH, VERY EXCITED ABOUT WHERE THIS IS GOING, UH, AND REALLY JUST THE WONDERFUL EVOLUTION OF, OF, OF THE WORK OF THE CITY WITH THE STRATEGIC PLAN BEGINNING WITH THE DIGITAL INCLUSION, STRATEGIC PLAN, UH, CHORUS BOLSTERED BY THE COMMISSION AND THE CTM, TH THE CITY TECHNOLOGY COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY OFFICE, UM, AND TARA.
AND OF COURSE THE, THE WONDERFUL ADDITION OF THE DIGITAL INCLUSION FELLOW FROM A LEADERSHIP AUSTIN.
SO I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT, REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US AGAIN.
SO NOW PROCEEDING WITH OUR BUSINESS HERE IN SHORT ORDER, UH, COMMISSION UPDATES.
THIS TAKES US TO, I'D RATHER EXCUSE ME, THIS TEXAS, TO, UH, YES, WE'RE, WE'RE DONE WITH NEW BUSINESS, THIS TEXAS TO, UH, UH, TO NOT, UM, FOR COMMISSION UPDATES BEGINNING WITH DIGITAL INCLUSION, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND THE STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOM POLICY WORKING GROUP.
UM, AS CHAIR OF THAT WORKING GROUP, I'D LIKE TO, OF COURSE, UH, MAKE MENTION OF THE IMPORTANT WORK THAT'S BEING DONE, UH, WITH, UH, THE,
[4A. Digital Inclusion, Civic Engagement, and Strategic Technology and Telecom Policy Working Group ]
UH, DIGITAL INCLUSION FELLOW AND THE PRESENTATION WE JUST RECEIVED, UH, BEING INTEGRAL OF COURSE, TO OUR WORKING GROUP.SO IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE AGREE UPON THE SCHEDULING OF A WORKING GROUP MEETING, I THINK IS THE NEXT BUSINESS FOR THIS WORKING GROUP.
UM, I HAD PROPOSED, UH, KIND OF A STANDING TUESDAY TIMEFRAME, BUT THEY DIDN'T SEEM TO WORK FOR EVERYBODY.
SO I'D LIKE TO GET FEEDBACK ON WHEN WE CAN HAVE OUR NEXT MEETING, IDEALLY BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH, UH, SINCE WE HAVEN'T HAD A WORK GROUP DISCUSSION AND, UH, WE DO NEED TO KIND OF
[02:45:01]
ADVANCE SOME OF THESE DISCUSSIONS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ROBUST QUESTIONS THAT WE HAVE, UH, RELATED TO THE TOPICS FROM OUR COMMISSIONERS.SO, ANY, ANY THOUGHTS ON, UM, WHEN YOU ALL MIGHT BE AVAILABLE? I'M JUST REACHING, SPEAKING SPECIFICALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THIS WORKING GROUP.
HI, COMMISSIONER ISLAND, COMMISSIONER THOMPSON, BEAVERS COMMISSIONER APODACA.
I MEAN, TUESDAYS AT FOUR WORK FINE FOR ME.
UM, UH, YEAH, TUESDAYS AT FOUR WOULD BE GOOD FOR ME, EXCEPT FOR THIS UPCOMING WEEK.
I WILL BE, UM, AWAY UNTIL THURSDAY.
UH, THAT LEAVES US NO ANOTHER TUESDAY IF WE WERE TO LOOK TO THE NEXT WEEK.
UH, BUT I DO WANT TO CONFIRM, UH, WITH CITY STAFF AS WELL, BECAUSE WE'D LIKE FOR, UH, OUR FELLOW, UH, AND CERTAINLY, UH, THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR TO BE AVAILABLE AS WELL.
JOHN, YOU CAN CONFIRM YOUR AVAILABILITY OR NOT THIS COMING TUESDAY, BUT I GUESS, WHICH WOULD BE THE LAST TWO DAY OF A MONTH.
TIRPITZ TO CLARIFY THIS AS JULY 27TH, THE DATE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT AT THE KELLER NOW THAT'S CORRECT.
DOES THAT WORK FOR YOU? THAT WORKS FOR ME WHOLE TIME.
DOES THAT WORK FOR YOU? YES, IT DOES.
AND THE COMMISSIONER THOMPSON BEAVERS, UM, WE CAN MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT IF NECESSARY.
SO I'LL REALLY WANT, UH, YOUR CANDID THOUGHTS ON AVAILABILITY.
NO, I'M USUALLY AVAILABLE ON TUESDAYS.
SOMETHING HAPPENED, IT WAS AN EMERGENCY AT WORK AND I COULDN'T GET, UM, OVER TO THE CALL.
OH, NO, WE UNDERSTAND, UH, WE APPRECIATE YOUR SERVICE AND, UH, THANK YOU FOR MAKING YOURSELF AVAILABLE THEN FOR THE 27TH.
OH, WITH THAT, THEN WE'LL GO AHEAD AND GET THAT IN THE BOOKS, JESSE, IF YOU'D BE SO KIND OR JOHN, WHOEVER WOULD BE THE MOST APPROPRIATE CONSIDERING THE AUDIENCE, UM, TO SEND AN INVITATION.
SO THE WORKING GROUP MEMBERS AND WE'LL HAVE OUR DISCUSSION AT THAT TIME.
UM, THE WORKING GROUP IS ACTUALLY SCHEDULED ON AUGUST 3RD, THAT TUESDAY.
SO ESSENTIALLY I'LL JUST BE BUMPING UP THAT EXISTING APPOINTMENT TO THE 27TH AT 4:00 PM.
UH, I THINK WE COULD PROBABLY ACCOMPLISH, UH, A LOT IN THAT ONE MEETING.
WE DEFINITELY WANT TO HAVE A STANDING MEETING.
UM, AND I'D LIKE FOR THAT TO BE AHEAD OF, UH, OUR FUTURE MEETING, BUT SINCE THERE'S NO MEETING IN AUGUST TAKING PLACE AT ALL, UH, WE MAY ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO HAVE A MAYBE THIRD WEEK OF AUGUST WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION AS WELL.
UM, BECAUSE I THINK IN LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT WE HAVE, UH, SOME AGGRESSIVE GOALS, WE MAY BE WELL SERVED BY THAT, BUT LET'S START THERE.
SO THEN CONTINUING WITH THE OTHER, UH, UH, WORK GROUP DISCUSSION HERE AROUND DIGITAL INCLUSION, OF COURSE THE STAKEHOLDERS SUMMIT IS A BIG UNDERTAKING, UH, THAT WILL REQUIRE PLANNING AND, UH, UH, RESOURCE EXPERTISE AND A VARIETY OF PROGRAM AREAS TO, TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
WE'VE OUTLINED THIS IN THE PAST, SO WE CAN GET INTO THOSE DISCUSSIONS AT THE WORKING GROUP LEVEL.
UH, BUT I WANT TO MAKE MENTION OF THAT BECAUSE THAT WILL, I THINK FROM A BROADER SCOPE, PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR OTHER COMMISSIONERS TO, TO GET DIALED IN, UH, AND TO, TO HELP ON THAT EFFORT SINCE THAT IS CERTAINLY A COMMISSION WIDE EFFORT.
UM, SO JUST TO KEEP THAT ON THE RADAR AND, UH, IN RELATION TO THE G TOPS, LASTLY, UM, WANT TO MAKE SURE TO SPEAK TO THE FACT THAT WE ARE ON THE VERGE.
UH, FIRST OFF WE RECEIVED 23 APPLICATIONS FOR G TOPS MINI AND DETOX CAPACITY, WHICH WE'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT.
UH, AND WE'RE IN THE PROCESS RIGHT NOW OF CONFIRMING, UH, WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A FINAL REVIEW PANEL AND OR HOW WE'LL MANAGE THAT WITH THOSE, UH, WITHIN THE, THE PROGRAM PARAMETERS.
BUT I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THE EXCITEMENT OF THE FACT THAT WE DO HAVE 23 APPLICATIONS REQUESTING, UH, A TOTAL OF 144,000 OUT OF 50 AVAILABLE, UH, 13 FOR MANY, AND THEN 10 APPLICATIONS REQUESTING 24,000 OUT OF 30,000 AVAILABLE.
SO THE CAPACITY, WE STILL HAVE SOME FUNDS LEFT OVER, AND THEN WITH MANY, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE SOME TOUGH CHOICES, BUT AS YEAR OVER YEAR, WE'VE SEEN THIS GRANT GAIN MORE AND MORE, UH, ATTENTION.
AND, UH, AND, AND FRANKLY, UH, MORE APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED AND REVIEWS THAT REVIEW PANELISTS, UH, OFFERING THEIR SERVICES TO HELP OUT AS WELL.
WE MAY WANT TO CONSIDER ACTION IN THE FUTURE ABOUT APPROACHING CITY COUNCIL TO, AGAIN, INCREASE THE FUNDING AMOUNT FOR THIS GRANT.
[02:50:01]
IT'S VERY CLEAR THAT THERE'S A REAL NEED IN THIS AREA.IT'S VERY CLEAR THAT RESOURCES, UH, COUNTY, FEDERAL, UH, AND SO ON AS LISTED ARE ALIGNING FOR THIS EFFORT.
SO I THINK IT'D BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO, UH, TO LEVERAGE THAT ATTENTION, PERHAPS TO GET SOME ADDITIONAL BUDGET DOLLARS THERE, JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT, BUT I THINK WE CAN TAKE IT ON AT THE WORKING GROUP LEVEL AS WELL.
UH, SO AGAIN, IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUICK THOUGHTS, THE QUESTIONS, UH, RELATED TO, UH, THIS WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION.
SO LET'S GO AHEAD, PROCEED IN THE AGENDA NOW TO OUR NEXT WORKING GROUP
[4B. Knowledge, Information, and Data Stewardship Working Group ]
DISCUSSION, THE KNOWLEDGE INFORMATION, AND DATA STEWARDSHIP WORKING GROUP.UH, I'D LIKE TO HAND IT OFF TO THE CHAIR OF THE WORKING GROUP VICE-CHAIR ALEXANDER.
AND JUST TO LET YOU KNOW, BY CHERYL ALEXANDER, WE HAD A BRIEF DISCUSSION, UM, ON TUESDAY, WHICH I'LL BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE FOR, UH, WHENEVER YOU'D LIKE.
SO YES, WE CAN, UH, I GUESS THAT, UM, OFFLINE THAT'S PERFECTLY FINE.
UM, SO UNFORTUNATELY I WAS UNABLE TO, UM, PARTICIPATE IN THAT, UM, MOST RECENT CONVERSATION, BUT, UH, I THINK THIS WAS A GREAT MEETING, UH, THAT WE HAVE TODAY THIS EVENING.
UM, SO, UH, AS FAR AS THINGS THAT WE CAN DISCUSS, HOPEFULLY FOR THE MEETING, UH, THE WORKING GROUP MEETING NEXT WEEK, I WAS THINKING WE COULD DISCUSS, UM, RECONNECTING WITH, UM, CIO, CHRIS STEWART IN TERMS OF DISCUSSING ATLAS ONE AND THE VIDEO BOTTLENECK ISSUE.
UM, I KNOW HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO DO SOME FOLLOW-UP, BUT WE COULD IN OUR WORKING GROUP, UM, GET SOME MORE INFORMATION TOGETHER FOR HIM ON BOTH OF THOSE THINGS, JUST SO WHEN WE DO CONNECT AT THE WORKING GROUP LEVEL, WE'RE, WE'RE PREPARED.
AND, UM, ALSO, UM, WE CAN DISCUSS LOOKING INTO THE, UM, RESIDENTIAL SURVEY.
UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT GREAT PRESENTATION.
UM, I THINK WE COULD MAYBE AS A WORKING GROUP, LOOK INTO THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, SPECIFICALLY AROUND, UM, PILOTING AND PILOTING INITIATIVES.
SO I THINK WE CAN DISCUSS THOSE THINGS, UH, HOPEFULLY NEXT WEEK.
SO, UH, THAT'S UH, THAT'S ABOUT IT.
ALL RIGHT, ALEXANDER, UH, DO YOU, DO YOU NEED ANY BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THAT VIDEO BOTTLENECK, OR DID YOU GET THAT WHEN WE WERE STILL INVOLVED? I THINK THAT I DO HAVE IT SOMEWHERE IN MY EMAILS, BUT IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT'S ALREADY, UM, AT HAND, I WOULD DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THAT.
WELL, I'LL DIG AROUND IN MY FILES AND SEE WHAT I'VE GOT AND SEND IT TO YOU THEN.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER GATES.
COMMISSIONER GATES ALSO HAVE A DETAILED FOLLOW UP AND SHARE, UH, I'LL COPY YOU ON THAT AS WELL.
SO THAT WAY WE'RE NOT BEING REDUNDANT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, UH, PRESSING AT THIS TIME FOR THIS WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION? OKAY.
I KNOW THAT, UH, THIS PAST, UH, WORKING GROUP, THE LAST WORKING GROUP, EXCUSE ME, AGENDA ITEM FOUR, C
[4C. Technology, Infrastructure, and Innovation Working Group]
B TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION WORKING GROUP.UM, CLEARLY, UH, THE WORKING GROUP DISCUSSIONS WERE ALL FOCUSED AROUND EMERGENCY BROADBAND BENEFIT THIS PAST WEEK.
UM, SO THAT MIGHT MAKE FOR A BRIEF, UH, UPDATE, BUT EITHER WAY, I'D LIKE TO HAND IT OFF TO THE CO-CHAIRS TO WIDE ONE.
YOU KNOW, THE PRESENTATION WE HEARD WAS THE PRESENTATION THAT WE HEARD IN PREPARATION FOR THIS PRESENTATION TODAY.
SO WE, THIS WAS THE SECOND ROUND.
AND OF COURSE FOR ME, THIS IS, THIS RINGS VERY CLOSE TO MY HEART.
YOU KNOW, AS, AS, AS YOU CAN RECALL, FROM MY EXPERIENCE, UH, SUPPORTING THE CENSUS AND MY REVELATIONS THROUGH THAT EFFORT, UH, ABOUT THE NEED FOR EQUITY IN DIGITAL INCLUSION.
SO THIS RINGS VERY CLOSE TO MY HEART.
SO I WISHED THIS PROJECT THE VERY, VERY BEST, AND WE ARE GOING TO BE WORKING WITH THEM BOTH AT THE WORKING GROUP LEVEL, AT THE COCA IN THE COMMISSION LEVEL TO SUPPORT THIS WORK BECAUSE IT IS, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S DUE TIME.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S TIME HAS COME FOR THIS TO HAPPEN.
SO I WANT TO HAND IT OVER MY MIC TO MY CO-CHAIR AND LET HIM, I DON'T HAVE MUCH TO ADD OTHER THAN, YEAH.
AND I'M GLAD THAT, UH, ALL OF Y'ALL GOT TO SEE THE SAME REPORT.
AND SO WAS THAT LOOKING FOR, I TOO, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THEM IN THE FUTURE.
CAUSE THIS IS GOING TO BE SOME, THIS IS GOING TO BE VERY, VERY MEATY.
SO I THINK WE'RE ABOUT RUNNING OUT OF TIME.
[02:55:03]
UH, CHAIR PITS.IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE STILL MUTED.
JUST TO BRIEFLY MENTION THAT IN RELATION TO INFRASTRUCTURE, WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT INVOLVING, UH, BOTH TED LAYER AND MEMBERS FROM THE AUTONOMY INSTITUTE.
UH, JEFF LACROIX INTO DISCUSSION ABOUT SMART OR RATHER INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE AS A SERVICE AND LEVERAGING A POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIP WITH HT TO PILOT AS WAS DISCUSSED IN THE PRESENTATION.
SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET INTO MORE OF THAT LATER, BUT JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE TO MAKE MENTION OF THAT ON THE RECORD TODAY, BECAUSE WE'LL BEGIN WITH DISCUSSIONS AT THE WORK GROUP LEVEL, AND THEN HE'LL ALSO BE INVITED IN WITH TED LAYER FOR A PRESENTATION AT THE COMMISSION LEVEL, UH, BECAUSE THIS, AGAIN SPEAKS TO THE WEALTH OF RESOURCES AND ATTENTION THAT'S BEING FOCUSED AROUND, UH, FRANKLY THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IT'LL TAKE TO MAKE A BROADBAND FOR ALL EFFECTIVE AND POSSIBLE.
AND SO THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET INTO ALL KINDS OF THINGS WHICH MIGHT INCLUDE, UH, EVEN DISCUSSIONS THAT WE HAD EARLIER TODAY FROM OUR CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.
UH, BUT THE POINT IS WE HAVE A LOT TO GET INTO AROUND INFRASTRUCTURE AND VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
THAT'S THE ONLY THING I WANT TO ADD.
SO WITH THAT, I THINK WE'RE CONCLUDING THE WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION FOR THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION WORKING GROUP.
AND THAT BRINGS US TO A FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. UH,
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
AT THIS TIME AT OUR NEXT MEETING, WE'LL ACTUALLY, WE'LL BE TAKING A BREAK.MOST, UH, WORK WILL BE TAKING PLACE IN THE WORKING GROUP SESSION.
SO THEN WE'LL BE LOOKING TOWARDS SEPTEMBER AND THE SEPTEMBER AGENDA AT THIS TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE US ALL TABLE THOSE THOUGHTS, UH, AND WE'LL SURFACE THEM UP AT THE WORKING GROUP LEVEL.
AND THEN OF COURSE EITHER, UH, AGREE WITH TWO OR MORE COMMISSIONERS AND OR AN IDENTIFIED FOCUS FROM THE CHAIR, WHAT THE AGENDA WILL BE IN THE SEPTEMBER MEETING.
UH, SO THAT TAKES CARE OF FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. AND IT BRINGS US TO OUR LAST ITEM ON THE AGENDA.
IF I HAVE A MOTION FOR A DRUMMER, I'LL BE ABLE TO ADJOURN, KEEP US RELATIVELY ON SCHEDULE.
SO I SEE, I SEE A MOTION FROM COMMISSIONER DASGUPTA TO ADJOURN AND A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER FLOYD.
NOW WE CAN HOLD A VOTE ALL IN FAVOR OF GERMAN.
ANYONE OPPOSED? ANYONE ABSTAINING OKAY WITH THAT? THEN WE ARE ADJOURNED.
UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVERYONE FOR YOUR TIME, ESPECIALLY THE CITY STAFF OR YOUR PATIENTS THERE.
UM, AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR YOUR TIME.