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MY NAME IS STEVEN, AKA CALLING TO ORDER THE JULY MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
UH, TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, JULY 10TH, 2024.
WE ARE STARTING AT 6:44 PM UM, JUST A REMINDER, UH, SOME BOARD MEMBERS MAY BE PARTICIPATING VIA VIDEO CONFERENCE AND WEBEX.
UH, MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE ABLE TO JOIN WATCH LIVE ON, UM, AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV ON THE ATX N WEBSITE.
WE WILL START THE MEETING WITH A ROLL CALL VOTE.
I, UM, I'LL GO AHEAD AND JUST CALL ON FOLKS, UM, AFTER I, AS, JUST TO KEEP THINGS ORDERLY.
UH, MY NAME IS STEVEN APODACA, UM, REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO.
NEXT VICE CHAIR, CARINA ATA, REPRESENTING DISTRICT THREE.
COMMISSIONER PINA VILLA, IF YOU COULD STATE YOUR NAME.
COMMISSIONER PINA VILLA, REPRESENTING THE MAYOR OF AUSTIN.
COMMISSIONER ANGA, REPRESENTING DISTRICT NINE COMMISSIONER RICE COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN RICE, REPRESENTING DISTRICT FIVE.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. COMMISSIONER BROWN WILLIAMS REPRESENTING DISTRICT ONE.
AND COMMISSIONER SUPTA, UH, SUPTA REPRESENTING DISTRICT 10.
SO WITH THAT, WE WILL MOVE INTO PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
I BELIEVE WE HAVE HAD ANYONE SIGN UP TODAY.
UH, SO WE'LL MOVE INTO OUR, UM, OUR AGENDA.
UM, WE DO HAVE SEVERAL SPEAKERS TODAY.
UM, SO BECAUSE OF THAT, UH, I WANT TO TABLE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES AND MOVE STRAIGHT INTO OUR DISCUSSION ITEMS. WANNA LOOK TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION TO SEE IF THERE IS ANYONE, UM, WITH ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THAT? DOESN'T SEEM LIKE
[2. “You’re Being Watched – AI & Surveillance in Public Places” Presentation (Sharon Strover – Director, Technology & Information Policy Institute, Phillip G. Warner Regents Professor of Communication, Moody College of Communications, University of Texas at Austin)]
IT.WE'LL, WE'LL MOVE IT RIGHT INTO DISCUSSION.
ITEM NUMBER TWO, WANTED TO TURN IT OVER TO DR.
SHARON TROOVER FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS.
AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR HOSTING THIS TALK.
I, UH, I HAVE SHARED SOME OF THE RESEARCH I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT WITH VARIOUS OF YOU IN DIFFERENT MEETINGS ALREADY, BECAUSE THERE WERE, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S STILL ARE SOME SUBCOMMITTEES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GROUP.
SO, UH, THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE, HAVE CONSIDERED IT BEFORE AND, AND PERHAPS HAVE SOME NEW QUESTIONS, UH, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO, TO AIR THEM AND SHARE THEM AT, AT ANY POINT DURING THIS.
UH, DAN HAS SOME SLIDES, AND DAN, ARE YOU GOING TO SHARE THEM FROM THERE? YEAH, WE, WE CAN PULL 'EM UP ON OUR END.
WELL, WHILE THAT'S HAPPENING, I, I CAN GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND.
AS STEVE SAID, I'M A PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
I AM ON THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, AND I'M A PROJECT LEAD FOR A RESEARCH PROJECT ASSOCIATED WITH GOOD SYSTEMS, WHICH IS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PROJECT AT UT AUSTIN.
THERE ARE MANY FACULTY MEMBERS INVOLVED WITH ABOUT SIX MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTS, AND THEN WE HAVE A LOT OF OTHER TALKS AND ACTIVITIES THAT INVOLVES STUDENTS AND THE COMMUNITY AND BUSINESSES AND ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS.
UH, WHAT I WAS GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU TODAY SUMMARIZES SOME EARLY RESULTS FROM SOME OF THE OUTREACH THAT WE'VE DONE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND WE HAVE A VARIETY OF, OF WAYS IN WHICH WE HAVE TRIED TO BEGIN TO LOOK AT TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE THAT THE CITY TYPICALLY DEPLOYS.
IT'S PROBABLY NO SURPRISE TO EVERYBODY ON THIS COMMITTEE THAT THE CITY USES A LOT OF TECHNOLOGY.
UH, AND MANY OF THE TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS ARE THINGS THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF, UH, AND THAT YOU MAY BE UNAWARE OF.
AND, AND INDEED IT HAS SURPRISED ME AS MORE AND MORE CITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY REALLY RUN THE WORLD, JUMP ON THE SORT OF SMART CITY BANDWAGON, HOW MANY TECHNOLOGIES, AND THAT INCLUDES HARDWARE AND
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SOFTWARE, HAVE COME TO BE USED AND COME TO BE VERY, A VERY NATURAL PART OF THE REPERTOIRE OF SO-CALLED SMART CITIES.AUSTIN, OF COURSE, IS VERY PROUD TO WEAR THAT MONIKER, AND IT HAS JOINED THE SMART CITY ASSOCIATIONS AND DOES INDEED CALL ITSELF A SMART CITY.
OUR RESEARCH PROJECT IS LOOKING AT SOME OF THE LEGAL AND SOCIAL APPROACHES THAT CAN ENCOURAGE THE BEST, MOST ETHICAL USE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES.
AT THE SAME TIME, WE HAVE A TECHNICAL COMPONENT TO OUR PROJECT LED BY DR.
ATLAS WANG, WHO IS A COMPUTER VISIONING ENGINEER, AND HE HAS BEEN EXPLORING WAYS TO WORK WITH CAMERAS IN ORDER TO FACILITATE WHAT WE'RE CALLING DIFFERENTIAL ACCESS.
UM, I'M NOT GONNA GET INTO THAT RIGHT NOW, BUT IF YOU DO WANNA TALK ABOUT IT, YOU CAN ASK ABOUT IT AFTER AFTERWARDS.
THE DATE ON THIS HEADLINE SLIDE, I THINK, WAS WHEN I WAS SUPPOSED TO ORIGINALLY TALK ABOUT THIS PROJECT, AND IT'S BEEN RESCHEDULED, AND AS I SAID BEFORE, SHARED WITH SOME SUBGROUPS IN, IN DIFFERENT PHASES.
BUT IN, IN ANY CASE, I WAS REALLY GOING TO FOCUS ON THE SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH ASSOCIATED WITH THIS MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN, I CAN JUST BASICALLY LET YOU KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
AND I, I JUST THOUGHT I'D GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF AN OVERVIEW, TALK ABOUT OUR RESEARCH APPROACHES, WHICH ARE SEVERAL, AND, AND SUMMARIZE THE MAJOR ISSUES AND QUESTIONS THAT OUR RESEARCH AND PRELIMINARY FINDINGS RAISE AND, AND THEN TALK ABOUT WHERE WE'RE GOING WITH THIS WORK IN THE FUTURE.
SO ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE OUR, BASICALLY THE FOUR QUADRANTS THAT SUMMARIZE THE THRUST OF THIS RESEARCH.
EACH ONE HAS GENERATED PAPERS AND HAVE, HAS GENERATED TALKS THAT HAVE BEEN AIRED IN A, IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT VENUES.
WHAT I WAS GOING TO REALLY TALK ABOUT IS IN THE UPPER LEFT QUADRANT, THE CONCEPTIONS OF PRIVACY, ESPECIALLY AMONG CITIZENS.
WE HAVE ANOTHER COLLEAGUE, DR.
ANITA VARMA, WHO HAS BEEN FOCUSING ON JOURNALISTS AS WELL AND CITY OFFICIALS.
AND THEN YOU SEE BELOW THAT DR.
WANG'S FOCUS AND HIS TEAM MEMBERS ON THE DIFFERENTIAL ACCESS TECHNICAL MODELS.
WE HAVE A GROUP OF DATA SCIENTISTS AND ONE ATTORNEY LOOKING AT OPEN RECORDS LAWS, AND ALL OF US ARE WORKING ON SMART CITI CITIZEN, UH, SMART CITY LITERACY EFFORTS.
SO ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE A QUICK SUMMARY OF EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE DONE TO DATE.
I'M NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT THE SURVEY TODAY, BUT WE HAVE, AND I WASN'T GONNA TALK ABOUT OUR DELPHI SURVEY EITHER.
WE'VE DONE A, A DELPHI SURVEY AS A SURVEY OF EXPERTS THAT WE DID VERY EARLY ON TO GET THE EXPERTS TO WEIGH IN ON THE CRITICAL ISSUES AROUND CITY-BASED MONITORING TECHNOLOGY.
WE'VE DONE A LOT OF INTERVIEWS PRIMARILY WITH MEMBERS OF CITY, CITY UNITS.
WE'VE DONE A CASE STUDY OF THE AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY, AND WE INITIATED THAT AFTER WE LEARNED THAT THEY USE A LOT OF CAMERA TECHNOLOGIES IN OUR LIBRARY SYSTEM.
AND I'M MAINLY GONNA FOCUS ON THE FOCUS GROUPS THAT WE HAVE.
ALSO, THAT HAS ALSO BEEN A CRITICAL DATA GATHERING EFFORT ON OUR PART.
WE, LAST FALL, WE INITIATED SOME WORKSHOPS HERE IN AUSTIN.
WE'VE ALSO DONE TWO INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS AROUND THIS RESEARCH.
ONE OF OUR TWO WORKSHOPS WAS SPECIFICALLY FOR CITY OF AUSTIN EMPLOYEES.
WE HELD THAT UP AT WHERE I THINK YOU ARE, STEVE, UP AT THE, UH, UP AT THAT CITY FACILITY IN THE OLD, UH, HANCOCK SHOPPING CENTER FACILITIES.
AND WE DID ANOTHER WORKSHOP AT UT THAT WAS OPEN TO VARIOUS PEOPLE, SEVERAL CITY PEOPLE, UH, ALSO ATTENDED THAT, THAT PARTICULAR WORKSHOP.
SO WE'VE DONE A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS, BUT TO MOVE ON TO WHAT WE ACTUALLY ARE GONNA TALK ABOUT TONIGHT, IF YOU MOVE THROUGH THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, I'M GONNA TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE DID WITH OUR FOCUS GROUPS, BECAUSE THAT WAS ONE OF OUR FIRST MAJOR DATA GATHERING EFFORTS HERE IN AUSTIN.
WE WANTED TO FEEL, WE WANTED TO GET A SENSE OF HOW
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CITY MEMBERS OF THE CITY RESIDENTS, RES RESIDENTS THINK ABOUT SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGIES, ESPECIALLY SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGIES THAT THE CITY USES.SO WE CONVENED SEVEN FOCUS GROUPS WITH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
WE SPECIFICALLY TARGETED OLDER, TARGETED OLDER PEOPLE IN ONE GROUP, YOUNGER PEOPLE, NAMELY STUDENTS.
AND ANOTHER GROUP WE TARGETED TECH WORKERS IN A THIRD GROUP TECH EXECUTIVES IN A FOURTH GROUP, WE NE WE CONVENED A GROUP OF ADVOCATES FROM, MAINLY FROM AND THROUGH THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION.
AND THOSE WERE, UM, AND THEN WE TARGETED SOME, UH, CITY ADVOCATE PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH ADVOCACY GROUPS IN THE CITY.
AND WE QUICKLY FOUND THAT WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT THE CITY IS USING, NOBODY KNEW WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
THERE'S A CRITICAL LACK OF AWARENESS ABOUT WHAT THESE MONITORING OR AKA SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGIES ARE.
SO WE QUICKLY ADDED A LITTLE MODULE TO OUR FOCUS GROUPS THAT USE THE, SOME OF THE SLIDES THAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE RIGHT NOW.
AND THEY'RE SIMPLY ILLUSTRATIONS OF WHAT THE CITY DOES WITH SOME DATA GATHERING TECHNOLOGIES.
THE SLIDE YOU JUST LEFT IS OBVIOUSLY A DRONE.
WE'VE CERTAINLY SEEN A LOT OF DRONES IN THE NEWS USED FOR ALL SORTS OF THINGS.
MANY OF OUR CITY UNITS USE DRONE TECHNOLOGIES, THE POLICE, FIRE, EMERGENCY MEDICAL UTILITIES.
AS YOU MAY KNOW, THERE IS ACTUALLY A CITY WORKING GROUP CENTERED ON DRONES AND HOW, WHAT BEST PRACTICES SHOULD BE AROUND DRONES.
YOU PROBABLY HAVE HEARD OF SHOT SPOTTER, BUT THEY, THE LAST TIME WE CHECKED LAST YEAR, THIS WAS NOT, UH, WE, WE CHECKED, UH, WE CHECKED LAST YEAR AND COULD NOT FIND THAT ANY EVIDENCE THAT SHOT SPOTTERS WERE IN USE IN AUSTIN.
THESE ARE VERY CONTROVERSIAL AROUND THE COUNTRY, BUT THEY ARE USED ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES IN MANY CITIES.
THEY, AS THE TITLE SUGGEST, THEY DETECT WHAT SOUND LIKE GUNSHOTS, AND TYPICALLY THEY'RE DEPLOYED IN IN REGIONS WHERE POLICE BELIEVE.
THERE MAY BE THAT THAT MAY BE HEAVIER CRIME AREAS, AND THEY CAN ALERT POLICE TO GO TO CERTAIN LOCATIONS IF THEY HEAR SHOTS.
ONE REASON THEY'VE BEEN CONTROVERSIAL IS THEY ARE NOT FAIL SAFE.
THEY, UH, DETECT A LOT OF SOUNDS THAT MAY NOT BE SHOTS AT ALL.
SO THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CITIZEN OBJECTION TO SHOT SPOTTERS IN NUMEROUS LOCATIONS.
ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE SOME EXAMPLES OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE USED HERE IN AUSTIN.
AND INDEED SOME OF THESE SHOTS ARE FROM AUSTIN.
THE ONE ON THE UPPER LEFT, FOR EXAMPLE.
WE HAVE A LOT OF TRAFFIC CAMERAS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THESE ARE PROBABLY THE CAMERAS YOU'RE MOST FAMILIAR WITH.
THEY'RE AT MAJOR INTERSECTIONS.
THEY'RE REALLY ALL OVER THE PLACE.
THE HALO CAMERAS TO THE UP IN THE UPPER RIGHT ARE USED MORE IN DOWNTOWN AREAS AND HEAVY RETAIL AREAS.
THEY ARE USUALLY OPERATED BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
AUSTIN USED TO HAVE RED LIGHT CAMERAS.
TEXAS, AS YOU MAY RECALL, GOT RID OF RED LIGHT CAMERAS.
THEY WERE ELIMINATED BECAUSE THEY WERE WILDLY UNPOPULAR WITH THE ELECTORATE HERE IN THIS STATE.
MANY OTHER STATES STILL HAVE THEM.
UH, THEY, THEY TOO HAVE THE PROBLEM OF REPORTING PEOPLE WHO GO THROUGH YELLOW LIGHTS AS THEY TURN RED.
AND THAT REALLY IRRITATES A LOT OF DRIVERS.
IN ANY CASE, THAT'S WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE.
AND THEN CCTV CAMERAS ARE STILL EVERYWHERE.
UM, THEY'RE NOT THAT PROMINENT IN THE AUSTIN SETTING.
THEY CAN BE USED BY THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND OFTEN ARE USED BY THE PUBLIC SECTOR.
THESE ARE AMONG THE OLDEST CAMERA TECHNOLOGIES, UH, THAT CITIES HAVE USED AROUND THE WORLD.
MANY OF US ASSOCIATE THOSE WITH LONDON AND WITH WITH BRITAIN, WHICH DEPLOYED THEM VERY, VERY WIDELY BACK IN THE 1980S.
SO IN THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE, UH, ANOTHER, UH, ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION OF OUR CITY TECHNOLOGY.
THE CITY TRAFFIC CAMERAS ACTUALLY SEND LIVE FEED VIDEO, LIVE FEED PHOTOS TO A CONTROL CENTER.
AND THAT CONTROL CENTER IS ILLUSTRATED IN THE LOWER RIGHT.
THE, OUR TRAFFIC MONITORING FOLKS DO NOT KEEP ANY OF THE FOOTAGE.
EVERYTHING IS LIVE MONITORED, WHICH WAS SORT OF A SURPRISE TO ME.
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ARE A LOT OF REASONS FOR THAT THAT WE COULD GET INTO, IF YOU LIKE.THEY HAVE VERY CAPABLE CAMERAS.
THEY'RE ALWAYS UPGRADING THEIR CAMERAS.
THE CAMERAS CAN TILT AND PAN AND ZOOM, AND THERE'S A DESIRE ON THE PART OF THEIR STAFF TO GET EVEN BETTER CAMERAS.
THIS IS THE, YOU SEE, UH, A GOOGLE MAP, GOOGLE STYLE MAP THAT SHOWS MANY OF THE CAMERA LOCATIONS IN AUSTIN.
OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF CAMERAS, A LOT OF TRAFFIC CAMERAS IN AUSTIN.
THIS IS NOT UNUSUAL IN MAJOR CITIES.
UH, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL ALSO SEE SOMETHING THAT IS A LITTLE LESS TYPICAL, AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT I WANTED THIS I WANTED YOU TO BE AWARE OF, AND I WANT OTHER PEOPLE TO BE AWARE OF AS WELL.
THERE'S A TREND AMONG A LOT OF THE VENDORS WHO ARE SELLING CAMERA TECHNOLOGIES TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT FOR ONE, WHAT I CALL ONE STOP SHOPPING.
AND THE ONE STOP SHOPPING TAKES THE FORM OF UPGRADED STREET LIGHTS THAT HAVE EMBEDDED IN THEM A LOT OF TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITY.
THERE IS A VERY WELL KNOWN CASE IN SAN DIEGO, IN WHICH THE PUBLIC UTILITY UNIT FOR THE CITY UPGRADED ITS STREETLIGHTS TO SAVE MONEY AND TO HAVE BETTER LIGHTS.
MANY CITIES HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS.
UM, THEY ADOPTED A TECHNOLOGY THAT DID INDEED HAVE MUCH BETTER LIGHTS, MORE COST EFFICIENT LIGHTS.
THEY ALSO HAD MICROPHONES AND THEY HAD CAMERAS.
EVENTUALLY, AS THE POLICE LEARNED MORE ABOUT THE CAMERA FACILITIES IN THESE LIGHTS, THEY BEGAN TO USE THE FOOTAGE AND BEGAN TO TRACK CERTAIN PEOPLE USING THAT CAMERA FOOTAGE WITHOUT REALLY ALERTING THE REST OF THE CITY UNITS OR THE CITY COUNCIL THAT THEY WERE DOING THIS.
AND ONCE CITIZENS FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS, THERE WAS A HUGE BACKLASH IN THAT CITY.
ULTIMATELY, THE CITY, BECAUSE OF THE BACKLASH, THE CITY ACTUALLY ADOPTED A SURVEILLANCE ORDINANCE SO THAT THIS SORT OF THING WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN, SO THAT THE USE OF VARIOUS TECHNOLOGIES WOULD BE MUCH MORE TRANSPARENT TO THE CITIZENRY.
UH, THE WAY IN WHICH THESE SLIDES ARE A LITTLE OUT OF DATE NOW IS BECAUSE I HAVE NOT, UM, HAVE NOT ACCESSED SOMETHING THAT I, I SUSPECT EVERYBODY IN THIS GROUP KNOWS ABOUT.
AND THAT IS THAT AUSTIN HAS PASSED A RESOLUTION IN THE SPRING TO BEGIN TO LOOK AT THESE TECHNOLOGIES AT AI MORE GENERALLY.
AND IT CAN CONVENED A WORKING GROUP, BASICALLY, TO BEGIN TO MAKE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND I BELIEVE THAT SOME OF YOU'RE INVOLVED WITH THAT WORKING GROUP, AND I'M, I HOPE THAT YOU ALL WILL BE HEARING MORE ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR GROUP IN THE FUTURE.
SO LET ME TALK THEN A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE FINDINGS FROM OUR FOCUS GROUPS.
UM, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE A SUMMARY OF THE KINDS OF QUESTIONS THAT WE'RE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT.
WE'RE PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON MATTERS OF PRIVACY.
IN THE FACE OF CAMERA TECHNOLOGIES IN PARTICULAR, THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, AS, AS MOST PEOPLE KNOW, THERE IS NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO PRIVACY IN THE UNITED STATES.
BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF, UH, PROVISIONS THAT GIVE US PRIVACY IN DIFFERENT SPACES AND UNDER A VARIETY OF OTHER LAWS.
SOME OPERATE AT THE STATE LEVEL.
UM, DEPE AND EVERY STATE HAS DIFFERENT PRIVACY LAWS AND PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.
WE'RE, UH, LOOKING AT SOMETHING THAT WE CALL TECH CONTEXTUAL INTEGRITY.
IT'S, IT'S A TERM OF ART WHERE WE DIDN'T ORIGINATE THAT TERM, BUT WE USE IT BECAUSE THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE'RE FACED WITH ARE SO NEW AND ARE EVOLVING SO QUICKLY, ESPECIALLY IN THE FACE OF THE CAPABILITIES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE THAT WE BELIEVE PRIVACY HAS TO REALLY BE RETHOUGHT.
PRIVACY IS NOT A SIMP A SIMPLE MATTER AS IT WAS A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, OF A PUBLIC SPACE WHERE YOU HAVE NO PRIVACY AND A PRIVATE SPACE WHERE YOU HAVE, WHERE YOU HAVE TOTAL PRIVACY WITH THE OMNIPRESENCE OF SO MANY DEVICES, INCLUDING INTERNET OF THINGS, DEVICES, SOCIAL MEDIA AND PHONES.
THIS, THERE'S A DIFFERENT SET OF CONTEXT NOW IN WHICH WE EXPECT PRIVACY OR IN WHICH WE CAN CONTROL CERTAIN LEVELS OF PRIVACY OR CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER PRIVACY, EVEN THOUGH WE MIGHT BE IN WHAT WE CONSIDER A PRIVATE SPACE.
THAT'S WHY WE TRY TO HIGHLIGHT CONTEXT.
AND TO THAT END, WE'RE INQUIRING OF PEOPLE AROUND THE TYPES OF INFORMATION THAT
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ARE THREATENED WITH RISK THREATENED OR COULD BE BENEFICIAL.WHEN IT COMES TO THE USE OF CITY CAMERAS, WE'RE ASKING PEOPLE ABOUT WHO SHOULD BE USING CAMERAS AND WHO SHOULD NOT BE USING CAMERAS AND WHAT THE LEVELS OF CONSENT MIGHT BE THAT WOULD, AND ALLOW THEM TO FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THE CITY'S USE OF DIFFERENT CAMERA TECHNOLOGIES.
AND THEN, AS I SAID BEFORE, WE, WE WERE INVESTIGATING THE CONTEXTUAL FACTORS THAT MIGHT CONDITION THEIR RESPONSES.
AND IF, IF THAT SEEMS A LITTLE CONVOLUTED TO YOU, THE SIMPLE BOILED DOWN NOTION IS SIMPLY THAT WE THINK ABOUT CAMERAS VERY DIFFERENTLY WHEN WE MIGHT THINK ABOUT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT USING A DRONE TO MONITOR A BURNING BUILDING AS OPPOSED TO WHEN THE POLICE MIGHT USE DRONE CAMERAS TO MONITOR A PUBLIC PROTEST.
THOSE ARE VERY DIFFERENT CONTEXTS, EVEN THOUGH THE TECHNOLOGIES ARE THE SAME.
SO, UH, WHEN WE, IF YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT, UH, THE NEXT SLIDE, WE SUMMARIZE OUR RESEARCH METHODS, AND I'M REALLY JUST GOING TO TALK MORE ABOUT THESE FOCUS GROUPS THAT I'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT.
AND IF YOU LIKE, AND IF YOU HAVE TIME, I'LL LEAVE THIS TO YOU STEVE, TO, TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANNA HEAR ABOUT OUR CASE STUDY OF THE LIBRARY.
UH, BUT BASICALLY OUR DATA, THE DATA I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT TONIGHT ARE QUALITATIVE.
A LOT OF, BASED ON A LOT OF INTERVIEWS AND ESPECIALLY THESE FOCUS GROUPS.
THE COURSE OF OUR RESEARCH HAS OF COURSE INCLUDED A LOT OF CONVERSATION WITH MEMBERS OF CITY STAFF, ESPECIALLY IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND TRANSPORTATION.
AND WE'VE SPOKEN WITH THE CHIEF PRIVACY OFFICER AND MEMBERS OF THE INNOVATION OFFICE AS WELL.
SO THE NEXT SLIDE GETS INTO SOME OF THESE CORE FINDINGS FROM OUR FOCUS GROUPS.
I'LL PREFACE THIS BY SAYING WE REALLY THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE A LOT OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN, SAY, YOUNGER PEOPLE AND OLDER PEOPLE IN TERMS OF HOW THEY THOUGHT ABOUT PRIVACY AND TECHNOLOGIES.
WE REALLY THOUGHT THAT CITIZEN ACTIVISTS MIGHT HAVE VERY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES THAN, THAN SAY, THAN, THAN SOME OF OUR, OTHER THAN TECH WORKERS MIGHT.
BUT IN FACT, THERE WAS A LOT OF CONVERGENCE ACROSS OUR FOCUS GROUPS.
UH, THE, AND I THINK THAT'S A REFLECTION OF THE FACT THAT A LOT OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES ARE SO NEW AND PEOPLE DON'T HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF WHAT'S APPROPRIATE AND WHAT'S INAPPROPRIATE HERE.
ONE OVERARCHING FINDING, HOWEVER, WAS THAT PEOPLE, EVERYBODY APPRECIATED THE SECURITY ASPECTS OF THESE SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGIES.
YOUNGER PEOPLE, AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, ASSUME THAT, THAT THEIR PRIVACY OPTIONS HAVE BEEN LIMITED BECAUSE THEY SHARE SO MUCH ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
BUT THAT SAID, EVERYBODY FEELS AS IF THEY ARE BEING MONITORED IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS.
AND THE REFRAIN THAT CAME THROUGH VERY FREQUENTLY WAS THAT IF PEOPLE ARE GIVING UP AND SHARING WHAT THEY MIGHT CONSIDER PERSONAL DATA A LOT, A LOT, THEY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE TECHNOLOGY AND THE DATA ARE BEING USED FOR GOOD PURPOSES.
THEY DID FEEL, AND I'M GONNA COME BACK TO THAT POINT BECAUSE I THINK IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT POINT FOR, FOR THE CITY, AS IT BEGINS TO THINK MORE IN A MORE, IN, IN A DEEPER WAY ABOUT DATA GOVERNANCE ISSUES.
THERE ARE COMPLICATIONS THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE CITED WITH RESPECT TO THE PERSONAL USE OF CAMERAS IN QUASI-PUBLIC SPACES.
THE ISSUE OF RING CAMERAS AND RING CAMERAS CAPTURING NON-PRIVATE SPACE SPACE OUTSIDE OF YOUR HOUSE WAS CLEARLY UNSETTLING TO SOME PEOPLE, AS WAS THE FACT OF PEOPLE'S PERSONAL CAMERAS PERHAPS CAPTURING, UH, THEMSELVES IN THEIR BACKYARD OR ON THE STREET, OR WALKING DOGS ON SIDEWALKS.
THAT GOES TO THE POINT OF THE IDEA OF WHAT'S PRIVATE SPACE AND WHAT, WHAT'S PUBLIC SPACE IS NOT AS CLEAR AS IT PERHAPS ONCE, UH, ONCE WAS.
ANOTHER RESOUNDING ISSUE THAT CAME UP WITH RESPECT TO A DISCUSSION OF BENEFITS AND CONCERNS IN THE FOCUS GROUPS WAS THAT PEOPLE WANTED TO FEEL THAT TECHNOLOGY AND USE OF THESE SYSTEMS WAS NOT JUST A SHORTCUT TO DEALING WITH BIGGER, MORE COMPLEX PROBLEMS. IT MIGHT BE ONE THING TO PUT UP A WHOLE LOT OF TRAFFIC CAMERAS, BUT IF, BUT IF FUNDAMENTAL SOLUTIONS TO TRAFFIC CONGESTION DON'T
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FOLLOW, WHAT GOOD ARE THE CAMERAS REALLY DOING THAT? THAT'S JUST MY EXAMPLE FOR YOU.THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER EXAMPLES THAT THAT ONE COULD RECITE.
AND INDEED, A GREAT EXAMPLE CAME UP IN THE CASE OF THE CASE OF THE LIBRARY.
THE, OUR LIBRARY SYSTEM HAS 450 CAMERAS IN IT.
MOST OF THOSE ARE DOWNTOWN, OVER 200 OF THEM ARE DOWNTOWN.
AND THE USE OF THE CAMERAS THERE REALLY TACKLES EXACTLY THIS I, I THINK, GOES TO EXACTLY THIS QUESTION.
A LOT OF PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THE DATA.
I THINK MOST PEOPLE ARE AWARE THAT CAMERAS ARE GENERATING IMAGES.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS REALLY GOOD AT ANALYZING IMAGE DATA.
IT'S WAY BETTER THAN WE ARE AT ANALYZING DATA WITH OUR SIM WITH SIMPLE SITE.
BUT PEOPLE FELT THAT THERE WAS KIND OF AN UNCERTAIN EXCHANGE IN GIVING UP IMAGES OF THEMSELVES.
THEY WERE NOT SURE WHAT THEY WERE GETTING IN RETURN.
SO THIS ISSUE OF A TRANSPARENCY AND OF RECIPROCITY CAME UP REPEATEDLY, AS DID THE ISSUE OF NOT PEOPLE NOT KNOWING WHERE THE DATA GO.
WHO USES THE DATA FROM ALL THESE, ALL THESE CAMERAS.
NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THE TRAFFIC CAMERA POLICIES ARE, FOR EXAMPLE, NOBODY REALLY KNEW WHAT THE CAMERA DATA POLICY WAS.
AND, AND INDEED THE, AT LEAST THE LIBRARY HAS A POLICY, IT'S KIND OF DEEP, IT, IT'S NOT EXACTLY HIDDEN, BUT IT'S NOT VERY VISIBLE.
UH, BUT ALL THAT BY WAY OF SAYING MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHERE DATA GO.
AND SO THEY WERE CALLING FOR SOME KIND OF DATA GOVERNANCE HERE, AND THEY EXPRESSED A KEEN INTEREST IN UNDERSTANDING A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT IT.
AND MY TERM FOR THAT WAS ALGORITHMIC LITERACY.
THAT IS NOT WHAT, WHAT PEOPLE SAID IN OUR FOCUS GROUPS.
ON THE NEXT SLIDE, WHEN IT COMES TO CONTEXTUAL FEATURES, TWO BIG ISSUES CAME UP.
ONE HAD TO DO WITH THE UNCERTAINTY OF THIS PUBLIC SPACE ISSUE, AND THE OTHER HAD TO DO WITH THE REAL SCENARIOS WHERE PEOPLE ACTUALLY ENCOUNTER TECHNOLOGY.
TO THE FIRST POINT, I'VE ALREADY BROUGHT UP THIS ISSUE OF SA SHARED SPACES.
A LOT OF PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY AFTER WE SHOWED THEM IMAGES OF DRONES, TALKED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT HOW DRONES COMPLICATE THE ISSUE OF PUBLICNESS.
THEY COULD, FOR EXAMPLE, REALLY APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT DRONES ARE MONITORING PUBLIC FESTIVALS IN Z OR PARK FOR SAFETY ISSUES.
IF SOMEBODY HAS HEAT STROKE, FOR EXAMPLE, IT'S GREAT IF A DRONE CAMERA COULD SOMEHOW DETECT THAT AND DETECT A LOCATION AND BE ABLE TO CONVEY THAT TO EMS PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN GET THERE TO HELP.
THEY COULD DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THAT.
BUT THERE WERE OTHER SITUATIONS IN WHICH THERE WAS JUST A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT WHAT WAS APPROPRIATE AND WHAT WASN'T, AND WHETHER OR NOT THERE WERE CONVENTIONS THAT THE CITY FOLLOWED ALREADY IN USING DRONES AND IN CAPTURING DRONE FOOTAGE ON THE SECOND POINT, UM, AS WE WORKED THROUGH DIFFERENT SCENARIOS WHERE VARIOUS OF THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT I SHOWED YOU AT, AT THE BEGINNING TODAY, UM, ARE, ARE USED, THE FOCUS GROUPS REALLY DID SEEM TO CONVERGE ON THE IDEA THAT THERE IS NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL GOVERNANCE APPROACH TO USING THESE TECHNOLOGIES.
IT WOULD BE NICE IF THERE WAS A STATEMENT THAT COULD COVER ALL OF THESE SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGIES, BUT IT LOOKS TO, IT LOOKED TO THEM, AND IT CERTAINLY LOOKS TO ME AS IF SOMETHING THAT ENTAILS AND CAN APPRECIATE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THE GRANULAR CIRCUMSTANCES IS REALLY WHAT'S CALLED FOR.
UH, PEOPLE WERE VERY AWARE OF TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN PRIVACY AND SECURITY.
SOME OF THE TECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS WE'RE DOING ARE, IS GEARED, THOSE INVESTIGATIONS ARE GEARED TO TRYING TO GET BOTH, TRYING TO ACTUALLY PROTECT PRIVACY, BUT ALSO PROTECT SECURITY.
BUT RIGHT NOW THAT THERE'S, UH, FOR MANY PEOPLE AN UNCERTAIN KIND OF SEESAW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRIVACY AND SECURITY THAT I BELIEVE CI THE CITIES SHOULD BEGIN TO GRAPPLE WITH.
AND THERE ARE SOME WAYS THAT CITIES, OTHER CITIES ARE GRAPPLING WITH THIS.
UM, THERE WAS ALSO AN INTERESTING OBSERVATION THAT FOLKS MADE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN IS
[00:30:01]
A TECH CITY.UH, THESE ARE, AND THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT THE CITY USES ARE NOT UNFAMILIAR TO A LOT OF THE WORKFORCE HERE.
CERTAINLY THE DATA THAT THEY PRODUCE THAT'S NOT UNFAMILIAR TO THE WORKFORCE HERE TOO.
SO HAVING A SMART SET OF POLICIES IS SOMETHING THAT CAME UP REPEATEDLY, UH, IN THE FOCUS GROUPS.
AND, AND THEN FINALLY, UM, WITH RESPECT TO ACTORS USING THAT, THAT THAT FORMULATION I I SHARED WITH YOU EARLIER, WE FOUND THAT PEOPLE'S OWN EXPERIENCES AND THEIR OWN IDENTITY REALLY FIGURED INTO HOW THEY THOUGHT ABOUT THE RISKS OF BEING CAPTURED BY CAMERAS AND THE PROTECTIONS OF CAMERAS.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE ISSUE OF ICE AND ICE CAP USING OR ASKING FOR CAMERA FOOTAGE IN ORDER TO INVESTIGATE WHAT WOULD BE I IMMIGRANT, UH, IMMIGRANT POPULATIONS DID COME UP IN OUR FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS.
AND THERE WAS SOME, THERE WAS CONCERN ABOUT CAMERA IMAGES AND CITY GATHERED DATA SERVING THOSE GOALS WHEN THE POPULATION OF AUSTIN MAY NOT APPROVE OF IT.
UM, SO THOSE, THOSE WERE KIND OF THE HIGH LEVEL POINTS OF OUR FOCUS GROUPS.
STEVE, DO YOU WANT ME TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WE, WHAT WE FOUND IN THE LIBRARY? OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO JUST TAKE THIS AS A BITE-SIZED CHUNK OF OUR FINDINGS AT THIS POINT? YEAH.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING THE QUESTION.
TROOVER, I, I SEEM TO REMEMBER YOU, UH, YOU PRESENTED MAYBE LAST YEAR AT SOME POINT ON THE PROJECT YES.
YOU WERE IN A SUBCOMMITTEE YEAH.
UM, AND, AND, AND A FEW OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS GROUP WERE THERE TOO.
UM, I, I WOULD, I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, I WANNA BE RESPECTFUL OF, UH, THE TWO OTHER SPEAKERS THAT WE HAVE.
SO, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S NOT ASKING TOO MUCH, WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU BACK, UH, MAYBE NEXT MONTH OR, OR THE MONTH AFTER TO TALK THROUGH THAT SPECIFIC PROJECT.
UM, WELL, WE HAVE, I WOULD LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THAT, BUT EVEN MORE PERTINENT TO THE CONTEMPORARY MOMENT WITH THE RESOLUTION MM-HMM.
WELL, WE, WE ARE WORKING ON SOMETHING THAT, THAT I THINK WOULD BE REALLY OF INTEREST TO THIS COMMITTEE.
WE'VE LOOKED AT, WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT THE 25 CITIES THAT HAVE ACTUALLY ADOPTED ORDINANCES AROUND SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGIES.
AND I THINK YOU MIGHT BE VERY INTERESTED IN THOSE FINDINGS AND HOW OTHER CITIES HAVE DEALT WITH, WITH THESE, WITH THESE SORTS OF TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR ROLES IN THEM.
SO I COULD, I COULD DEFINITELY SHARE THAT AND THAT MIGHT BE MORE EXCITING.
THAT, AND THAT WAS ACTUALLY GONNA BE, TO SHIFT GEARS A LITTLE BIT, THAT WAS ACTUALLY GONNA BE MY, MY QUESTION TO YOU.
I HEARD YOU, I HEARD YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT UPFRONT ABOUT, UH, ONE CITY AND PASSING AN ORDINANCE.
UH, SO MAYBE TIED TO, TO YOUR COMMENT THERE, I'M CURIOUS, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, THINKING TACTICALLY AROUND THE SCOPE OF WORK FOR OUR COMMISSION TO ADVISE CITY COUNCIL, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES TO AROUND, UM, PERHAPS, UH, THE RECOMMENDATION AROUND AN ORDINANCE? DOES THE CITY OF AUSTIN ALREADY HAVE AN ORDINANCE? COULD COULD IT BE IMPROVED? IT, IT DOES NOT.
WHERE DO WE STACK UP? SO CURIOUS TO GET YOUR YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT.
RIGHT NOW, AUSTIN DOES NOT HAVE AN ORDINANCE.
WHAT WE LEARNED IN OUR OWN RESEARCH IS DIFFERENT UNITS OF THE CITY HAVE INTERNAL POLICIES ABOUT HOW THEY HANDLE DATA.
UH, JUST AS WE WERE TALKING TO THE TRANSPORTATION, AUSTIN MOBILITY, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY CAME UP WITH AN INTERNAL POLICY FOR THEIR DATA.
THE LIBRARY WE DISCOVER DOES HAVE A DATA POLICY.
THEY KEEP THEIR DATA FROM THEIR CAMERAS FOR TWO WEEKS, AND THEN THEY DELETE IT.
IT IS, UH, DATA THAT COULD BE, UH, OBTAINED WITH, YOU KNOW, THROUGH A A A, A PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST.
ANYBODY COULD OBTAIN IT WITHIN THOSE TWO WEEKS, OF COURSE, BUT AT LEAST THEY HAVE A POLICY.
OTHER UNITS DO NOT HAVE POLICIES.
SOME OF THE UNITS WE TALKED TO WERE A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT THAT.
UM, AND THIS IS NOT ATYPICAL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THE FACT THAT WE'VE LOOKED HIGH AND LOW TO FIND CITIES WITH ORDINANCES.
WE'VE ONLY FOUND 25 THAT TO ME, I, THERE'S A LOT OF CITIES THAT HAVE NO POLICIES WHATSOEVER.
SO, BUT THIS IS, THIS IS A TRAIN THAT'S COMING.
UM, YEAH, SO LET, I I, I DO WANT TO KEEP IT MOVING.
SO I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND SHIFT TO SOME OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS WHO MAY HAVE QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
TROOVER, UH, I SAW COMMISSIONER DESTA MIGHT HAVE A QUESTION.
[00:35:01]
RELATING TO THESE, UH, TO THIS LAST COMMENT ABOUT 25 CITIES HAVING ORDINANCES OR, UH, SOME CITIES HAVE POLICIES THAT ARE DIFFERENT BY DEPARTMENT, ET CETERA.IS THIS SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, SHORT OF A NATIONAL MANDATE, YOU KNOW, WHERE THERE'S SOME NATIONAL STANDARDS WHICH ARE ALWAYS MORE COMPLICATED TO, UH, CREATE? WOULD IT BE THAT THIS COULD BE SOMETHING THAT, LET'S SAY THE CONFERENCE OF MAYORS YES.
THAT, THAT ESSENTIALLY PROMOTES A SET OF STANDARDS THAT WOULD BE APPLICABLE TO THE CITIES.
THIS ISSUE IS BEING TALKED ABOUT AT SORT OF A NATIONAL LEVEL AT, AT AMONG ORGANIZATIONS THAT AGGREGATE, UH, TELECOMMUNICATION STAFF THAT ORG, THAT THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES, AND PROBABLY THE CONFERENCE OF MAYORS AS WELL.
SO IT IS, THIS IS A DISCUSSION THAT IS OCCURRING RIGHT NOW.
ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS? YES, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS? YES.
UH, FIRST AND FOREMOST, I'LL SAY GO LONGHORNS.
UH, SECOND, UH, I'LL ASK A QUESTION ABOUT MORE SPECIFICS AROUND THE ORDINANCES YOU WERE REFERRING TO THAT THE 25 CITIES HAVE.
UH, WERE YOU SAYING SPECIFICALLY THAT THOSE ARE LIKE DATA POLICIES SURROUNDING, UH, SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SPECIFICALLY, OR WAS IT LIKE A DATA POLICY IN GENERAL? DATA LIKE POLICIES IS LIKE A CATEGORY.
UH, WHAT DOES ORDINANCES MEAN PER SE? SOME, THERE'S A CLUSTER THAT ARE VERY SIMILAR, AND INDEED THE A CLU HAS PROVIDED SOME TEMPLATE LANGUAGE FOR MANY OF THESE, BUT THERE'S A, A BUNCH THAT ARE QUITE DIFFERENT.
THEY'RE NOT SPECIFIC NECESSARILY TO CAMERAS.
FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE EARLIEST CITIES TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE WAS SEATTLE.
UH, THEY ADOPTED THEIR FIRST ORDINANCE IN 2013.
THEY REVISED IT BECAUSE THEY FOUND SOME FLAWS IN THEIR FIRST ORDINANCE.
IT WAS THIS, THE FIRST ORDINANCE REFERRED JUST TO TECHNOLOGIES.
AND THE INTERPRETATION OF DATA GATHERING TECHNOLOGIES WAS HARDWARE.
SO CITY UNITS THAT WERE DEPLOYING SOFTWARE THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE EXEMPT FROM THE ORDINANCE,
SO THEY REVISED IT TO MAKE IT MUCH MORE SPECIFIC IN 2018.
SO THERE WAS A LOT OF, AND THERE WAS A LOT OF CITIZEN DISCUSSION AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN COMING UP WITH THAT.
UH, SEATTLES IS, AND PORTLANDS TOO, ARE VERY FULL BLOWN ORDINANCES.
THEY COVER A LOT OF ELEMENTS OF, OF DATA AND OF TECHNOLOGIES, AND THEY ACTUALLY HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW TO ROUTINELY REPORT BACK TO THE CITIZENS AS WELL.
ONE THING THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING IS WE'VE TRIED TO FOLLOW UP WITH CITIES TO SEE IF IN FACT, THEY ARE REPORTING, THEY, THEIR ORDINANCES SAY, WE'RE GONNA HAVE AN ANNUAL REPORT.
WELL, ALREADY WE FOUND THAT, WELL, THESE REPORTS ARE KIND OF HARD TO GENERATE, AND NOT EVERY CITY HAS EVEN EVEN DONE IT.
SO, WHICH IS ALSO KIND OF INTERESTING.
SO IT, IT SUGGESTS TO ME THAT IF AN ORDINANCE IS ADOPTED SOMEWHERE, MAKE IT SOMETHING THAT THE STAFF REALLY CAN BUY INTO AND CAN FOLLOW UP AS SUITABLY WITH, OR HAVE A THIRD PARTY THAT IS EQUIPPED TO DO THE APPROPRIATE AUDITS TO, TO DELIVER THE RESULTS THAT ARE IN THE SPIRIT OF THE ORDINANCE.
AS A FOLLOW UP, IS THERE A WAY TO FIND WHAT THOSE 25 CITIES ARE? I HAVE A, I HAVE A LIST.
I MEAN, I HAVE A BIG SPREADSHEET BECAUSE WE'RE ACTIVELY GATHERING DATA ON THAT.
DO YOU WANT ME TO SEND IT TO YOU? THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL.
STRO, IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND SENDING THAT TO, TO DAN AND HE CAN DISTRIBUTE IT TO THE, THE ENTIRE COMMISSION.
YEAH, CERTAINLY SEEING, UH, AN OPPORTUNITY HERE TO, UH, TO ADVISE THE CITY.
SO, UH, YEAH, WE, MAYBE WE CAN HANDLE THIS AT A, UH, SMALLER WORKING GROUP LEVEL, AND WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU INVOLVED WITH ADVISING US IN SOME CAPACITY, DR.
TROOVER? YEAH, WELL, I DO HAVE, UH, ONE QUESTION.
SO YOU HAD STARTED YOUR PRESENTATION WITH THE DELPHI STUDY, UH, SURVEY.
SO, YOU KNOW, HAVING DONE MY SHARE OF SURVEYS, HAVING BEEN THE RECIPIENT OF MY MULTIPLE SURVEYS, THERE'S ALWAYS A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO WILL ACCEPT THE RESULTS AND ALWAYS A GROUP THAT WILL CHALLENGE THE RESULTS.
AND IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW WIDE THE SURVEY IS.
WHAT IS THE DATA SPACE, WHAT IS THE SAMPLE SPACE, WHAT IS THE POPULATION SPACE YOU'RE TARGETING, ET CETERA.
SO JUST LIKE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT WAYS TO,
[00:40:01]
UH, UH, MONITOR THE USE OR ABUSE OF TECHNOLOGY, WHAT, YOU KNOW, HOW DO YOU MONITOR YOUR USE OF DATA IN THE SURVEY SO THAT IT STANDS ON ITS OWN AS A DEFINITIVE, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, STUDY.WELL IN THAT, ACTUALLY THERE, THERE, THERE'S AN OUT WITH THE DELPHI SURVEY.
A DELPHI SURVEY IS, SURVEY IS NOT A RANDOM SAMPLE.
A DELPHI SURVEY IS A SURVEY OF EXPERTS.
SO WE JUST WENT TO A VARIETY OF SOURCES THAT CLAIMED EXPERTISE IN THIS AREA AND SURVEYED THEM.
UM, I FEEL LIKE A DELPHI SURVEY USUALLY HAS SEVERAL ITERATIONS.
IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE TWO OR THREE ROUNDS OF SURVEYING PEOPLE.
UM, AND WE ONLY DID ONE ROUND.
WE WOULD LOVE TO DO THE SECOND ROUND ON THAT.
SO I ONLY USED THE DELPHI SURVEY RESULTS AS A HEURISTIC.
IT WAS VERY INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT THE EXPERTS THOUGHT WERE THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL DATA.
AND SHOTSPOTTER, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS RIGHT UP THERE.
AS ONE OF THE CONTROVERSIAL TECHNOLOGIES.
WELL, I WANT TO THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN, DR.
TROOVER, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION FOR BEING AVAILABLE TO US AS A SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT.
AND, UH, ONCE WE GET THAT, UH, WORKING GROUP, UH, STOOD UP, FOCUSED ON, UM, ON SURVEILLANCE, WE'LL CERTAINLY CALL ON YOU.
UM, BUT WITH THAT, WE DO NEED TO MOVE FORWARD IN OUR AGENDA.
[3. “AI Coding Makerspace: Youth Creating AI Voice Chatbots for Social Justice and other inclusive AI literacy programs” presentation by community digital inclusion organization, Changing Expectations (Dr. Phillip Eaglin, Founder, Changing Expectations)]
GO AHEAD AND, AND MOVE FORWARD TO AGENDA ITEM THREE.CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE.
I MET A YOUNG MAN NAMED, UH, JEFF WITH THE AUTONOMY INSTITUTE HERE IN AUSTIN.
YOU ALL MAY KNOW HIM, AND HE IS OF GREAT, UH, INTEREST, HAS GREAT INTEREST IN THIS IDEA OF ADVANCING AI AND EDGE TECHNOLOGY.
AND SO THAT'S WHO CAME TO MIND IN HIS WORK AS I WAS LISTENING TO DR.
TROOVER AND, UH, BEING IN AUSTIN NOW 25 YEARS, I APPRECIATE AUSTIN BEING ON THE FRONT LINE, UH, IN ADVANCING TECHNOLOGY.
UH, AND SO WITH THAT, UH, I THINK I SENT SOME SLIDES OVER TO DAN, AND HE'S GONNA SEE IF WE CAN GET 'EM UP.
UH, WE JUST EXCHANGED A FEW MESSAGES TO SEE.
WELL, I'LL JUST SAY SINCE I STARTED WITH, UH, BEING HERE 25 YEARS, I ACTUALLY, UH, MOVED TO AUSTIN TO ADVANCE SIGNS AND MATH EDUCATION THROUGH THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AT THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT LAB THAT YOU MAY HAVE KNOWN OF, CALLED C-L-S-E-D-L, SOUTHWEST EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LAB SINCE 1968 WAS THE ARM OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO IMPROVE, UH, TEACHING AND LEARNING ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY, ESPECIALLY IN OUR FIVE STATE REGION.
UH, AND SO I'LL GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT, UH, SHORTLY.
BUT THERE I CAN SEE MY SLIDES.
AND SO I'M WITH A NONPROFIT HERE IN AUSTIN, CHANGING EXPECTATIONS, AND WE WERE SUPPORTED BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S G TOP PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT LAST YEAR THE BLACK GIRLS IN AI CODING MAKERSPACE.
IN ADDITION TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WE HAD SUPPORT FROM THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION AND FROM GOOGLE.
AND I WAS ASKED, UH, A WHILE BACK, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT GOOGLE, THE INTERNATIONAL, UH, COMPANY? UH, I SAID, YES, NOT JUST THE LOCAL, UH, OFFICE, BUT THE INTERNATIONAL, UH, ORGANIZATION OR CORPORATION SUPPORTED CHANGING EXPECTATIONS.
AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR, UH, SPONSORSHIP OVER THE PAST 13 YEARS.
AND SO WITH THAT, YOU CAN SEE MY BACKGROUND.
JUST SO YOU KNOW, I'M A LONGTIME EDUCATOR OF 34 YEARS.
SO I'VE BEEN AT THIS, UH, FOR, YOU KNOW, LONGER THAN MANY PEOPLE STICK AROUND IN EDUCATION.
STARTED AS A SCIENCE TEACHER TEACHING PHYSICS IN THE EARLY NINETIES BEFORE COMPUTERS WERE EVEN IN THE CLASSROOM.
UH, I CAN REMEMBER WHEN THEY WERE INTRODUCED AROUND 91 OR SO.
AND, UM, AND THAT WAS QUITE AN INNOVATION AND TEACHING SCIENCE, I REALIZED THAT THAT'S WHAT OUR GOAL WAS TO HELP STUDENTS ADVANCE, UH, SCIENCE AND CREATE TECHNOLOGY.
AND SO THIS WAS LONG BEFORE WE EVEN UNDERSTOOD WHAT THE INTERNET WAS IN ITS APPLICATION IN, UH, IN MODERN SOCIETY.
AND SO WENT ON TO WORK IN STEM, COMPUTER SCIENCE, EDUCATION, AND NOW AI EDUCATION, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EDUCATION.
AND YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF ORGANIZATION CODE.ORG BACK IN 2014, STARTED A INITIATIVE CALLED THE HOUR OF CODE TO ADVANCE COMPUTER SCIENCE AROUND
[00:45:01]
THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD.AND I BECAME A FACILITATOR WITH THAT ORGANIZATION, WORKED WITH THOUSANDS OF TEACHERS, UH, RIGHT HERE IN TEXAS TO ADVANCE COMPUTER SCIENCE.
AND SO FOUND A CHANGING EXPECTATIONS IN 2011.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, OUR MISSION IS TO CREATE STEM COMPUTING AND NOW AI LITERACY TEACHING AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE TRADITIONALLY UNDERSERVED IN STEM IN THEIR TEACHERS.
AND SO THAT HAS BEEN THE MISSION FOR 13 YEARS.
UH, AND SO PRIOR TO THAT, AS I SAID, I SPENT 21 YEARS IN EDUCATION.
I'LL JUST JUMPED DOWN, UH, HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER, UH, STEM PD PROVIDER FOR THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HERE IN AUSTIN FOR THE EISENHOWER MATH AND SCIENCE CONSORTIUM, THE COMPREHENSIVE CENTERS.
AND THEN AT THE END OF THOSE 21 YEARS FOR THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY, AS AN EDUCATOR PREPARATION SPECIALIST, I ALWAYS TELL THE TEACHERS THAT I WAS THE LAST GOOD GUY AT TEA.
AND SO IF YOU'VE WORKED FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS, UH, INCLUDING THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY, THEN YOU MIGHT UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS TO A TEACHER, UH, TO BE TOLD AT, UM, THE AGENCY, UH, TEA DOES AS MUCH AS IT CAN TO SUPPORT EDUCATION.
BUT LET ME JUST SAY OFF THE RECORD AND ON THE RECORD, UH, WE COULD DO A WHOLE LOT BETTER AT THE STATE LEVEL, AT THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY.
AND SO, UH, DURING THE 13 YEARS, I'LL JUST SAY, I WENT ON TO, UH, DEVELOP THE MY BROTHERS KEEPER CODING MAKERSPACE AND THE BLACK GIRLS AND AI CODING MAKERSPACE.
WE'VE HAD FIVE COHORTS OF THE MY BROTHERS KEEPER CODING MAKER SPACE, AND YOU'LL SEE A SLIDE ABOUT THAT SHORTLY.
AND THEN IN THE PAST SIX YEARS, TWO NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION PROJECTS ON BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN STEM AND COMPUTING, UH, THROUGH CHANGING EXPECTATIONS.
AND I'LL ADD BACK IN 2018, PARTICIPATED IN A GROUP CALLED AI FOR K 12.
SO WE STARTED A LONG TIME AGO THINKING ABOUT HOW TO PREPARE K 12 STUDENTS AND TEACHERS TO TEACH AI AND TO LEARN HOW TO USE AI.
THIS WAS WELL BEFORE GENERATIVE AI.
AND SO THAT WAS AN NSF PROJECT THROUGH CARNEGIE MELLON, UH, THAT WE WERE INVOLVED IN CALLED AI FOR K 12.
AND SO HERE'S THE PROJECT THAT I'M, UH, SHARING WITH YOU, UH, TODAY.
AGAIN, AS I SAID, THE BLACK GIRLS IN AI CODING MAKERSPACE SUPPORTED THIS PAST YEAR BY GTOP S WE HAD 14 BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS IN THE FIRST COHORT WHO DESIGNED AI VOICE CHAT BOTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND I'LL TELL YOU WHERE THAT COMES FROM.
UH, BUT AT THAT LINK THERE, IF YOU'RE ABLE NOW OR LATER TO GO TO THAT LINK, YOU'LL SEE PICTURES OF THOSE, UH, YOUNG LADIES, UH, MEETING THERE AT THE CARVER MUSEUM AND THE CARVER LIBRARY IN EAST AUSTIN SINCE LAST, UH, JULY, UH, AND AUGUST, AND THEN THROUGHOUT THE FALL AND SPRING, UH, THIS PAST SPRING.
SO THERE'S SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PROGRAM THERE ON THE FLYER.
YOU CAN SEE WHEN WE MET, UH, AND, UH, THE TOPIC WAS, UH, DESIGNING AI VOICE CHAT BOTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE.
AND FROM OUR NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION PROJECT, WE LEARNED THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO IDENTIFY A SOCIAL JUSTICE TOPIC FOR THE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS TO WORK ON.
SO WE SELECTED THE TOPIC AN ADDRESSING ANTI-BLACK POLICE VIOLENCE AND BRUTALITY.
SO IN THIS PROJECT, THE STUDENTS HAD A CHANCE TO DESIGN THOSE AI VOICE CHATBOTS TO LEARN HOW TO USE A TOOL CALLED IBM WATSON ASSISTANT TO, UH, DESIGN THOSE CHAT BOTS, UH, AND THEN EARN A MICRO CREDENTIAL OR DIGITAL BADGE FROM IBM, UH, THAT INDICATES THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO LEVERAGE THAT TOOL TO DESIGN, UH, AI.
AND SO WE STARTED THIS BACK IN 2019 WITH THE SUPPORT OF IBM RIGHT HERE IN AUSTIN.
SO IF I COULD REITERATE, UH, THAT IT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR THE TECH COMMUNITY IN AUSTIN TO SUPPORT, UH, STEM EDUCATION TO THE, UH, EXTENT THAT THAT NSF PROJECT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF IBM HELPING US UNDERSTAND HOW TO USE IBM WATSON ASSISTANT TO BUILD THAT CHATBOT.
AND SO THAT FLYER IS AT THAT WEBSITE ALSO.
YOU'RE WELCOME TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT AND SEE MORE DETAILS ABOUT WHEN WE MET AND WHAT WE DID, UH, DURING THE PROJECT.
BUT I THINK THE NEXT SLIDE WILL GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT THE STUDENTS DID OR HOW THEY BENEFITED IN THIS PROJECT.
SO, AS I SAID, IN 2019, UH, THROUGH A NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION PROJECT, WHICH WAS REALLY ABOUT BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN COMPUTING CALLED A CS FOR ALL
[00:50:01]
RESEARCH PRACTITIONER PARTNERSHIP, WHERE WE WERE FOCUSED ON UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE THAT FACILITATE OR HINDER ACCESS TO COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR BLACK AND HISPANIC STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES, WE NOT ONLY WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE THAT HINDER ACCESS, WE NEEDED TO DEVELOP A SOLUTION TO FACILITATE ACCESS TO LEARNING COMPUTER SCIENCE.AND IN THAT CASE, WE DECIDED TO DESIGN, UH, AN AI CURRICULUM THAT MET THE NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF THOSE STUDENTS, BLACK AND HISPANIC STUDENTS.
AND THAT WAS TO DESIGN AN AI VOICE CHAT BOT THAT ADDRESSED A SOCIAL JUSTICE TOPIC THAT THE STUDENTS LEARN.
UM, THEY, THEY COULD COLLECT DATA ON, UH, THE TOPIC AND USE THAT DATA IN TURN TO DESIGN THAT CHAT BOT.
AND AS WE ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE IDEA THAT DATA IS THE ISSUE THAT LEADS, UH, TO A LOT OF THE CHALLENGES WE FACE IN AI, THE DATA'S NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE, UH, INTERESTS AND THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, THEN IT WILL NOT BENEFIT, IT WILL HARM THOSE COMMUNITIES.
AND, UH, SO WE INTENDED TO TURN THE TABLE ON THAT DYNAMIC AND TEACH THE KIDS THAT WE COULD USE AI TO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT FOR, UM, FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
AND SO THE KIDS LEARN HOW TO DESIGN INCLUSIVE AI IS WHAT WE CALL IT.
THE SECOND ITEM THERE, INCLUSIVE AI DEVELOPERS, NOT JUST CONSUMERS, AND LEARN HOW TO CONSTRUCT AI KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS THAT ARE NEEDED FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.
SO NOT JUST AS WE NOW KNOW, USING GENERATIVE AI TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY, BUT ALSO DEVELOPING AND CHANGING THE DIVERSITY OF THOSE WHO ARE DEVELOPING, UH, AND IN A, IN THE SAME SENSE IMPACTING THE IMPACT OF AI ON UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.
AND SO THE THIRD ITEM THERE, YOU SEE THE KIDS, UH, FOCUSED ON LEARNING HOW TO USE, HOW TO DESIGN THE AI VOICE CHAT BOX, AS THEY SAID, BY COLLECTING DATA TO ENSURE THAT BLACK HISTORY LIVED EXPERIENCES AND CULTURES ARE USED TO ADDRESS A SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUE.
IN OTHER WORDS, TO HAVE SOCIAL IMPACT, SOMEONE TOLD ME WE WERE, WE USED AI AS A SOCIAL TECHNICAL SOLUTION TO ADDRESS, UH, SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES.
AND, UH, ALL THESE YEARS LATER, SINCE 2019, JUST THIS WEEK, I LEARNED THAT THERE'S AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON USING THIS PROCESS CALLED DESIGN JUSTICE TO DESIGN AI.
BUT BACK IN 2019, WE STARTED TO INCORPORATE THAT PROCESS IN THE DESIGN OF OUR AI VOICE CHATBOTS TO, AS IT SAYS THERE, ADDRESS, UH, UH, EXPLICITLY ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES.
UH, AND RATHER THAN REPRODUCE STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES ARE TO EXPLICITLY CHALLENGE, UH, BIAS INSTEAD OF REPRODUCING STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES.
AND SO HOPEFULLY THE KIDS ARE, UH, GOING TO GO ON AND, UH, ACTUALLY BECOME PART OF, OF THE CHANGE THAT WE KNOW IS NEEDED IN THE DESIGN OF AI HAVING PARTICIPATED IN THE BLACK GIRLS AND AI CODING MAKER SPACE.
AND SO I KNOW THEY WILL, BECAUSE WE HAVE THIS SHORT VIDEO CLIP, IF IT WILL PLAY OF A ACTUAL DEMO OF ONE OF THE AI VOICE CHATBOTS DESIGNED.
MY NAME IS CLARISSA ON ONE OF THE STUDENTS TEAMS. I'M THAT EDUCATES PEOPLE ON POLICE BRUTALITY.
THERE SHOULD BE A LITTLE FIVE UP PLAY BUTTON.
WHAT'S UP? WHAT IS POLICE BRUTALITY? LET'S SEE IF YOU HEAR THE SOUND.
I AM NOT QUITE SURE IF THE SOUND IS COMING THROUGH.
POLICE BRUTALITY REFERS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT.
IT'S COMING THROUGH IN THE UNJUSTIFIABLE USE OF PHYSICAL OR VERBAL AGGRESSION, PARTICULARLY TOWARDS INDIVIDUALS OF COLOR.
THIS TREATMENT CONSTITUTES A VIOLATION OF THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS AND AN ABUSE OF POWER.
HOW EVERYONE ONLINE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO HEAR IT, UH, BUT I'LL JUST GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW.
THE STUDENTS DESIGNED THE CONVERSATION, UH, FOR THE CHAT BOT USING, AS I SAID, IBM WATSON ASSISTANT.
THEY CREATED THE DIALOGUE FROM DATA THEY COLLECTED BY INTERVIEWING BLACK FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS AROUND THIS SOCIAL JUSTICE TOPIC.
AND THEIR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE RESOURCES AND SUPPORT FOR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN DEALING WITH THE ISSUE OF
[00:55:01]
ANTI-BLACK POLICE VIOLENCE AND BRUTALITY.AND THESE SLIDES WILL BE SHARED, AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO HEAR THAT TEAM'S, UH, AI VOICE CHAT BOT.
WE ALSO DESIGNED THIS INTERFACE, UH, USING, AS YOU CAN SEE, A CONTAINER ON AZURE WORKING WITH A LOCAL SOFTWARE ENGINEER WHO VOLUNTEERED HIS TIME TO HELP US DEVELOP THIS, WHAT WE CALL WEB APP AI, VOICE WEB APP TO INTERACT WITH THE CHAT BOT ON WATSON ASSISTANT.
AND SO IN 2019, WE HAD WHAT WE CALL RULES-BASED AI AND NOT GENERATIVE AI, BUT WE ARE PLANNING TO MOVE FORWARD TO INCLUDE DESIGNING GENERATIVE AI VOICE CHAT BOTS IN OUR NEXT COHORT.
AND SO I THANK YOU SO MUCH, DAN, FOR TRYING TO SHOW THAT, UH, WE'LL SHARE THESE SLIDES AND EVERYONE WILL BE ABLE TO LISTEN TO ONE OF THE DEMOS.
WE HAD THREE AI VOICE CHATBOTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE DEVELOPED BY THE RECENT COHORT OF THE BLACK GIRLS IN AI CODING MAKER SPACE.
AND SO, UM, I WANTED TO MOVE ON FROM, UH, THE CODING MAKER SPACE TO WHAT SOME OF OUR FUTURE PLANS ARE.
AND I SHARED THIS AT A RECENT VETERAN'S, UH, FAMILY AND MILITARY EVENT, UH, THAT NEHEMIAH PITTS, UH, LED WITH A CC, THAT THESE ARE SOME OF OUR PLANS.
WE KNOW THAT OUR SCHOOLS ARE CHALLENGED WITH, UH, IMPLEMENTING AI AND TEACHING KIDS TO USE AI.
AND SO MY ONLY AND BEST ADVICE IS THAT WE DO WHAT WE CAN OUTSIDE OF SCHOOLS IN THE COMMUNITY TO HELP FAMILIES, ESPECIALLY PARENTS, UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE BENEFITS TO AI THAT WE'VE NEVER REACHED IN EDUCATION IN MY 34 YEARS.
AND THAT IS WHAT WE CALL PERSONALIZED LEARNING.
AND SO I HAVE, UH, PERSONALLY OBSERVED AND PRACTICED USING GENERATIVE AI TO, UH, TO LEARN NEW TOPICS AND SEEN A LOT OF THE WHAT'S COMING OUT OF DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS ABOUT THE IMPACT OF AI AND IMPROVING ACCESS FOR UNDERSERVED KIDS THAT I'M GOING TO SEE IF WE CAN START PROVIDING THESE GENERATIVE AI 1 0 1 WORKSHOPS, SAFETY TOOLKITS, AND PROMPT ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS FOR UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED, UH, COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY, UH, THE BLACK COMMUNITY HERE IN AUSTIN THROUGH AN EFFORT CALLED THE BLACK CHURCHES FOR AI LITERACY INITIATIVE THAT I JUST EMAILED, UH, SOME INFORMATION ABOUT TO THE DECA COMMUNITY ON YESTERDAY.
SO THESE ARE THREE WORKSHOPS THERE, UH, PRETTY MUCH DEVELOPED.
AND, UH, MY GOAL IS TO WORK WITH, UH, BLACK CHURCH LEADERS AND BLACK PARENTS TO HELP THEM LEARN HOW TO FACILITATE THESE INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS TO GIVE HANDS-ON, UM, EXPERIENCES FOR, FOR OUR COMMUNITY WHO, WHO'S UNDERSERVED TO LEARN HOW TO USE GENERATIVE AI, UH, TO TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACCESS TO, UH, TO LEARNING THAT, AS I SAID, SO MANY STUDENTS HAVE LEFT, BEEN LEFT BEHIND.
UM, AND, UH, SO I THINK, UM, WE'RE GONNA GO ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU SOME BACKGROUND ON CHANGING EXPECTATIONS.
ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS HAS BEEN THE MY BROTHERS KEEPER CODING MAKERSPACE FIVE COHORTS, UH, SINCE 2014.
AND THIS WAS, UH, LAUNCHED WITH THE NATIONAL EFFORT FROM THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO ADDRESS, UH, MEN OF, UH, YOUNG MEN OF COLOR AND THEIR OPPORTUNITY OR LACK THEREOF IN OUR COUNTRY.
I DECIDED AS A LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBER IN AUSTIN, THAT THROUGH CHANGING EXPECTATIONS, I COULD CREATE THESE SATURDAY PROGRAMS AROUND STEM.
AND IN THE EARLY DAYS, WE FOCUSED ON ROBOTICS AND A MAKER MAKERSPACE DESIGNING THINGS USING, UH, EQUIPMENT LIKE THE RASPBERRY PIE, WHICH SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF.
AND, UH, AND, AND SINCE THEN MOVED INTO TOPICS LIKE WEB VR.
IN 2017, PARTNERED WITH THE MOZILLA FOUNDATION AND GOOGLE FIBER HERE IN AUSTIN TO DESIGN THE MY BROTHERS KEEPER CODING MAKERSPACE ON USING A TOOL CALLED A-FRAME TO DESIGN WEB VR BEFORE THE METAVERSE.
AND HAD THE YOUNG MEN THERE AT THE CARVER MUSEUM, UH, LEARNING HOW TO CREATE VIRTUAL REALITY ON THE WEB AND INTEGRATING, UH, 360 VIDEO OF OUR ENVIRONMENT AROUND THE CARVER MUSEUM.
AND SO WE'VE GONE ON TO HAVE TWO COHORTS, MY BROTHER'S KEEPER FOCUSED ON DESIGNING AI VOICE CHAT BOTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE.
AND THERE YOU CAN SEE THE FLYER
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FOR OUR MOST RECENT ONE WAS THIS PAST YEAR, UH, APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE JULY OF LAST SUMMER.THERE'S A BUNCH OF, UH, PHOTOS THERE AT THAT WEBSITE.
UH, WHEN YOU GET THE SLIDES, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO USE THAT LINK TO GO AND SEE THE YOUNG MEN RIGHT FROM RIGHT HERE IN CENTRAL TEXAS, LEARNING ABOUT AI AND HOW TO DESIGN IT.
AND THE NEXT SLIDE, I THINK, UH, WE'RE GOING TO, I DON'T THINK THIS VIDEO IS GONNA SHOW, BUT I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU ABOUT OUR WEB VR CODING MAKERSPACE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GOOGLE FIBER AND THE MOZILLA FOUNDATION THERE AT THE CARVER MUSEUM.
ONCE YOU GET THESE SLIDES, YOU'LL HAVE A CHANCE TO WRITE THAT, WATCH THAT SHORT VIDEO CLIP OF US ACTUALLY, UH, WORKING ON OUR WEB VR SCENES.
AND AT THE SAME TIME, SOME TEACHERS LEARN HOW TO DESIGN WEB VR, UH, AS WELL BACK IN 2017.
AND SO WE WON'T ATTEMPT TO SHOW THIS VIDEO.
I'LL JUST ASK YOU TO GO ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT OF CHANGING EXPECTATIONS WAS IN 2016, THOSE 10 YOUNG MEN RIGHT FROM RIGHT HERE IN THE AUSTIN, TEXAS AREA AND MYSELF AND THEIR PARENTS, WERE INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE, TO THE INCLUSIVE STEM EDUCATION FOR YOUTH OF COLOR, UH, CONFERENCE.
AND, UH, AFTER THAT EVENT, UH, WE WENT ON TO RECEIVE OUR FIRST NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AWARD, AS I SAID, FOR TWO YEARS FOCUSED ON COMPUTING AND CYBERSECURITY.
FROM THAT DEVELOPED, UH, IT WAS A RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, AND UNDERSTANDING HOW TO INCREASE THEIR INTEREST AND PARTICIPATION IN COMPUTING CYBERSECURITY.
WE'VE WORKED ON WHAT WE CALL AND STILL CALL IOT, INTERNET OF THINGS DEVICES, UH, AS YOU KNOW, MAY KNOW THAT INVOLVES THE USE OF PYTHON PROGRAMMING AND INTEGRATED WAYS TO SECURE BOTH HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, UM, IN THOSE IOT DEVICES.
AND, UM, SO THAT'S ANOTHER PIECE OF THE HISTORY OF CHANGING EXPECTATIONS.
AND, UH, I THINK, UH, WE'RE WRAPPING UP.
WE HAVE MAYBE ONE OR TWO MORE SLIDES HERE, SO WAYS YOU COULD SUPPORT OUR UPCOMING EFFORTS WILL BE TO CONTINUE THE BLACK GIRLS IN AI CODING MAKER SPACE THROUGH OUR SECOND YEAR OF GTOP S FUNDING.
UH, AND AGAIN, I THANK THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND, UH, THE COMMISSION FOR SUPPORTING US TO CONTINUE THIS PROJECT FOR BLACK GIRLS IN, UH, AUSTIN AREA, AND TO, UH, INTEGRATE THE MY BROTHER'S KEEPER CODING MAKERSPACE IN A CREATIVE WAY OF GETTING THE BLACK GIRLS TO BE MENTORS AND ROLE MODELS FOR THOSE BOYS.
AND TO START THE BLACK CHURCHES FOR AI LITERACY INITIATIVE.
AS I INDICATED, UH, THROUGH CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, UH, WE WILL BE SUPPORTING BLACK CHURCH LEADERS AND PARENTS TO LEARN HOW TO FACILITATE YOUTH CREATING AI VOICE CHATBOTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, PROVIDING THEM A STIPEND AND SUPPORT TO DO THAT, AND WORKING WITH HOUSTON TILLISON STUDENTS TO ALSO BE MENTORS AND SUPPORT FOR UP TO 180 BLACK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN AUSTIN AND CENTRAL TEXAS AREA TO LEARN HOW TO DESIGN AI, VOICE CHAT BOTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, NSF SUPPORT WILL ALLOW FOR BLACK CHURCH AI LITERACY WORKSHOPS, AS I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, TO WORK WITH PARENTS AND BLACK CHURCH LEADERS TO USE, LEARN HOW TO USE GENERATIVE AI TO PROVIDE, UM, ACCESS TO PERSONALIZED LEARNING THAT AS, AS I CAN'T REITERATE ENOUGH, SO MANY OF OUR UNDERSERVED KIDS DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO AN K TO 12 EDUCATION.
SO I'M AN ADVOCATE FOR AI AND ALL OF ITS POSITIVE IMPACTS AND BENEFITS.
AND AT THE SAME TIME, I THINK WE NEED TO MAKE SURE UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES UNDERSTAND THE RISKS AND HARMS POSED BY AI AND HOW, HOW TO NAVIGATE AND PROTECT OURSELVES FROM THOSE.
AND SO WE COULD USE SUPPORT WITH CORPORATE SPONSORS.
ANYONE WHO WANTS TO HELP US FUNDRAISE.
NEHEMIAH AND I HAVE HAD A CONVERSATION LAST WEEK ABOUT FINDING VOLUNTEER FUNDRAISERS, UH, BECAUSE IF THIS WORK IS TO CONTINUE, UH, IT ONLY CONTINUES WITH THE SUPPORT OF, OF, UH, ORGANIZATIONS.
UH, AND LIKE GOOGLE, LIKE AUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, AND LIKE THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S GO PROGRAM, THERE'S A PHOTO OF ME AND THE 10 YOUNG LADIES WHO COMPLETED THE BLACK GIRLS IN AI CODING MAKERSPACE THIS PAST APRIL AT THE CARVER LIBRARY.
WE MET WHAT WE CALL THE AI VOICE CHAT BOTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY SHOWCASE,
[01:05:01]
WHERE THE THREE TEAMS OF STUDENTS PRESENTED THEIR PROJECTS ALONG WITH DEMONSTRATING THEIR AI, VOICE CHAT BOTS, THEIR PARENTS WERE IN THE ROOM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS AS WELL AS, UH, SOME CORPORATE, UH, TECH CORPORATE PEOPLE WERE THERE AS WELL.AND I THINK THAT'S THE LAST SLIDE.
ELIN, AND SO I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU FOR LISTENING, AND IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL TAKE THOSE AMAZING PRESENTATION.
ELIN, UM, THE COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN REALLY APPRECIATES THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING.
UM, I, I, I GUESS, UH, I, I HAVE ONE QUESTION AND I'LL TURN IT OVER TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
UM, IS THAT AI APPLICATION THAT WAS CREATED BY THE YOUNG LADIES THAT, IS THAT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC? CAN ANYONE LOG IN AND, AND ACCESS IT AND, AND USE IT? JUST CURIOUS.
WELL, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
BEYOND THE, UH, DEMO VIDEO THAT, THAT YOU'LL HAVE ACCESS TO IN THE SLIDES, THAT CHAT BOT NOW, UH, SITS, UM, ON IBM WATSON.
AND THE ONLY WAY TO ACCESS IT WOULD BE TO KNOW THE CREDENTIALS.
AND, UH, WHEN, IF YOU'VE WORKED WITH IBM WATSON, YOU KNOW, YOU NEED TO HAVE SOMETHING CALLED AN API KEY AND AN ANOTHER, UH, SET OF CREDENTIALS, AND YOU ENTER THAT INTO OUR AI VOICE WEB APP THAT YOU SAW IN THE VIDEO THERE, AND THEN YOU CAN ACCESS.
SO WE HAVE NOT QUITE FIGURED, FIGURED OUT HOW TO PERHAPS PUT IT BEHIND A PASSWORD PROTECTED SITE SO THAT WE COULD ALLOW FOR, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE DESIGNED IT FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY TO COME ALONG AND ASK IT QUESTIONS AND IN TURN RECEIVE RESOURCES AROUND THAT TOPIC OF ANTI-BLACK POLICE VIOLENCE AND BRUTALITY.
SO WE ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN TECH VOLUNTEERS, WE CALL THEM, WHO COULD HELP US, UH, CREATE A WAY TO MAYBE PASSWORD PROTECT THAT AI VOICE CHAT BOT SO THAT OTHERS COULD COME ALONG WHO ARE INVITED TO ACCESS IT, BECAUSE THERE ARE ISSUES WITH ACCESSING, I'LL SAY IBM WATSON AND, AND MICROSOFT AZURE.
THERE ARE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
AND SO, UH, WE WOULD HAVE TO TAKE ALL OF THAT INTO CONSIDERATION AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, UH, BEING ABLE TO, TO PAY THE COST FOR THOSE, UH, CLOUD SERVICES.
BUT IF ANY OF YOU WERE INTERESTED IN SEEING ANY OF THOSE CHAT BOTS ACTUALLY, AND, AND, UH, IN LIVE, UH, DEMONSTRATION OF THEM BY YOU WITH, UH, ACCESS TO THOSE CREDENTIALS AND, AND GIVE YOU THE LINK TO THAT AI VOICE, UH, WEB APP AND, AND LET YOU GO RIGHT AHEAD AND, AND INTERACT WITH THOSE THREE CHAT BOTS.
UH, BUT THEY ARE NOT PUBLICLY AVAILABLE AS, AS YOU'RE ASKING, BUT WE COULD MAKE THEM AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO INTERACT WITH THEM.
AND, UM, YEAH, JUST, AND JUST TO REITERATE, UM, THAT THAT PROGRAM WAS IN PART SUPPORTED THROUGH THE G OS, UM, G OS FUNDING.
SO, SO CERTAINLY AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT AS THEY SAY THIS PROGRAM WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S GT OP PROGRAM.
AGAIN, THIS IS EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY INTERESTING.
I MEAN, I THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP IN THIS.
UH, THE QUESTION I HAVE IS THAT, UH, GIVEN THAT IT IS A WATSON BASED APPLICATION, HOW DO YOU PROPAGATE IT? UH, IS THERE A POSSIBILITY OF CREATING A WATSON EMULATOR ON A DIFFERENT PIECE OF HARDWARE SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE IT OPEN FOR MANY MORE PEOPLE TO GET THEIR HANDS ON IT? AND, AND, AND TO, AND TO CREATE A SORT OF LIKE A, LIKE, LIKE AN ECOSYSTEM, BECAUSE IT IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT TOPIC THAT YOU'RE ADDRESSING.
RIGHT? AND IN, IN RELATION TO THAT, ALSO, THESE CHILDREN, THEY'RE AMAZING.
I MEAN, THAT THEY'RE DOING SOMETHING THIS GOOD FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE.
HOW DO YOU KEEP THEM ENGAGED SO THAT THEY CAN TAKE IT FORWARD AS A LIFE COMMITMENT ALMOST, WHETHER THEY WORK IN THIS FIELD OR GOOD DO SOMETHING ELSE.
THIS IS SOMETHING THEY CAN PROBABLY STAY ENGAGED IN AND, UH, FOR THE GOOD OF, UH, EVERYBODY IN THIS COUNTRY.
WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THOSE TWO QUESTIONS.
THE FIRST ONE, OUR GOAL THIS, UH, COMING YEAR IS TO INTEGRATE THE USE OF, AS WE ALL KNOW, IT'S NOW CALLED GENERATIVE AI AS A TOOL TO DESIGN WHAT WE CALL NOW A CUSTOM GPT THAT COULD, UH, BE MORE READILY AVAILABLE THROUGH WHAT THEY'RE CALLING NOW, THESE STORES WHERE GPTS ARE AVAILABLE.
[01:10:01]
AND SO, UH, THERE, THAT IS CERTAINLY OUR PLAN TO USE, USE THAT TECHNOLOGY, UM, TO NOT ONLY TEACH THE KIDS HOW TO USE THE MORE CUTTING EDGE ADVANCED, UH, WAYS OF DESIGNING AI, BUT AS YOU INDICATED, TO MAKE IT MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR OTHERS TO LEARN, UH, ABOUT THE, UH, BENEFITS THAT THE STUDENTS HAVE PRODUCED BY CREATING THESE AI VOICE CHATBOTS, LIKE LEARNING HOW TO DEAL WITH THE TOPIC OF ANTI-BLACK POLICE VIOLENCE AND BRUTALITY.AND SO BEING MUCH MORE INTENTIONAL ABOUT THAT IS CERTAINLY OUR GOAL FOR THIS, THIS COMING YEAR.
BUT WE'RE, WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL, UH, SPONSORS.
UH, THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION HAS BEEN SO KIND TO FUND MUCH OF THIS SINCE 2017 AND ESPECIALLY 2019.
BUT, YOU KNOW, IT WAS ALMOST LIKE GETTING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING TWICE, BEING A SMALL BLACK LED NONPROFIT IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO RECEIVE, UH, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AWARDS THAT TYPICALLY GO TO, AS DR.
AND SO I WILL NOT KEEP, UH, TEMPTING MY LUCK, OPPRESSING MY LUCK, AND CONTINUE TO SEEK SUPPORT LOCALLY SO THAT WE CAN USE SO MANY OF THE ASSETS WE HAVE RIGHT HERE IN AUSTIN.
PEOPLE WHO ARE DESIGNING AI LIKE IBM STEPPED UP IN 2019.
NOW WE NEED SOMEONE TO STEP UP, HELP US LEARN HOW TO USE CHAT, GPT AND OPEN AI'S PLATFORM TO DESIGN CUSTOM GPTS AND OR MICROSOFT COPILOT STUDIO TO DESIGN A CUSTOM COPILOT SO THAT THOSE CAN BE MUCH MORE ACCESSIBLE.
AND AS I SAID, ALSO HELP YOUNG PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO USE THESE MORE CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES.
AND SO OUR GOAL IS TO INCLUDE HOUSTON TILLISON STUDENTS, UH, GOING FORWARD AS WELL, UH, BECAUSE, UM, THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES THEY NEED.
AND, AND IF, IF NO ONE STARTS AT HOUSTON TILLERSON, THEN THAT WILL, YOU KNOW, THAT WILL JUST LEAVE SO MANY OF THEM BEHIND, ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY'RE PREPARING TO ENTER THE TECH WORKFORCE.
AND, UM, SO WITH, WITH THAT, I SEE COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS HAS A QUESTION, AND THEN WE'LL, WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT SPEAKER.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, PLEASE.
I'VE BEEN WORKING IN TECHNOLOGY FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW.
UM, I'VE GOT MY MBA HERE AT UT, AND I'VE BEEN AROUND HC CAMPUS, UH, ONCE OR TWICE, I'LL SAY.
UM, I THINK FOR, WELL, FIRST AND FOREMOST, WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE.
AND I TOUCHED SOME OF THE SAME AUDIENCES YOU TOUCHED, AND I KNOW HOW DIFFICULT AND HOW FAR AWAY THIS CAN BE FOR MANY OF THOSE WITHIN THE AUDIENCE.
SO WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS ELEVATING IT A, A GROUP OF PEOPLE TO THE, THE HIGHEST LEVEL POSSIBLE, GIVEN WHERE TECHNOLOGY SITS.
I WANT TO VOLUNTEER SOME RESOURCES, UM, THAT I THINK COULD BE VERY HELPFUL IN SOME OF THE THINGS YOU MENTIONED IN THE CALL.
UM, COMMISSIONER DTA AND YOU BOTH MENTIONED THE, UH, MAKING AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, RIGHT, AND THE SCALING AND MAKING AVAILABLE THESE, UH, DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES THAT YOUR STUDENTS ARE BUILDING.
UM, I SUGGEST THAT YOU TAKE A LOOK AT GEMINI FROM GOOGLE.
UM, GOOGLE GEMINI HAS A SERIES OF FEATURES THAT I THINK CAN SOLVE THE CHALLENGES THAT YOU HAVE RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX, UM, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE ANY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOOGLE, SINCE IT LOOKS LIKE YOU DO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOOGLE.
UM, THEIR, UH, DEVELOPMENT STATION AND, UH, SORT OF INNOVATION SPACE, UM, HAS TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO MUSIC, TO TECHNOLOGY, TO VIDEO PRODUCTION.
AND THEY HAVE A, A FEATURE CALLED GEMS, GEMS GEMS, WHICH ARE CUSTOMIZABLE, UH, PIECES OF, UH, SORT OF CHATBOT, NATURAL LANGUAGE CHATBOTS THAT YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE WITH PROMPTS ITSELF.
UM, SO IT'S MUCH EASIER TO PROGRAM.
UM, I HAVE USED WATSON, SO I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH WITH THE INTENTS AND PROGRAMMING THEM AND MAKING 'EM MAKE SENSE AND ENTITIES AND ALL OF THAT STUFF.
UH, GOOGLE GEMINI IS MUCH MORE SIMPLE, AND THEY ARE RELEASING MUCH LARGER CONTEXT WINDOWS, WHICH SHOULD ALLOW THOSE STUDENTS TO BE ABLE TO PUT IN COMPLEX INFORMATION AND CREATE COMPLEX GEMS THAT CAN ANSWER SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT, UH, TOPICS THAT MATTER TO THEM.
UM, SO I THINK WITH YOUR GOOGLE RELATIONSHIP AND WITH GOOGLE'S NEWEST TECHNOLOGY AND COMPETITION WITH OPEN AI AND IN COMPETITION WITH, UM, OTHER TOOLS, I THINK YOU'LL FIND A LOT OF PROMISING TOOLS THERE THAT COULD BENEFIT THE STUDENTS.
I WILL HIT THEM UP, AS WE SAY.
WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN, UH, DR.
WE HOPE TO HAVE YOU BACK, UH, A LATER DATE AND HEAR, UH, MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE UP TO.
[4. Summary report of the digital inclusion town hall listening session for veterans and military families held on 6/1/2024 (Nehemiah Pitts III, Founder, Shining Light Consulting)]
[01:15:01]
UH, GOING, WE'RE GOING AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT, UM, UH, OUR NEXT SPEAKER.UH, SOME OF YOU MAY, UH, REMEMBER, UH, FORMER COMMISSIONER, FORMER CHAIRMAN, NEHEMIAH PITTS.
UH, NEHEMIAH, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CHAIR POCA.
WHAT I SAID BEFORE WAS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CHAIR POCA.
UH, AND THEN IN THE ADJUSTMENT OF, OF THE MUTE, I, I SLIPPED BACK INTO THE REPTILIAN, UH, I GUESS FROM AUTOPILOT OVER THE PAST EIGHT YEARS.
SO BY NO MEANS DO I WANNA DO THAT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN, CHAIR ACA AND COMMISSIONERS ON THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
UH, I UNDERSTAND THAT MIGHT BE CHANGING SOON TO THE TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION, UH, WHICH I'LL GRACIOUSLY EMBRACE, UH, AS A SUCCINCT SUMMATION OF WHAT YOU ALL DO, UH, AND HOW IMPORTANT YOU ARE TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, I'M DELIGHTED TO BE HERE TODAY AND TO SHARE AN UPDATE REPORT HERE.
UH, BUT BEFORE I JUMP IN, I JUST WANNA THANK, UH, DR.
STROGER AND DR. ENGLAND FOR THEIR PRESENT PRESENTATIONS, UH, AND FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP, UH, AND THE COMMISSION FOR INVITING THEM IN.
UH, IT, IT'S SUCH A CRITICALLY IMPORTANT CONVERSATION, UH, AND IT DOES DOVETAIL DIRECTLY INTO THIS PRESENTATION, UH, ON OUR REPORT ON THE A CC DIGITAL INCLUSION TOWN HALL FOR VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES, PRIMARILY BECAUSE AS MANY ON THIS COMMISSION KNOW, UH, VETERANS ARE A UNIQUE COVERED POPULATION, UH, THAT IS THE FOCUS OF, UH, OR RATHER, THAT'S FRANKLY JUST CHALLENGED A ALONG WITH MANY OTHER GROUPS, UH, DESIGNATED GROUPS CALLED COVERED POPULATIONS BY THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, UH, THE VARIETY OF WAYS THAT PEOPLE ARE CHALLENGED TO GET ACCESS TO THE INTERNET, ACCESS TO DEVICES, ACCESS TO THE SKILLS, ACCESS TO EQUITABLE SERVICE DELIVERY, UH, WITHIN, UH, THEIR BROADBAND ACCESS, UH, EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY PAY THE SAME PRICES.
UH, THE THING THAT'S UNIQUE ABOUT VETERANS, UH, THAT WE ARRIVED AT PRETTY QUICKLY, UH, AS A POPULATION, IS THAT THEY INCLUDE ALL OF THE CO COVERED POPULATIONS, WHETHER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DISABLED, UH, THOSE WHO ARE IMPACTED BY INCOME STATUS.
UH, THOSE WHO, UH, FRANKLY, ARE, ARE DEALING WITH, UH, OTHER CHALLENGES AS, AS WELL.
UH, WHETHER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THOSE IMPACTED BY JUSTICE OR THOSE IMPACTED BY CHALLENGES WITH HOUSING, UH, VETERANS REALLY CROSS ALL GROUPS.
AND SO STRATEGICALLY, THEY BECAME A FOCUS REALLY, OF THIS COMMISSION, UH, AS A POINT OF INTEREST, UH, REALLY JUST TO, AS A WAY TO FIND A WAY TO AMPLIFY THE EFFECT OF DIGITAL INCLUSION AT A TIME, FRANKLY, UH, WHEN VETERANS NEED UPLIFTING, UH, AT A TIME WHEN, UH, WE CAN ALL APPRECIATE HAVING BEEN A PUBLIC OFFICIAL FOR THE PAST EIGHT YEARS, AS YOU ALL ARE NOW PUBLIC OFFICIALS AT A TIME WHEN DEMOCRACY, UH, AND GOVERNMENT, UH, CAN BE CONSIDERED A CHALLENGE.
BUT AS WE KNOW IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WE EMBRACE GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS FOR ALL.
AND WITH THAT OUTCOME AS A FOCUS, THIS PROJECT BASICALLY KIND OF BEGAN, UH, I'D LIKE TO GO ADVANCE THE SLIDE, DAN, IF I COULD PLEASE.
WE'RE GONNA GO OVER A FEW DIFFERENT THINGS HERE TODAY.
UH, THE BACKGROUND FOR THE EVENT, ALTHOUGH I KIND OF GOT INTO IT THERE A LITTLE BIT.
UH, THE PLANNING PROCESS ITSELF, UH, AS WELL AS THE CONVERSATION THAT TOOK PLACE DURING THE EVENT, UH, THE DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY TOOL DEMO, UH, THAT WE WERE ALLOWED TO HAVE HOSTED BY LAUREN WEBER WITH THE TEXAS BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE, AS WELL AS THE RESOURCE PRESENTATIONS BY A HOST OF VETERAN ORGANIZATIONS, UH, SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN PARTICULAR, AND DACA ORGANIZATIONS, UH, THAT WERE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE.
UH, I'D LIKE TO GO TO ADVANCE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, AND THE NEXT METHOD THAT PLEASE, AS WE, AS I JUST DESCRIBED, AND AS YOU ALL KNOW FROM YOUR RECENT WORK ON THE MISSION WORK PLAN, DIGITAL INCLUSION IS A MAJOR FOCUS OF THIS COMMISSION AND INDEED GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS FOR ALL.
WELL, WHEN IT COMES TO AN EVENT FOR VETERANS, AND ACTUALLY THEN APPROACHING A POTENTIAL COLLABORATION FOR AN EVENT.
IT'S GREAT WHEN OUR ECOSYSTEM SUPPORTS ITSELF, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE COMMISSION, THESE ORGANIZATIONS, UH, THAT HAVE PRESENTED TONIGHT, GOOD SYSTEMS, CHANGING EXPECTATIONS, AND A HOST OF OTHERS ARE EXTREMELY
[01:20:01]
ACTIVE AS DECA NUMBERS.AND AS A RESULT, THAT CREATES ALL KINDS OF ORGANIC OPPORTUNITIES THAT, UH, WE CAN RESPOND TO AS LONG AS WE'RE JUST VIGILANT AND READY.
AND AS COMMISSIONERS, THAT'S REALLY PART OF OUR MISSION.
AND, AND PART OF WHAT WE DO IS BE ENGAGED AND ACTIVE IN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, AFTER GETTING AN INVITATION FROM VANESSA EICO, THE MANAGER OF THE MILITARY FAMILY CENTER FOR THE RIBBON CUTTING OF THE MILITARY NET, THE A CC MILITARY NETWORK, WHICH IS A COMBINATION OF THE A CC VETERAN RESOURCE CENTER AND, UH, THE A CC MILITARY RESOURCE, UH, CENTER, EXCUSE ME, MILITARY FAMILY CENTER, FORMING THE NETWORK, AND THEN PRESENTING ALL THEY COULD DO THEN TO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE.
UH, WENT INTO THAT MEETING REALLY WITH SOME CLEAR GOALS IN MIND.
UH, THAT EVENT, UH, WAS REALLY EXCITED ABOUT SEEING THE SPACE IN LIGHT OF, UH, THE WORK PLAN THAT WE HAD AT THE COMMISSION, AND OUR GOAL TO HOST CONVENINGS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, TO ACTUALLY REACH PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE, UH, AND TO ENGAGE IN MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS AND TO, TO REALLY BE ABLE TO GAR THE LIVED EXPERIENCES FROM PEOPLE, UH, WHERE THEY ARE IN A SAFE SPACE.
AND SO, KNOWING THAT THERE WAS THIS RIBBON CUTTING AT THE, AT THE MILITARY NETWORK, OR THE SHARED SPACE, IT WAS EXCITING, UH, AND THE EVENT DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
UH, BUT BEFORE WE PROCEED, THE NEXT SLIDE, THE NEXT SLIDE AGAIN, I WANNA REITERATE HERE.
UH, THE KEY FOCUS WAS REALLY THE CHALLENGES AND NEEDS FOR VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES, AND CONCEIVING OF THAT, UH, AS WE WENT INTO THE EVENT, OR AS, UH, I DID AND, AND, AND WAS DELIGHTED TO SEE OTHERS THERE, OPPORTUNITIES FOR OPPORTUNITIES RATHER, AND CAPACITY FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION FOR VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES.
AND THAT WAS SPECIFICALLY WITH THE TEXAS DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY PLAN IN MIND, AND THE WORK THAT THE COMMISSION HAD DONE, AND OUR ACTIVATION, FRANKLY, AS A COMMUNITY AROUND THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF STATE FUNDING, 'CAUSE OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT THAT HAD PASSED DOWN.
AND THE CREATION OF THE BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE HERE, UH, REALLY CREATED SOME UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES AND, UH, IN A MIND SPACE OF IDEATION, UH, ACTED TO ADMIT I WAS EXTREMELY EXCITED, UH, AND THE SPACE DID NOT DISAPPOINT, NOR DID THE HOSPITALITY.
AND THE NEXT ONE, UH, YOU KNOW, I'M SORRY, I THINK WE'VE GONE A LITTLE TOO FAR.
UH, JUST WANNA GO TO THE FIFTH SLIDE.
UH, ALTHOUGH I'LL BE BRIEF, UH, UH, I'M STILL ON THE FOURTH SLIDE NOW, BUT WE CAN JUST GO TO THE, THE FIFTH SLIDE.
UH, THE THING THAT WAS GREAT ABOUT THIS EVENT, NOT JUST, UH, HOSPITALITY, UH, BUT SEEING THE AMAZING SPACE, UH, REALLY ELEGANT SPACE, UH, WITH COMPUTERS, WITH ASSORTED AREAS FOR EITHER ROUND TABLES OR WORKING GROUPS, OR STUDY A SPACE FOR FOOD.
IT WAS CLEAR THIS WAS A GREAT SPACE TO HOST EVENTS, BUT TO DO ALL KINDS OF THINGS AS WELL AS EVEN A GLASS MEETING ROOM, UH, TO HOST DIFFERENT THINGS.
BUT, UH, IN ADDITION TO BEING DELIGHTED BY THAT, IT WAS WONDERFUL TO SEE COLLEAGUES FROM, FROM TARA, UH, PRESENT, UH, INCLUDING WITHIN THE ROOM.
JESSE RODRIGUEZ WAS THERE, ALTHOUGH WE DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO REALLY SPEAK MUCH AT THE EVENT, UH, AS WELL AS SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER, UH, HOAN HARMON.
UH, IT WAS GREAT JUST TO SEE SO MANY DIFFERENT COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND, AND SO MUCH EXCITEMENT FOR THIS.
UH, AND THEN TO QUICKLY, UH, HAVE RESONANCE WITH EVERYONE THAT I SPOKE WITH THERE ABOUT COLLABORATING FOR FUTURE EVENTS.
UH, AND SO THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.
IF WE COULD GO AHEAD IN ADVANCE, TOO, THE PLANNING STAGE.
BUT LET'S GO AHEAD AND GO TO, UH, SLIDE SEVEN.
UH, IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT THING TO THANK EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE PLANNING OF THIS, UH, EVENT, UH, WHICH SPAWNED FROM CONVERSATIONS QUICKLY WITH, UH, VANESSA KO, UH, THAT THEY QUICKLY INCLUDED ANGELA, UH, ANGELA WELLNER, UH, THE OUTREACH, THE VETERAN OUTREACH COORDINATOR WITH THE TEXAS VETERAN MISSION, UH, AND THEN QUICKLY INCLUDED OTHERS, UH, ARE TECHNICALLY QUICKLY EXPANDED TO INCLUDE, UH, THE TEXAS, EXCUSE ME, THE VETERAN SUICIDE CHANNEL AS A RESOURCE FOR CONTRIBUTING SPECIFICALLY FOR VETERANS, UH, AS WELL AS OTHER DECK OF PARTNERS, UH, CHANGING EXPECTATIONS, WHO I MENTIONED, UH, WHO PRESENTED AT THE EVENT, AND WAS ABLE TO REALLY ILLUMINATE, AS HE DID FOR EVERYONE HERE TODAY.
THE POWER OF AI AND DIFFERENT THINGS WE CAN DO FROM A POTENTIAL STANDPOINT WITH AI.
UH, AS LONG AS WE'RE WILLING TO DIVE IN, UH, ONE OF
[01:25:01]
OUR PROMINENT PARTNERS HERE LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY, OF COURSE, UH, IN THE SPACE OF DIGITAL INCLUSION, GOODWILL OF CENTRAL TEXAS, OR GOODWILL, IN THIS CASE, GOODWILL OF CENTRAL TEXAS, AS WELL AS WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS.AND THE ECONOMIC, PARDON ME, UH, PARDON THE INTERRUPTION.
UH, IT INCLUDED, UH, THE WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS GROUP, UH, IN ADDITION TO, AND I WANTED TO MAKE, MAKE, MAKE MENTION OF THIS, ALTHOUGH IT'LL BE PRESENT IN ANOTHER SLIDE.
UH, THE VETERAN SUICIDE CHANNEL, UH, IS ALSO HOME OF THE A VA OR THE A VA FEST, WHICH STANDS FOR, UH, ART VETERAN, UH, ASSOCIATES, VETERAN ARTS.
IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, WE'LL CONFIRM THAT HERE MOMENTARILY.
UH, THAT IS ACTUALLY A PROJECT DESIGNED TO FUND, UH, THE VETERAN, UH, SUICIDE CHANNEL, UH, AS WELL AS EGBI, WHO IS ACTUALLY THE LARGEST ECONOMIC GROWTH BUSINESS INCUBATOR HERE IN THE AUSTIN AREA IN, IN, IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
UH, IF WE COULD GO IN ADVANCE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THE PLANNING EFFORT ITSELF, UH, FOCUSED US AROUND, UH, SPRING AS WE WERE REALLY EXCITED COMING FROM THE EVENT, AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN MEETING FAIRLY QUICKLY IN PLANNING GROUPS, UH, WITH CONFERENCE CALLS, FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS OVER AT THE A CC UTILITY, UH, REALLY KIND OF GETTING A SENSE OF THE CAPABILITIES.
UH, AGAIN, IT'S A WONDERFUL SPACE THEY'VE GOT, IN ADDITION TO THE COMPUTERS, THEY'VE GOT SMART BOARD TECHNOLOGIES, UH, AND LICENSING THAT ALLOWS YOU TO DO WONDERFUL THINGS.
UH, VERY IMPORTANT THINGS, I THINK, TO KEEP IN MIND FOR, UH, FUTURE POTENTIAL, UH, AND, AND FUTURE EVENTS.
UH, BUT WE LOOKED AT MARCH 23RD AS A PERSPECTIVE DATE, UH, BUT WITH SOME PARTNER CONFLICTS THAT WE HAD ON THE VETERAN SIDE AND OTHER EVENTS, WE THEN PUSHED THE EVENT AHEAD, AND WE SITUATED OUR PROGRAMMING AND PLANNING TOWARDS JUNE THE FIRST.
AND THAT'S THE DATE THAT WE EXECUTED.
UH, AND IT WAS A, A WONDERFUL EVENT.
WE COULD GO AHEAD AND ADVANCE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
AS WITH PREVIOUS TOWN HALLS, I'M SORRY, YOU WERE, YOU WERE DOING GREAT THERE.
AS WITH PREVIOUS TOWN HALLS, UH, UH, THE, THE FOCUS HERE REALLY WAS ON TOPICS PERTAINING TO DIGITAL INCLUSION.
BUT AS WITH PREVIOUS TOWN HALLS, WE ALWAYS WANT TO MAKE THEM FOCUS ON THE GROUP.
AND SO THEY'RE SOMEWHAT ADAPTIVE.
UH, BUT WE, WE GUIDE THE CONVERSATION WITH TOPAL AREAS LIKE ACCESS, UH, WITH DEVICES, UH, WITH SKILLS, UH, WITH QUALITY, UH, BOTH SOLUTIONS, UH, AND CHALLENGES THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO, UH, THINGS WITHIN THE BROADBAND SPACE AND, AND DIGITAL INCLUSION ECOSYSTEM.
UH, BUT AS THIS CONVERSATION AND AS OTHERS HAVE DONE, UH, THEY'RE, THEY THEN BECOME MORE FOCUSED AND ORGANIC, UH, BASED UPON WHO'S THERE AND THE THINGS THAT THE, THE AUDIENCE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT.
UH, BUT THE EVENT ALSO INCLUDED, UH, A FIRST OF A KIND, UH, DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY TOOL DEMONSTRATION BY LAUREN WEBER, THE DIGITAL OUTREACH COORDINATOR, UH, WITH THE TEXAS BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE, AS WELL AS, UH, ROBUST RESOURCE PRESENTATIONS FROM, UH, DECA SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS.
UH, AS MENTIONED ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, ALTHOUGH WE'LL GO INTO, UH, A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THOSE WITH THE TIME THAT'S REMAINING HERE IN A MINUTE.
UH, IN, IN TERMS OF THE EVENT ITSELF, IN ATTENDANCE, WE HAD AROUND A, A TOTAL OF ABOUT 23 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 17 VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILY MEMBERS.
UH, THIS INCLUDED A BREAKDOWN OF 13 VENDORS AND 10 NON-STAFF HOSTING.
UH, AND IMPORTANTLY, UH, BASED UPON THE DYNAMICS OF THE EVENT ITSELF, UH, WE WERE ADAPTIVE, UH, AND RESPONSIVE TO THE FACT THAT WE HAD A GROUP PRIMARILY OF SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS.
AND WHAT THIS MEANT, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILY MEMBERS, IS THAT THEY COULD SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES AS VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILY MEMBERS, BUT ALSO THEY COULD SPEAK TO THEIR EXPERIENCES RUNNING A SERVICE ORGANIZATION, SPEAK TO THEIR CHALLENGES, WHICH PROVIDED FOR UNIQUE INSIGHTS.
UH, ALL IN ALL, IT, IT WAS REALLY JUST AN HONOR TO BE ABLE TO HOST THE EVENT, UH, AND, UH, TO BE ABLE TO, UH, FACILITATE THIS OPPORTUNITY FOR COLLABORATION, UH, LIVED EXPERIENCE, SHARING, UH, AND, AND RESOURCE, UH, AND, AND RESOURCES, UH, BEING NOT JUST DISTRIBUTED AND, UH, YOU KNOW, SPOKEN
[01:30:01]
ABOUT, UH, WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, UH, BUT ALMOST ROUND TABLED, UH, FROM A STANDPOINT AND WAY AND, AND WAYS AND BEST PRACTICES TO, TO FINE TUNE THINGS.UH, I WANNA GO AHEAD AND DIVE INTO SOME OF THOSE, UH, SPECIFIC NOTES AND FINDINGS.
BUT BEFORE I DO, I WANNA MAKE SURE TO GIVE CREDIT HERE, UH, WHERE CREDIT'S DUE IN TERMS OF THE EVENT PROGRAM.
UH, AND WE CAN GO ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UH, QUICKLY, UH, IF YOU DON'T MIND, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND, UH, SHOW SOME, SOME, UH, SMILING FACES HERE.
I WANNA THANK, UH, VICE CHAIR ZA FOR, UH, FOR BEING WILLING TO NOT JUST OPEN THE EVENT, BUT TO SET THE STAGE, UH, AND TO, UH, WELCOME EVERYBODY.
UH, IF WE COULD GO AHEAD AND PROCEED.
UH, UH, OF COURSE, UH, I'D LIKE TO THANK CHAIR, AKA UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, AGAIN, I'M, I'M, I'M, UH, WELL, WE SKIPPED OVER YOUR, YOU KNOW WHAT, MAYBE WE'RE NOT THERE YET, BECAUSE ULTIMATELY, UH, THIS IS, UH, WELL, THERE WE GO.
UH, BEAUTIFUL SMILING FACE, UH, WHICH WAS THERE AND, AND, AND, UH, FULLY ENGAGED.
UH, AND ALSO, UH, MANAGING THE FOLLOW UP HERE FOR THE COMMISSION, UH, WHICH IS LAUDABLE AS ALL THE WORK IS, OF COURSE, THAT Y'ALL HAVE DONE.
UH, YOU GUYS HAVE SEEN ME BEFORE.
UH, AND ONE MORE IN TERMS OF SOME OF THE FINDINGS.
UH, SO THIS IS AN AGGREGATION OF THE FINDINGS THEMSELVES.
UH, IT REALLY DOES, UH, SURMISE, UH, I'M SURMISED, BUT THIS DOES ACTUALLY PROVIDE A, A, A SUMMATION, IF YOU WILL, OF THE FINDINGS IN TERMS OF INTERNET ACCESSIBILITY AND DEVICES.
UH, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO, TO FOCUS HERE ON, ON SOME OF THE DYNAMICS AT PLAY AS THE ORGANIZATIONS REPRESENTED, ACTUALLY HAD A FAIRLY, UH, INTERESTING MIX, UH, OF STAFF THAT WERE OF EITHER MILLENNIAL AND OR GEN X OR, UH, BABY BOOMERS.
UH, AND EVEN, UH, I BELIEVE IT'S, UH, UH, AMERICA'S GREATEST GENERATION.
UH, I FORGET THE, THE TERM IT'S CALLED, UH, BUT BECAUSE OF THAT, WE ACTUALLY HAD A VERY INTERESTING EXPERIENCE THAT INCLUDED MULTIPLE GENERATIONS AND, AND THEIR PERSPECTIVES ON THESE ISSUES.
AND WHAT IT REALLY DID SPEAK TO IS, UH, SOME OPPORTUNITIES.
UH, THERE'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, UH, FOR GENERATIONAL SUPPORT.
UH, WE'VE SEEN THESE SAME KIND OF FINDINGS, I THINK, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO THE, THE BENEFIT OF PEER LEVEL SUPPORT, UH, WHETHER IT'S WITHIN ANY PEER GROUP.
UH, BUT FUNDAMENTALLY, WHAT IT, WHAT IT MEANS IS BECAUSE VETERANS DO REPRESENT, AGAIN, REPRESENTING MULTIPLE, UH, COVERED POPULATIONS, SENIORS, WHILE ALSO REPRESENTING YOUTH, UH, TO DISTINCT POPULATIONS.
THE MESSAGING AND THE METHODOLOGIES BECOME IMPORTANT TO REALLY FOCUS ON THE AUDIENCE AS, AS WITHIN ANY, IT'S REALLY KIND OF A INTERESTING TO ME TO, TO, TO SEE HOW WITHIN THE SPACE OF, UH, OF VETERANS WHO ARE VERY SECURITY MINDED AND VERY VIGILANT, UH, BECAUSE OF THEIR DIFFERENT DUTIES AND, AND, AND DIFFERENT ASSIGNMENTS WITHIN ARMED SERVICES, HOW THE GENERATIONAL DYNAMICS THEN COME INTO PLAY AS IT IMPACTS THE OPENNESS TO DATA SHARING OR CONCERNS ABOUT CYBERSECURITY OR, UH, DIFFERENT THINGS, FRANKLY, AS IT, AS IT COMES TO ATTENDING OR, OR PARTICIPATING IN EVENTS, UH, ATTENDANCE ONLINE.
I THINK YOU SEE ALL THOSE INSIGHTS HERE BORNE OUT.
ONE THING THAT WAS, WAS SPOKEN TO REALLY, UH, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, UH, PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT TO, TO SPEAK TO HERE IN, IN TERMS OF VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES, IS THAT IT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT, UH, TO ACTUALLY ENGAGE AND TO MEET THEM WHERE THEY ARE.
AND THAT SPEAKS TO A CHALLENGE, UH, FOR A BRAND NEW SPACE.
UH, AND AT THE SAME TIME, FOR A OPPORTUNITY, UH, FOR ENGAGEMENT THAT IS SOMEWHAT REALLY UNIQUE, UH, EXCUSE ME, RATHER, UH, IT, IT'S SOMEWHAT UN UNDEVELOPED SO FAR IN THE VETERAN COMMUNITIES, UH, IN THE PROCESS OF TRYING TO GET ATTENDANCE, UH, FOR THE EVENT.
AFTER WEEKS OF OUTREACH THROUGH VETERAN ORGANIZATIONS, UH, WE LEARNED LATE STAGE THAT THERE WERE SOME CHALLENGES, UH, WITH GOOGLE FORMS, FOR EXAMPLE.
UH, ALTHOUGH WE'VE USED GOOGLE FORMS HISTORICALLY TO BE ABLE TO, UH,
[01:35:01]
HAVE PEOPLE COMPLETE AND EXPRESS THEIR INTEREST AND ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO VALIDATE, UH, DIFFERENT THINGS ABOUT THEM, YOU KNOW, THEIR DIETARY REQUIREMENTS, UH, LANGUAGE NEEDS, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, DIFFERENT POINTS OF INTEREST.THE THING THAT WE FOUND, UH, REGRETTABLY, WAS THAT GOOGLE FORMS WAS AN ISSUE FOR STATE AGENCIES.
AND IT WAS, IT WAS INTERESTING BECAUSE IT WASN'T AN ISSUE FOR ALL OF THEM.
SO STARTING WITH THE TEXAS VETERAN COMMISSION, FOR EXAMPLE, AND THEN WORKING THROUGH THEM TO THEN SEND OUT THE INFORMATION TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, IT TOOK TIME TO THEN FIND OUT DOWN THE CHAIN, UH, THAT THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO ACCESS THE FORM.
AND SO THAT WAS A LEARNING IN, IN THIS PROCESS THAT WE KNOW IN, IN DEALING WITH STATE AGENCIES.
UH, REALLY, FRANKLY, I THINK ANY COVER POPULATION THAT USES SOCIAL SERVICES, UH, THAT WE NEED TO BE SMART ABOUT AND, AND MAKE SURE, UH, THAT WE THINK PROACTIVELY ABOUT THE SAME IS SAID, UH, EVIDENTLY WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, CHAT SOURCES OR COMMUNITY SOURCES LIKE DISCORD, THERE'S A RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO CONFIRM WHICH PLATFORMS REALLY ARE THE BEST TO TRY TO NURTURE AN ONLINE COMMUNITY, UH, TO ACTUALLY COMMUNICATE RESOURCES, UH, BEST PRACTICES, UH, AS WELL AS TO FACILITATE COMMUNITY OR ENGAGEMENT.
SO, AS WE SHIFTED, UH, THE CONVERSATION, UH, TO THIS AUDIENCE AND, AND DISCUSSING WHAT THEY WERE REALLY KIND OF, I THINK, EXCITED ABOUT, AND, AND WE ENDED UP GETTING, UH, MORE INTO WITH, UH, DR.
EAGLE'S PRESENTATION, UH, AND, UH, WHICH IS THE, THE FLOOR OF THE CONVERSATION WITH CYBERSECURITY AND AI AND PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET, ONCE AGAIN, THE GENERATIONAL DYNAMICS, I THINK, REALLY, UH, PLAYED OUT, UH, HERE AND, AND WERE REFLECTED IN THE WAYS THAT DIFFERENT PEOPLE THOUGHT THEIR DATA AND OR THEIR INFORMATION SHOULD BE MANAGED AND OR HANDLED PRIVACY, UH, PROTECTION STRATEGIES, UH, AI INTEGRATION, UH, YOU KNOW, DATA, UH, DATA ECONOMY.
THEY WERE ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONVERSATION.
UH, BUT ONE THING THAT WAS, I THINK, UH, RESIDENT FROM PREVIOUS EVENTS IMPORTANT TO, TO STRESS IS HOW DIFFERENT ISSUES, UH, YOU KNOW, RELIANCE UPON SINGLE DEVICES, ADVANCED SECURITY BARRIERS AND, AND PASSWORD MANAGEMENT.
UH, OUR CHALLENGE IS THAT, AGAIN, SPEAK TO GENERATIONAL DYNAMICS AND, AND THE WAY THAT PEOPLE REACT TO THEM.
SO I JUST CAN'T REITERATE, REITERATE MORE OR ENOUGH, I THINK, HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT WE HAD GENERATIONAL EXCHANGES TO TRULY SERVE OUR VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES.
AND I'LL GO AHEAD AND, UH, SPEED THIS UP QUITE A BIT.
UH, WE HAD A BRIEF, UH, I'D SAY MAYBE 30, 45, UH, 30, 40 MINUTE, UH, OR SO, A PRESENTATION ON THE DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY TOOL.
UH, IT WAS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND, AND, AND IT WAS A, A, A, A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR THESE SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS TO SEE FIRSTHAND HOW THE DATA CAN BE ACCESSED AND LEVERAGED TO BE ABLE TO PURSUE FUNDING, COLLABORATION, AND PARTNERSHIPS AND SERVICE OF VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES.
UH, VERY IMPORTANT, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO THESE TOOLS AND, AND, AND USE OF THEM.
UH, IT WAS ALSO VERY KIND OF, OF LAUREN WEBER, UH, TO BE ABLE TO OFFER HERSELF FOR FUTURE CONVENINGS AND CONVERSATIONS.
UH, UH, AN IMPORTANT POINT TO CALL OUT, UH, AS WE'LL LOOK TO SCHEDULE THAT AS THE NEXT STEP HERE.
SO HERE ON THIS SLIDE, UH, YOU SEE A REAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES BY THE BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE, AND ALL DIFFERENT THINGS THAT, UH, CAN BE DONE, WHETHER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE ROUND TABLES, UH, WHICH SEVERAL HERE.
UH, I, I KNOW MYSELF AND, UH, JESSE, AS WELL AS, UH, JESSE RODRIGUEZ, AS WELL AS, UH, HOT TAM HARMON HAVE ATTENDED.
UH, WHETHER IT'S THE SITE BROADBAND FOR, FOR TEXAS.COM, UH, THE NEWSLETTERS OR THE OUTREACH PAGE.
UH, I, I CAN VOUCH SO FAR, UH, THAT THE TEXAS BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE HAS BEEN GREAT TO WORK WITH.
UH, AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT, UH, WHAT THEY'VE DONE IN, IN TERMS OF BRINGING TO BEAR RESOURCES, UH, FOR THE STATE.
UH, EVERY INDICATION, UH, THAT I HAVE IS THAT THEY'RE SERIOUS ABOUT WANTING TO GET ALL, UH, TEXANS CONNECTED.
AND I, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO, TO TAKE THEM UP ON, ON THAT, UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
HERE, I INCLUDED, UH, FOR EVERYONE TO REVIEW, UH, THE T DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY PLAN PUBLIC SURVEY.
THIS IS ACTUALLY WHAT WENT OUT TO ALL TEXANS AND ACTUALLY INFORMED THE TEXAS DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY PLAN, ALONG WITH THE REGIONAL WORKING GROUPS, ALONG
[01:40:01]
WITH, UH, THE COLLABORATIONS, UH, THE REGIONAL MEETINGS, UH, LIKE THE ONES THAT, UH, MYSELF, UH, CHAIR AKA, UH, JESSE HOTAN, UH, PARMAN AND OTHERS FROM THE REGION ATTENDED OUT IN BASTROP.WELL, THE AGGREGATION OF THAT DATA, ALONG WITH, UH, THOSE DIFFERENT, UH, QUALITATIVE AND, UH, FOCUS GROUP TYPE MEETINGS, UH, CREATED THE PLAN ITSELF.
WELL, THIS WAS THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY THAT THESE, UH, SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS DID.
VETERANS ACTUALLY HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW THE PLAN, EXCUSE ME, TO REVIEW THE SURVEY.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE AS WE'VE SPOKEN TO HISTORICALLY, ONLY ABOUT TWENTY FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVE, I BELIEVE SURVEYS WENT OUT STATEWIDE, WHICH OF COURSE THEN DOES NOT REFLECT, UH, ACCURATELY THE NEEDS OF THE STATE, BUT THROUGH AN EXTRAPOLATION DOES REFLECT GREAT NEED.
BUT ONE THING ABOUT THIS SURVEY THAT WAS CLEAR AND SHARED FROM A FEED, UH, AND SHARED FROM A FEEDBACK STANDPOINT, UH, BY THE VETERANS IN THE ROOM, IS THERE WAS A NEED TO REFINE THESE SURVEY QUESTIONS AND REVIEW THE COLLECTED DATA TO ENSURE CLARITY AND, OF COURSE, RELEVANCE FOR THE AUDIENCE.
UH, SO FOR RESOURCE PRESENTATIONS, UH, WE WERE, UH, THRILLED TO HAVE DR.
BETHANNE WARWICK PRESENT AND INTRODUCE, UH, THE DIFFERENT FEATURED COMMUNITY RESOURCES, UH, BEGINNING, UH, OF COURSE, WITH HER COLLEAGUE, UH, FIRST, UH, EXCUSE ME, BEGINNING WITH HER OWN, HER OWN ORGANIZATION, UH, AND, AND, UH, THE SPACE ITSELF, UH, THAT IS PARTNERED TOGETHER TO CREATE THE MILITARY NETWORK, THE A CC MILITARY NETWORK, THAT BEING, UH, THE A CC VETERAN RESOURCE CENTER.
NEXT SLIDE, AGAIN, A, A WONDERFUL SPACE.
UH, AS I KNOW THAT SEVERAL HERE ON THE CALL, I HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO DIP IN AND CHECK THAT OUT, UH, AND, AND, AND FULLY ENGAGE FOR THESE KINDS OF COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES, IF NOT JUST A PLACE TO, TO GO ACTUALLY, UH, GET SOME WORK DONE AND, AND TO SEE ALL THE COOL THINGS THAT A CC IS DOING.
AND THE NEXT COURSE, UH, INTRODUCED, UH, ALONG, UH, WITH OUR HOST FROM THE VETERAN RESOURCE CENTER WAS OUR HOST WITH THE, UH, MILITARY FAMILY CENTER.
AND, UH, SHE SHARED INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR RESOURCES, INCLUDING, UH, A VARIETY OF PROGRAMS THEY HAVE GETTING CONNECTED THE FACILITY ITSELF, UH, AS WELL AS THEIR MICRO CREDENTIAL PROGRAM.
HERE'S A, AN OVERVIEW ON THAT PROGRAM ITSELF.
AND BY THE WAY, THERE IS A MUCH, UH, MORE ROBUST, UH, COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW OF THE PRISON, UH, EXCUSE ME, OF THE EVENT ITSELF.
UH, IT'S GOT ADDITIONAL RESEARCH AND, AND ABOUT 20 MORE SLIDES THAT YOU ALL WILL GET, UH, BUT WANTED TO MAKE SURE TO KEEP THIS BRIEF FOR TODAY.
UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, PLEASE.
SO, UH, BACK TO THE THANK YOU SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, AGAIN, THIS WAS A GREAT EVENT.
UH, IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT SUPPORT OF, OF ALL OF OUR PARTNERS, UH, THE A CC MILITARY FAMILY CENTER, THE TEXAS VETERAN COMMISSION, US IGNITE, WHO WAS THE FISCAL SPONSOR FOR THE DIGITAL, UH, INCLUSION SUMMIT, UH, THAT ENABLED US TO BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY REMEDIATE, UH, TO ACTUALLY PROVIDE AN HONORARIUM TO ALL OF THE VETERANS MILITARY FAMILY MEMBERS WHO SHARED THEIR EXPERIENCES.
UH, THAT SAME, UH, REMEDIATION IS WHAT ENABLED US, UH, RATHER THAT SAME SPONSORSHIP IS WHAT ALLOWED US TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND PROVIDE A HONORARIUM FOR, UH, THE UNIVERSITY HILLS, UH, TOWN HALL AS WELL.
SO, AGAIN, UF KNIGHT, UH, CHANGE EXPECTATIONS, UH, THE BROAD, THE TEXAS BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE, AS I JUST MENTIONED, UH, THE VETERAN SUICIDE CHANNEL AND THE A BA FEST, UH, THE VETERANS, EXCUSE ME, THE A CC, VETERANS AND STUDENT AFFAIRS.
UH, AND THAT, OF COURSE, IS ACTUALLY THE VETERAN RESOURCE CENTER, UH, GOODWILL OF CENTRAL TEXAS.
UH, I WANNA THANK, UH, WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE PLANNING PROCESS, WAS BOOKED TO COME, BUT THEN ACTUALLY HAD CAR TROUBLE THAT DAY AND UNABLE TO ATTEND.
UH, BUT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE THEM HERE SINCE THEY WERE A FULLY ON BOARD TO PARTICIPATE, AS WELL AS THE ECONOMIC GROWTH BUSINESS INCUBATOR.
UH, WE DID NOT ACTUALLY, UH, NEXT SLIDE.
UH, WE WERE ABLE TO TAKE SOME PICTURES.
UH, IT'S TOUGH TO CERTAINLY POST AN EVENT.
[01:45:01]
IT'S TOUGH TO, UH, ACTUALLY BE INVOLVED DIRECTLY AN EVENT AND, AND GET MANY PICTURES.I WAS ABLE TO GET ONE MYSELF, UH, AND I KNOW OTHERS TOOK SOME PICTURES.
UH, BUT THE FACT IS THAT WE WERE ALL PRETTY ENGAGED.
UH, SO THIS WAS CERTAINLY AN OPPORTUNITY, I THINK, FOR, UH, FOR FUTURE CAPTURING AND, AND, AND CATALOGING OF, UH, OF THIS EVENT AND, AND WHAT IT MEANS, UH, BECAUSE THOSE PICTURES ARE, ARE, ARE MEANINGFUL.
BUT, UH, THAT'S JUST A, A LEARNING OPPORTUNITY.
UH, OR RATHER WE'LL GO AHEAD AND GO TO NEXT STEPS, OF COURSE, AS DESCRIBED, UH, WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO ENGAGING WITH LAUREN WEBER AND, UH, HAVING HER RESPOND TO, UH, THE GROUP AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMISSION AND THE COMMUNITY, UH, TO OPEN QUESTIONS CAPTURED DURING THE EVENT.
UH, I HAVE REACHED OUT TO LAUREN, UH, ABOUT THOSE QUESTIONS.
UH, AND SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO HER RESPONSE.
UH, I KNOW THAT, UH, SHE IS ACCESSIBLE, SO I, I, I EXPECT THAT WE'LL GET A RESPONSE PRETTY QUICKLY, UH, AND I'LL BE SURE TO REPLY TO, UH, TO SEND THAT RESPONSE TO, UH, CHAIR ACA, UH, AND DAN, THAT WAY CAN BE DISTRIBUTED TO THE WHOLE COMMISSION.
UH, DECA, OF COURSE, IN THE CTTC HERE TO COORDINATE ADDITIONAL TOWN HALLS, UH, IN THE COMING FISCAL YEAR TO FOCUS ON SIMILAR TOPIC AREAS AND, AND SIMILAR AU AUDIENCES LIKE VETERANS AND OTHER CO COVERED POPULATIONS.
I THINK THAT'LL BE IMPORTANT FOR, UH, AS, AND BY THE WAY, THAT'S, THAT'S A, A STEP THAT WAS IDENTIFIED BY, UH, CHAIR, AKA, UH, WHICH I, OF COURSE AGREE WITH AND SUPPORT AS A, UH, A COMMUNITY LEADER.
BUT, UH, JUST IN GENERAL AS COMMUNITY MEMBER, UH, AS IS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE, UH, THE INVITATIONS GOING OUT TO ORGANIZATIONS TO BRIEF THE COMMISSION ON DIGITAL EQUITY WORK, UH, THAT'S BEING DONE, UH, SUCH AS THE, THE PRESENTATION BY DR.
UH, I THINK THERE'S ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY, UH, THAT'S NOT LISTED HERE, UH, FOR FUTURE CONVENING AROUND, UH, THESE TYPES OF EVENTS WITHIN THE SPACES, ESPECIALLY TO PLAN ON REACHING CERTAIN POPULATIONS.
UH, I THINK THERE'S REAL VALUE IN STARTING IN A SPACE, UH, WHERE YOU'RE HOPING TO BRING PEOPLE TO, UH, AND THEN WORKING BACKWARD, UH, TO THEN PLAN AROUND THE EVENTS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE IN MIND.
UH, THE GREAT THING ABOUT THIS EVENT IS BECAUSE THAT WAS ALREADY ON THE, THE THOUGHTS AND MINDS OF VANESSA, ERICA, AND, AND, AND, AND, UH, BETH AND WARWICK, AS WELL AS ANGELA NER IN TERMS OF THEIR PROCESS OF REACHING WITHIN AND WITH VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS.
AND SO IN, IN THE PROCESS OF LEARNING HOW TO BEST ENGAGE VETERANS BEYOND THAT, WE NOW KNOW HOW TO THEN, UH, I THINK REALLY FILL THE ROOMS UP, PARTICULARLY, UH, BASED ON THE CONVERSATIONS I HAD, UH, DEALING WITH THE REGIONAL VETERAN FOR FOREIGN WARS OFFICE AND THE REGIONAL AMERICAN LEGION OFFICE, WHERE I HAD THE PLEASURE OF SPEAKING DIRECTLY WITH THE AMERICAN LEGION, UH, NT, UH, WHO IS THE HEAD PERSON FOR, UH, THEIR OPERATIONS, UH, ABOUT FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES, UH, AND THEN ALSO SECURING THE, THE INFORMATION AND CONTACT, UH, FOR THE, THE, THE DFW, UH, AVAN AS WELL.
AND THEN THE LAST, OUR BRIEFING TODAY, UH, I KNOW THAT I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T GIVE SOME SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
CAN I GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE, THE LAST SLIDE HERE? UH, OR THE SECOND TO LAST SLIDE, PLEASE.
AND THEY NEED TO BE NAMED INDIVIDUALLY, SAMANTHA RO, UH, FOR BIG MARKETING, MARCUS, UH, KAJA, AND ACTUALLY, UH, ALL OF THEM HERE.
UH, ELA, VANESSA, ELISA, RAYMOND, UH, DR.
WARWICK, ANGELA WELLNER, UH, CHAIR APODACA, AND VICE CHAIR ALETTE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS IN MAKING THIS EVENT SUCCESSFUL.
UH, I'LL GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE LAST SLIDE AND, AND GO AHEAD AND, UH, PAUSE.
I THINK WE RAN A LITTLE LONGER THAN EXPECTED, BUT READY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE.
WELL, THIS WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION, NEHEMIAH.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO, TO EXECUTE THE EVENT.
I THOUGHT FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, IT WENT EXTREMELY WELL.
UM, AND I KNOW THIS WAS ON THE, ON THE BOOKS, BOOKS, UM, DURING OUR LAST FISCAL YEAR.
SO APPRECIATE YOU FOLLOWING THROUGH ON EXECUTING THE EVENTS.
SO WE LOOK FORWARD TO PARTNERING WITH YOU, UM,
[01:50:01]
AS, AS, AS A DECA MEMBER AND, AND FORMER CHAIR, FORMER COMMISSIONER ON, UM, ON, ON DOING MORE OF THESE EVENTS.'CAUSE I, I THINK YOU'VE, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, YOU'VE GOTTEN REALLY GOOD AT IT.
UM, SO WOULD LOVE TO TAP INTO YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE AND, AND MUSCLE MEMORY.
UM, I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, BUT I'LL TURN IT OVER TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
UM, IF ANYONE HAS QUESTIONS THEY'D LIKE TO COVER OFF ON, I JUST, UH, WANNA ECHO YOU, UH, CHAIR, AKA I THINK, UM, UM, IT WAS JUST A FANTASTIC EVENT, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO PARTICIPATING IN MORE, MORE OF THESE EVENTS.
WELL, WE WILL MAKE SURE TO, OH, UH, COMMISSIONER SUPTA, PLEASE.
I JUST WANT TO COMPLIMENT, UH, UH, UM,
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S GOOD, GOOD PIECE OF WORK.
JUST THE QUESTION IS, YOU KNOW, THIS, THIS FACILITY THAT A C HAS, IS THAT GOING TO BE SORT OF LIKE THE PLACE WHERE WE'LL CONTINUE TO HAVE AN ANNUAL EVENT OR BI-YEARLY EVENT, OR WHAT, WHAT, WHAT'S THE PLAN FORWARD? THANKS FOR THAT QUESTION.
AND, AND BY THE WAY, UH, UH, THANK YOU, UH, CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
UH, I'LL DIRECT THAT FOR, UH, YOUR FEEDBACK.
I REALLY APPRECIATE IT, UH, AS WELL.
UH, COMMISSIONER SUPTA, UH, YOU KNOW, THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION.
UH, I THINK THAT IS A WONDERFUL IDEA, AND, AND I THINK IT'S ALMOST A GIVEN.
UM, BUT IT HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED.
AND I'LL BE REMISS IF I, YOU KNOW, BOOKED TIME.
I BOOKED ALL THE STAFF AND, AND, AND ASSUMED THAT WE WOULD HAVE THAT SPACE.
UH, BUT BASED ON HOW IT WENT, I, I, I THINK IT IS A GIVEN.
I KNOW THAT RIGHT NOW WE'RE AT A STAGE OF PURSUING A FOLLOW-UP ONLINE CONVENING, UH, TO DIVE INTO THE REPORT, UH, ITSELF AND, AND ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT NEXT STEPS.
AND, AND I THINK THAT IS A LOGICAL, UH, NEXT STEP, UH, FROM A PLANNING STANDPOINT.
I, I THINK THAT MORE IMMEDIATELY, ESPECIALLY SINCE ONE OF THE INSIGHTS DARNED WAS HAVING AN ONLINE SPACE TO BE ABLE TO INTERACT WITH VETERANS WOULD BE VERY VALUABLE.
UH, I, I THINK THAT BECAUSE OF, OF WHAT THAT CAN MEAN IN, IN SO MANY OTHER WAYS, UH, WHETHER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE WORK OF THE COMMISSION, FOR EXAMPLE, AND, AND WANTING TO HAVE, UH, THE CAPABILITY, UH, TO, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE MESSAGE BOARDS AND MORE, YOU KNOW, MORE COMMUNITY WITHOUT CHALLENGES TO OPEN RECORDS.
I, I THINK THAT SAME KIND OF NEED EXISTS WHEN IT COMES TO VETERANS AND LOTS OF OTHER GROUPS THAT NEED TO ENGAGE.
UH, AND, AND SO WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT DOING IS, UH, GETTING TOGETHER WITH ANYONE FROM THE COMMISSION AS WELL AS THOSE FROM THE PLANNING TEAM AND, AND THE, THE VETERAN ORGANIZATIONS TO TALK ABOUT RESOURCING AND WAYS TO ACTUALLY MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
BUT CERTAINLY LOOKING FORWARD TO PLANNING AN EVENT.
UH, AND IT WOULD BE GREAT TO ACTUALLY HAVE A 2025 EVENT THERE, UH, WHERE WE'VE GOT TO, YOU KNOW, EXPAND, UH, IT INTO THE HALLWAY, ONE THAT'S REALLY STANDING ROOM ONLY, LIKE THE RIBBON CUTTING WAS.
YES, PLEASE, UM, INVITE A SUBSET OF US, UH, LET DAN KNOW AND, AND WE CAN MAKE SOME COMMISSIONS MEMBERS AVAILABLE FOR, UH, SOME OF THESE FOLLOW UP EVENTS.
I'D BE DELIGHTED TO, UH, I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT CONTINUING TO WORK WITH, UH, THE COMMISSION AND, UH, TO BE A DECA MEMBER.
UH, I KNOW THAT IT CAN BE, IT'S INTERESTING, THE MUSCLE MEMORY THING IS REAL, UH, RIGHT
AND SO, UH, I FIND MYSELF, UH, COMPORTING MYSELF AS THOUGH I HAVE THE SAME LIMITATIONS.
LIMITATIONS IS NOT THE RIGHT WORD.
THE SAME, UH, THE SAME RESTRICTIONS, RIGHT? THE SAME, UH, RESTRICTIONS, I GUESS IS A, IS A FAIR WAY TO PUT IT.
THE SAME RESPONSIBILITIES, I THINK IS AN EVEN BETTER WAY TO PUT IT, RIGHT? THE SAME RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PUBLIC OFFICIAL.
UH, AND ALTHOUGH I DON'T HAVE THOSE SAME RESPONSIBILITIES, YOU KNOW, AS A COMMUNITY MEMBER THAT SEES WHAT YOU ALL DO, UH, THAT REALLY SEES WHAT YOU DO, UH, AND UNDERSTANDS WHAT YOU DO, UH, I WANT TO IMPART THAT SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY TO MY PEERS AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL.
UH, WE CAN'T ALL, YOU KNOW, DEDICATE HOURS OF OUR TIME TO MEETINGS LIKE THIS, BUT IF AT THE VERY LEAST WE ALL SEE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FROM A CITIZEN STANDPOINT AS ESSENTIAL, UH, THEN I THINK WE'LL BE FOLLOWING YOUR EXAMPLE AT THE COMMISSION LEVEL, AND IT'LL BE ONE THAT WE CAN REALLY BUILD OFF OF.
[01:55:01]
JUST EXCITED ABOUT CONTINUING TO WORK, UH, AND, UH, AS I DO, I'LL MAKE SURE TO KEEP YOU ALL, UH, UH, POSTED ON WHAT I'M UP TO.DEFINITELY WANT TO CONTINUE THE, THE PARTNERSHIP.
SO, UH, THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE.
UM, THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS TIME, BY THE WAY, AND THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT.
OKAY, WELL, UM, LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE FORWARD WITH OUR, UM, ACTION ITEMS FOR THE MEETING.
[5. Review and approval of 2023 CTTC Annual Report]
SO MOVING ON TO AGENDA ITEM FIVE, REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF THE, UH, PAST FISCAL YEAR ANNUAL REPORT.UM, IF YOU COULD UPGRADE ME, COULD YOU UPGRADE ME TO A PANELIST SO I CAN JUST SHARE THIS WINDOW? UM, SO COMMISSIONERS, UH, THIS ITEM WAS INCLUDED ONTO THE MEETING INVITE.
IT WAS ALSO INCLUDED, I DON'T WANNA SHARE MY WHOLE SCREEN.
IT WAS ALSO POSTED ON OUR MEETING AS, AS AN, AS AN, UH, AS A BACKUP.
SO WHAT I WILL DO, SO A COUPLE OTHER COMMISSIONERS PROVIDED INPUT TO THIS.
WE DISCUSSED IT DURING THE LAST MEETING AS WELL, AND STARTED THE PROCESS OF, UH, DRAFTING THIS.
UM, I THINK THE YEAR, THE PAST FISCAL YEAR IS PRETTY WELL SOLIDIFIED AS FAR AS ACTIVITIES AND ENGAGEMENT.
UM, THE BRIEFINGS THAT WE RECEIVED, THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS, SO SOME OF THE ITEMS I WAS LOOKING FOR, FINAL AMENDMENTS FROM THE COMMISSION, WANTED TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE INPUT ARE ON, UM, THE FINAL SECTION OF THE DOCUMENT.
SO ITEM THREE AND BELOW, AND, UH, I'M MAY GIVE YOU ALL SOME CONTEXT, AND THEN I'M GONNA GIVE YOU ALL JUST A FEW MINUTES OF, UH, LIKE FIVE MINUTES JUST TO READ THROUGH IT ON YOUR OWN.
UM, AND SPEAK UP IF, UH, IF THERE ARE ANY ADDITIONS ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE HISTORICALLY, UH, THE COMMISSION HAS SEPARATED ITS WORK INTO THREE LARGE BUCKET ITEMS. THE FIRST BEING DIGITAL INCLUSION, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, STRATEGIC POLICY AND IMPACT.
SO YOU SEE THE ITEMS BELOW SORT OF, UH, BUCKETED IN THAT WAY.
SO WE THINK ABOUT THINGS LIKE G TOPS, UM, LEGISLATIVE, UH, POLICY ACTIONS, UM, DECA EXPANSION, THE SECOND, UH, BIG BUCKET ITEM OR TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION.
SO YOU'LL SEE BUCKET, YOU'LL SEE THE, THE NEXT BIG ITEM, UH, RELATED TO, TO THAT GROUPING.
AND THEN FINALLY, KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION AND DATA, DATA STEWARDSHIP.
UH, AND YOU'LL SEE ITEMS RELATED TO THAT.
CERTAINLY NOT MARRIED TO THESE, BUT HISTORICALLY WE'VE SEEN THAT THESE ARE, ARE, HAVE JUST BEEN A GREAT WAY TO, TO CATEGORIZE THE ITEMS AND, AND TO BREAK 'EM UP INTO MANAGEABLE CHUNKS.
PREVIOUSLY WE HAD WORKING GROUPS CENTERED AROUND THESE AREAS, BUT WE'VE SINCE BEEN GIVEN THE GUIDANCE THAT OUR WORKING GROUPS NEED TO BE TASK SPECIFIC AND CAN'T BE STANDING.
BUT I DO THINK, UH, LEVERAGING THESE, UH, THESE AREAS ARE STILL USEFUL FOR THIS REPORT.
UM, SO WHAT I'LL DO IS I'LL JUST GIVE EVERYONE, UM, UNTIL IT'S 8 43, I'LL GIVE EVERYONE UNTIL THE 49 TO TAKE A L TO READ THROUGH IT ON YOUR OWN.
AND THEN WE WILL COME BACK TOGETHER AND IF ANYONE HAS ANY ADDITIONS, AMENDMENTS, UH, THEY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE TO PRIMARILY THE, THE FINAL SECTION.
BUT ANY OTHER AREA AS WELL, I DON'T EXPECT THERE WOULD BE ANY CHANGES TO THE UPFRONT SECTION.
UM, WE'LL WORK THROUGH IT TOGETHER.
SO, UM, I'LL JUST GO OFF, GO OFF ON MUTE, UM, AND THEN WE'LL MEET BACK HERE IN ABOUT FIVE MINUTES.
UM, CHAIR PERGA? YES, UH, I HAVE A, I DO HAVE A QUESTION, UH, IN THE AREA OF BRIEFINGS, UH, DID WE NOT HAVE ANY BRIEFINGS BEFORE THE, UH, THE, THE ONES THAT WE HAVE? I THOUGHT, DID WE, YOU KNOW, IT GOES BACK TO NOVEMBER, 2023.
DID WE NOT HAVE ANY IN OCTOBER OR SEPTEMBER? UM, I, I LOOKED INTO, UH, THE MEETINGS FOR THOSE AND WE DID NOT.
[02:00:01]
UM, I SEE.IF YOU REMEMBER, WE HAD A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF THEM CANCELED AS WELL.
SO I, I DO HAVE AN AMENDMENT AS WE DISCUSSED, UH, BY EMAIL.
WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO SAY IT NOW? UM, WHILE THE DISC, THIS DELIBERATION IS BEGINNING OR, UH, REVIEW IS BEGINNING OR WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO WAIT? UH, LET'S, LET'S WAIT.
UH, LET'S GIVE THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS JUST A FEW MINUTES TO READ THROUGH IT ON THEIR OWN.
UM, 'CAUSE I WANT, I WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYONE HAS THE, HAS THE SAME OPPORTUNITY.
AND COULD I ASK IF YOU COULD QUICKLY SHARE THAT LINK, PAT THERE? YEAH.
UM, CAN YOU EMAIL IT OUT, JESSE? BUT IF, IF YOU JUST GO TO THE C TTC WEBSITE@AUSTINTEXAS.GOV AND GO TO OUR CURRENT MEETING, IT'S THE BACKUP ITEM, ITEM NUMBER FIVE FOR THE ANNUAL REPORT.
IT SHOULD HAVE ALSO BEEN ATTACHED TO THE, UH, THE EVENT INVITE FOR THIS MEETING.
WE'LL COME BACK IN JUST A FEW MINUTES.
EVERYONE WE'RE, UM, COMING UP ON TIME.
AND JUST A REMINDER, UM, WHEN WE DO FINISH UP OUR AMENDMENTS, WE'LL BE, THIS IS AN ITEM THAT WE'LL BE VOTING
[02:05:01]
ON.UM, THE GUIDANCE FROM THE CLERK'S OFFICE WAS THAT TECHNICALLY I CAN, UH, SUBMIT THIS, UH, ON MY OWN, BUT, UM, I JUST, FOR BEST PRACTICE, I WANT INPUT FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
EVERYONE HAS HAD A CHANCE TO, TO READ THROUGH OUR FUTURE FOCUSED ITEMS. UH, I KNOW COMMISSIONER DESTA, UM, HAS AN, HE'D LIKE TO PROPOSE.
UM, SO HOW ABOUT WE START WITH, WITH THAT ITEM? OKAY, SO I READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH AND, UH, IN THE LAST SECTION, THE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES, DRONES AND SMART CITY TECH, I ADDED A SECOND SUBPARAGRAPH, SO IT WOULD BE DB.
AND WHAT I WROTE IS REVIEW AND PROVIDE ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS IF APPROPRIATE, RELATING TO METRICS THAT DETERMINES SUFFICIENCY OF TESTING OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES IN THE AUSTIN CITY.
INCLUDED IN THIS SHOULD BE A DETERMINATION WHETHER THE METRICS SHOULD BE CONNECTED TO THE TYPE OF ROADS THAT THEY'RE DRIVEN ON IE HIGHWAYS VERSUS MAIN CITY ROADS AS, FOR EXAMPLE, IN DOWNTOWN VERSUS ROADS IN RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS.
UM, ANY DISCUSSION ON THAT TOPIC? I'M NOT SURE.
WOULD YOU LIKE, COULD YOU READ IT AGAIN?
CAN, CAN Y'ALL GLEAN THAT, UH, CO THAT CONTENT FROM THE RECORDING OR WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU? UH, YEAH.
SO AS LONG AS THE CHANGE IS EXPLICITLY READ INTO THE RECORD MM-HMM,
SO YOU CAN PULL IT OUT OF THE RECORDING THEN? THEY'RE NODDING YES.
BECAUSE I, I, I HAD, I HAD ACTUALLY TYPED IT IN.
I PULLED IT UP AS A WORD DOCUMENT, TYPED IT IN, AND I ESSENTIALLY READ IT OUT TO YOU RIGHT NOW.
UM, WANNA OPEN THIS UP TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION MEMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I'VE ALREADY PROVIDED ALL THE ITEMS, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO COVER FOR THE NEXT YEAR, BUT WANNA HEAR FROM OTHER COMMISSION MEMBERS AS WELL.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, FOR USUAL.
HOW CARVED IN STONE IS THIS? IF WE WERE TO SUBMIT THIS AS IS OR WITH SOME MINOR AMENDMENTS AND CHANGES, UM, IN A DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT, THEN THAT IS, OR NOT TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT, BUT AREA OF CITY GOVERNMENT, OTHER THAN WHAT WE SEE HERE UNDER TECHNOLOGY, INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION, UM, AND WE WANNA ENGAGE AN ISSUE THERE, BUT IT'S NOT LISTED HERE AS THE THING THAT WE INTEND TO DO.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT IS OFF LIMITS FOR THAT REASON? OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN STILL ENGAGE FOR, YOU KNOW, TO MEET THE NEED? YEAH, FROM, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, UM, THIS IS JUST WHAT WE PLAN TO DO.
UM, LIKE ANYTHING ELSE, LIKE, YOU KNOW, NEW POLICY ITEMS, OPPORTUNITIES COME UP.
UM, SO THOSE ITEMS WOULD JUST BE TAKEN UP AT THE COMMISSION LEVEL.
WE WOULD JUST HAVE TO AGREE AS, AS A COMMISSION TO, UM, TO, TO DO WHATEVER ACTIVITY, UM, WE, WE DECIDE ON.
BUT NO, THESE ARE NOT CARVED IN STONE.
THESE ARE JUST WHAT WE PLAN TO DO FOR THE YEAR.
YEAH, JESSE JUST CALLED OUT A, A, A GOOD POINT.
SO AS, AS LONG AS IT FALLS WITHIN THE BYLAWS, WHICH WE DID A LOT OF WORK ON UPDATING LAST TIME AROUND.
DID YOU HAVE A, A SPECIFIC AMENDMENT, UM, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS THAT YOU'D LIKE TO, TO ADD OR? WELL, I'VE, I'M AWARE THAT WITH, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY, THERE'S AN APPLICATION THAT IS ALSO IN USE THAT COULD PROBABLY USE SOME FORM OF UPDATE OR REVIEW.
AND I DON'T SEE IT LAID OUT SPECIFICALLY HERE BECAUSE WHY WOULD THAT BE LAID OUT SPECIFICALLY HERE? MM-HMM.
BUT IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THEY'RE INTERESTED IN AND WE'RE INTERESTED IN, I WOULD LOVE TO ENGAGE IT IN A WAY THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO AUSTIN CITIZENS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF THAT DOOR WAS OPEN, BUT THERE ISN'T ANYTHING SPECIFIC ON MY MIND AS MUCH AS I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE OPPORTUNITY OF THE THINGS WE DISCOVER OVER TIME.
WE DO HAVE AN ITEM THERE AROUND THE SMART METERING.
UM, BUT IF THERE'S A SPECIFIC APPLICATION,
[02:10:02]
UM, I MEAN, I, I DON'T, I I IF YOU, IF YOU HAVE A LITTLE MORE DETAIL, WE CAN ADD IT IN OR WE CAN TAKE IT UP AT A LATER DATE.WE CAN TAKE IT UP AT A LATER DATE.
THERE SHOULD BE OTHERS OVER TIME.
UH, OPENING IT UP TO THE REST OF COMMISSION,
UM, AS I READ THROUGH THE ITEMS, UM, THERE IS ONE ITEM I'D LIKE TO MAKE AN AMENDMENT TO.
SO THIS WOULD FALL UNDER THE DIGITAL INCLUSION CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC POLICY IMPACT SECTION.
UM, AND IT WOULD SIMPLY BE TO, UH, TO SUPPORT, UM, ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY LISTENING SESSIONS.
SO AN EXAMPLE BEING WHAT WAS EXECUTED ON, UH, AND LED BY FORMER CHAIR PITTS, UH, SEVERAL WEEKS AGO.
UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE COMMISSION FOR SOME OF THE NEW COMMISSIONERS IS SOMETHING THAT THE COMMISSION HAS HISTORICALLY, UM, DONE.
THERE WAS EVEN LANGUAGE THAT WE ADDED TO THE BYLAWS.
UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING I, WE CAN ADD AS ITEM C IN THAT UPFRONT, OR EXCUSE ME, ITEM D IN THAT UPFRONT SECTION.
SO I'M JUST GONNA TYPE SOMETHING OUT, SUPPORT COMMUNITY LISTENING SESSIONS AS APPROPRIATE.
IN FACT, MAYBE JUST LEVERAGING THE SAME LANGUAGE AND THE BYLAWS, I'M TRYING TO FIND IT.
SO IT WOULD, I'M JUST LOOKING AT OUR, UM, VERSION OF THE REFRESHED BYLAWS.
SO IT WOULD SAY, UM, SUPPORTING COMMUNITY LISTENING SESSIONS, AS IN WE, WHEN NEEDED TO, UH, ADDRESS, UH, TOPICS RELEVANT TO THE COMMISSION.
SO I'M JUST GONNA READ THOSE TWO AMENDMENTS INTO THE RECORD FOR CLARITY.
SO IN THE SECTION TITLED DIGITAL INCLUSION CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC POLICY IMPACT, THERE WOULD BE A NEW, UM, ITEM, ITEM D, WHICH WOULD BE COMMUNITY LISTING SESSIONS.
AND UNDERNEATH THAT ITEM IT WOULD READ SUPPORT COMMUNITY LISTING SESSIONS AS AND WHEN NEEDED TO ADDRESS TOPICS RELEVANT TO THE COMMISSION.
AND THEN THE SECOND AMENDMENT BROUGHT FORWARD BY COMMISSIONER JESS GUPTA WOULD BE IN THE KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION AND DATE OF STEWARDSHIP SECTION UNDER HEADER D, WHICH ADDRESSES AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.
AND THAT WOULD READ, REVIEW AND PROVIDE ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS IF APPROPRIATE, RELATING TO THE METRICS THAT DETERMINE SUFFICIENCY OF TESTING OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
LIMITS INCLUDED IN THIS SHOULD BE A DETERMINATION WHETHER THE METRIC SHOULD BE CONNECTED TO THIS TYPE OF R TO THE TYPE OF
[02:15:01]
ROADS THAT THEY ARE DRIVEN ON IE HIGHWAYS VERSUS MAIN CITY ROADS, EEG AND DOWNTOWN VERSUS ROADS IN RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS.SO THIS IS THE TWO AMENDMENTS WE HAVE.
SO I'M NOT HEARING ANY ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'LL LOOK FOR A MOTION TO I MOVE TO APPROVE THIS, UH, REPORT.
AND WE'LL JUST A REMINDER, WE'LL HAVE TO COME ON SCREEN.
AND WE WILL JUST WAIT FOR EVERYONE TO COME ON SCREEN JUST WAITING IN.
SO WE HAVE A MOTION, UH, PUT FORWARD TO ADOPT THE, UM, THE ANNUAL REPORT WITH THE TWO AMENDMENTS AS READ, UH, SECONDED BY VICE CHAIR ALDERETTE.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY AYE.
ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY.
WE ARE UNANIMOUS IN OUR ADOPTION OF THE YEARLY REVIEW.
DAN WILL GET THAT, UM, THE FINAL VERSION TYPED UP AND POSTED AND SUBMITTED TO THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
[6. Approval of digital communications enhancements for City of Austin Commissions resolution]
UH, SO WE WILL MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SIX, THE APPROVAL OF COMMUNICATION ENHANCEMENTS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN COMMISSION FOR OUR RESOLUTION THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON WITH, UM, CHAIR NEHA OVER IN THE, UM, ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION.I'M JUST GONNA SHARE MY SCREEN AGAIN AND TEE UP THE CONTEXT FOR THIS.
SO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW, THERE IS A CITY COUNCIL MESSAGE BOARD WHERE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE MAYOR, UM, THEY LEVERAGE THIS APPLICATION TO COMMUNICATE OUTSIDE OF, UM, COUNCIL MEETINGS.
SO I'LL GIVE AN EXAMPLE IN THE, UH, ACTUALLY A REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE IS THIS FIRST ITEM HERE, WHICH IS A CO-SPONSORSHIP REQUEST.
SO THIS WAS SUBMITTED ON BEHALF OF MAYOR WATSON BY SOMEONE ON HIS STAFF, UM, LOOKING FOR SUPPORT FROM A BOND PACKAGE.
UM, SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY, THEY POSTED THE DETAILS OF THIS, UM, PROVIDED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER VELA OR SOMEONE IN HIS STAFF, UH, THANKED THE MAYOR OF HIS RESOLUTION, INDICATED THAT THEY WOULD WANNA BE A CO-SPONSOR, AS DID COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE, UM, AND SEVERAL OTHERS.
SO THIS IS USED REGULARLY FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS TO COLLABORATE, UM, OUTSIDE OF, OF COUNCIL MEMBER MEMBER MEETINGS.
UM, THE BENEFIT OF THAT IS IT'S, IT'S COMPLETELY VIEWABLE BY THE PUBLIC AT LARGE, REALLY ANYONE IN THE WORLD.
UM, WHAT WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING WITH CHAIR NEHA IS, UH, THE FACT THAT THIS MESSAGE BOARD IS VERY OUT OF DATE, AS YOU CAN SEE, JUST LIKE THE LAYOUT FROM THE NINETIES.
UM, THERE'S NO SORT OF METRICS, THERE'S NOTHING, THERE'S NO QUALITATIVE, QUALITATIVE METRICS.
THERE'S A BASIC SEARCH FEATURE.
UM, SO THE FIRST THOUGHT IS TO LOOK INTO THE OPPORTUNITY TO UPDATE THE APPLICATION THAT'S BEEN USING.
THE SECOND IS, UM, POTENTIALLY MAKE THIS AVAILABLE, MAKE THIS BOARD TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AS WELL.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, WE HAVE TO WORK THROUGH DAN AND OR JESSE IN ORDER TO COMMUNICATE COLLECTIVELY, UM, FROM, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, IT SHOULD BE MUCH EASIER THAN THAT.
IF WE'RE COLLABORATING ON A RESOLUTION AND WE'RE LOOKING TO GET SUPPORT, UM, BEFORE THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING, THERE SHOULD BE A MECHANISM IN THAT WITHOUT HAVING TO, TO DO IT OVER EMAIL.
SO THOSE ARE THE TWO ITEMS, UM, THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO.
UH, THERE WAS A DRAFT RESOLUTION, UH,
[02:20:01]
THAT A COUPLE COMMISSION MEMBERS, UH, HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE INPUT TO.I KNOW COMMISSIONER ENGO WAS ON, UM, ONE OF THE WORKING SESSIONS WITH, UM, CHAIR NEHA.
SO I JUST WANNA GIVE HER AN OPPORTUNITY, UH, TO PROVIDE SOME INPUT, UM, ON THAT WORKING SESSION AS WELL.
IT WAS A VERY INFORMATIVE WORKING GROUP AND I ECHO THE SENTIMENT OF OUR OUTDATED COA MESSAGE BOARD.
I MEAN, AS YOU CAN SEE THROUGH THE SCREEN, I GOT A BIT OF NOSTALGIA 'CAUSE IT REMINDED ME OF LIKE THE MYSPACE MESSAGING BOARD.
AND SO AS A NEW COMMISSIONER, OBVIOUSLY IN, I SEE THAT THERE'S ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN TERMS OF THE UX EXPERIENCE AND JUST MAKING IT A SPACE WHERE IT'S ENGAGING AND PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY SHARE, UM, EXPERIENCES BECAUSE THE BOARDS DO SO MUCH WORK IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, MAKING AUSTIN JUST A MUCH MORE VIBRANT COMMUNITY.
AND SO THAT SHOULD BE REFLECTED IN OUR DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.
UM, THE ULTIMATE GOAL AND CHAIR NEHA IS REALLY LEADING THE CHARGE ON THIS, BUT BECAUSE WE, OUR COMMISSION IS FOCUSED ON TECHNOLOGY, UM, WE KIND OF MADE THE DETERMINATION THAT WE SHOULD BE THE FIRST TO, TO, TO SORT OF, UM, START THIS EFFORT.
BUT THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS FOR OTHER COMMISSIONS TO PASS A SIMILAR RESOLUTION BECAUSE THEY'RE RUNNING INTO ISSUES AROUND COMMUNICATION THAT WE ARE AS WELL.
UM, AND FROM, I GUESS FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, UM, IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO JUST OPEN UP, UH, OR ASK TO OPEN UP, UH, THE APPLICATION TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AS WELL.
UM, WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT PERHAPS THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY, UH, TO BE USED AS WELL.
UH, FOR ANY REACTIONS BEFORE I SWITCH OVER TO ACTUALLY READING THE RESOLUTION ON THE RECORD? I HAVE A COMMENT.
UH, I'D LIKE TO TAKE A STEP BACK A LITTLE TO TWO, MAYBE THREE YEARS BACK, A CITIZEN MADE A REQUEST THAT THE DELIBERATIONS OF THE COUNCIL, WE PUT INTO A SIMPLE SPREADSHEET THAT WOULD SHOW THE TOPIC AT HAND AND HOW THE VOTING WENT.
WHO VOTED FOR WHO VOTED, YOU KNOW, AGAINST.
AND WE THOUGHT IT WAS A BRILLIANT IDEA AND WE PROPOSED IT AS AN IMPROVEMENT OVER ITS CURRENT SYSTEM AND NOTHING EVER HAPPENED TO THAT.
MAYBE JESSE AND DAN CAN ELABORATE ON WHAT HAPPENED.
I MEAN, WE KEPT GETTING INPUT SAYING THAT THEY HAD RE-ARCHITECTED THE SOLUTION AND IT BECAME A LOT BIGGER THAN WHAT WE REQUESTED, AND THEN IT SORT OF VANISHED THAT, AND WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO PROPOSE NOW COULD BE INTEGRATED INTO ONE CONSISTENT SETUP THAT IS MODERNIZED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE CITIZENS.
UH, I, I BELIEVE I WAS THERE FOR THAT.
UM, I'M NOT SURE IF, UH, MAYBE WE HAVEN'T DISCUSSED IT IN A WHILE, BUT THAT APPLICATION ACTUALLY WENT LIVE LAST YEAR.
AS, AS YOU WERE, AS YOU WERE TALKING I WAS PULLING IT UP.
SO IF YOU GO TO THE GOVERNMENT SECTION, UM, YOU KNOW WHERE ALL THE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS YEAH.
AND IF YOU SCROLL DOWN ABOUT HALFWAY IT SAYS, YOU KNOW, IT'S, THERE'S COUNCIL VOTING, PA HISTORY PAGE.
IF YOU CLICK ON THAT, IT ACTUALLY POPULATES AN APPLICATION OH.
AND IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY ADVANCED.
YOU CAN, YOU CAN PULL OUT, YEAH.
I, I WON'T GET INTO EVERYTHING HERE.
AND YOU KNOW, I MADE ME TOLD THAT IT'S ONLINE.
I, I'M GLAD THAT YOU, I'M GLAD THAT YOU BROUGHT THAT UP THOUGH, BECAUSE THAT IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF, UH, A PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY, AN APPLICATION THAT WAS RECOMMENDED BY OUR COMMISSION.
UM, WE PUSHED QUITE A BIT IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE AND, UM, UH, TO, TO GET THIS THROUGH.
AND, UH, I KNOW THERE WASN'T A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, UH, BUT IT WAS FINALLY RELEASED.
UM, SO WE CAN, WE SHOULD CALL THAT A SUCCESS.
[02:25:01]
MAKE THAT PART OF THE ANNUAL REPORT.THAT IS A THAT'S A GOOD POINT.
I'M JUST GONNA, GONNA, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND SHARE IT TOO.
SO, UM, RECOMMENDATION NUMBERS YET TO BE ASSIGNED, BUT, UH, THE RESOLUTION READS, WHEREAS CITY COUNT, THE CITY COUNCIL MESSAGE BOARDS RUNNING ON SOFTWARE WHOSE LAST MAJOR UPDATE WAS IN 2007, THE TIME BEFORE SMARTPHONES SOFTWARE NAMED P-H-P-B-B, WHERE BB STANDS FOR THE BULLETIN BOARD, A TECHNOLOGY FROM THE ERA OF DIAL UP MODEMS. AND WHEREAS AUSTIN IS KNOWN AS A TECHNOLOGY CITY OR HOME TO SHIP MANUFACTURERS LIKE IBMN XP, A MD, AND SAMSUNG.
AND WHEREAS AUSTIN IS SIGNIFICANT PRESENCE OF TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES SUCH AS APPLE, GOOGLE, DELL, AND META.
AND INDEED, WHEREAS AUSTIN IS HOME TO A UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN, WHERE THE TOP TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITIES IN THE WORLD.
AND WHEREAS TECHNOLOGY IS PART OF AUSTIN'S BRAND, AND OUR CITY'S GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE USING THE MOST MODERN APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE.
AND WHEREAS THE CITY COUNCIL MESSAGE BOARDS OF PORT ARANSAS AND AMARILLO ARE USING WORDPRESS A NEWER SOFTWARE THAN AUSTIN'S.
AND WHEREAS THERE'S A NEW GENERATION OF COLLABORATIVE SOFTWARE BASED ON INSTANT MESSAGING AND DESIGN WITH SMARTPHONES IN MIND, THIS INCLUDES SUCH PROPRIETY PROPRIETARY APPS SUCH AS SLACK AND DISCORD, AS WELL AS OPEN SOURCE ALTERNATIVES LIKE Z LIPP AND MATRIX.
THIS INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY IS BEING USED BY BOARDS OF FOR-PROFIT AND NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO COMMUNICATE AND COLLABORATE.
AND WHEREAS OUR MAYOR, KIRK WATSON W WHEN THE TEXAS SENATE AUTHORED AND CHAMPION CHANGES TO THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT, IN ADDITION TO, UH, SECTION 5 5 1 0 0 6 TO THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE PERMITS GOVERNMENT BODIES TO USE ONLINE REAL-TIME COMMUNICATION THAT IS VISIBLE TO THE PUBLIC, THUS ENABLING THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL MESSAGE BOARD, WHICH NOW HAS THOUSANDS OF POSTS AND MILLIONS OF VIEWS.
THOUGHT THAT THAT WAS AN IMPORTANT POINT, EVERYONE.
UM, AND WHEREAS THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN CITY GOVERNMENT, THEY'RE VITAL TO ADJUDICATION, MONITORING RIGHTS, MONITORING THE ENVIRONMENT AND OVERSIGHT OF CRITICAL INDUSTRIES.
THEY IMPROVE AUSTIN BY CHERISHING AMENITIES, FOSTERING THE ARTS, AND PROVIDING EXPERT ADVICE TO CITY COUNCIL AND SERVE AS THE INCLUSIVE INTERFACE FOR COMMUNITIES THAT ARE OFTEN OVERLOOKED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
AND WHEREAS THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS DO NOT HAVE BOARDS, DO NOT HAVE MESSAGE BOARDS, AND THEREFORE STILL SUFFER UNDER THE SAME RESTRICTIVE PROVISIONS OF THE OPENS MEETING ACT PRIOR TO THE ADDITION OF SECTION 5 5 1 0 0 6 BY THEN SENATOR KIRK WATSON, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION REP RECOMMENDS THE CITY OF AUSTIN, NUMBER ONE, RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENT MODERN TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS FOR THE CURRENT CITY COUNCIL MESSAGE BOARD.
AND TWO, DEVELOP AND PROVIDE ACCESS TO A SIMILAR MESSAGE BOARD TO TECHNOLOGY FOR USE BY BOARDS AND COMMISSION COMMISSIONS, ENABLING MEMBERS TO OPENLY DISCUSS BUSINESS IN BETWEEN MEETINGS.
COMMISSIONER SUPTA, TWO, TWO COMMENTS SINCE YOU HAVE THIS PART OF THE SCREEN THERE.
TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION HAS THAT NEW, NEW NAME BEEN APPROVED? IT HAS NOT.
SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO AMEND THAT ONE.
NOW, COULD YOU PLEASE SCROLL BACK TO THE FIRST, WHEREAS I'M GOING TO BE A LITTLE OF A NITPICKER YEP.
UH, THAT YOU SAY, AUSTIN IS KNOWN AS A TECHNOLOGY CITY.
WE ARE HOME TO CHIP MANUFACTURERS LIKE IBM AND XP, A MD AND SAMSUNG IBM.
I'VE WORKED AT NXP AND A MD AND SAMSUNG.
I'VE WORKED WITH VERY CLOSELY ONLY SAMSUNG MANUFACTURERS CHIPS, MAYBE YOU SHOULD SAY CHIP DEVELOPERS, WHICH WOULD COVER DESIGN OR MANUFACTURING.
WOULD, WOULD THAT MEET THE, WOULD THAT BE THE, A GOOD, UH, SUFFICIENT CHANGE IF WE CHANGE MANUFACTURERS TO DEVELOPERS? WHAT IF YOU WENT BROAD AND JUST SAID LEADING, LEADING HARDWARE CONFIDENCE.
THAT, THAT, THAT, DO YOU THINK THAT'S BROAD ENOUGH THAT YOU THINK THAT YEP.
CAN GO? THAT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER.
OPEN TO ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS.
[02:30:01]
WE ACCEPT THIS RESOLUTION AS IT STANDS.WELL, UH, LET ME JUST READ THE, THE TWO AMENDMENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COVER OFF ON THOSE.
UM, SO THE FIRST AMENDMENT WOULD READ ON THE SECOND LINE WOULD READ, WHEREAS AUSTIN'S KNOWN TECHNOLOGY CITY, WE'RE HOME TO LEADING, UH, HARDWARE COMPANIES LIKE I-B-M-N-X-P-A-M-D AND SAMSUNG.
AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT WOULD BE TO CHANGE TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION TO COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
UH, SINCE OUR NAME HAS NOT OFFICIALLY BEEN CHANGED YET, UH, THERE IS A MOTION ON THE TABLE FROM COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS TO ACCEPT THE, UH, RESOLUTION WITH THE TWO AMENDMENTS.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SUPTA, IF WE COULD HAVE EVERYONE COME ON CAMERA FOR THE VOTE PLEASE.
JUST WAITING ON TWO MORE COMMISSIONERS.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF PASSING THE RESOLUTION WITH THE TWO AMENDMENTS AS STATED, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY, PERFECT.
WE HAVE PASSED ANOTHER UNANIMOUS RESOLUTION.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
LAST ITEM, UH, BEFORE WE ADJOURN, APPROVAL OF MINUTES.SO WE SKIP THIS ITEM AT THE BEGINNING, SO WE'RE BACK TO AGENDA ITEM ONE.
UM, I'LL GIVE FOLKS JUST A MINUTE TO REVIEW, UH, THE MEETINGS FROM THE JUNE 12TH MEETING, AND THEN I'LL LOOK FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE UNLESS ANYONE HAS ANY EDITS.
I'LL LOOK FOR THAT MOTION TO APPROVE.
I MOVE TO APPROVE CHAIR OF TUCKER.
I BELIEVE THAT WAS COMMISSIONER PIN VIA WHO SECONDED? THAT'S RIGHT.
UH, MOTION HAS BEEN PUT FORWARD TO APPROVE THE MEETING MINUTES FROM JUNE 12TH, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PENA VIA JUST WAITING FOR COMMISSIONERS TO COME ON LINE, UH, ON CAMERA FOR THE VOTE.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MEETING MINUTES FROM JUNE 12TH AS PRESENTED, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS? THE ONLY ITEM FROM MY PERSPECTIVE IS, UH, POTENTIALLY HAVING A WORKING GROUP TO WORK WITH, UH, UH, DR.TROOVER ON ANOTHER RESOLUTION OR RECOMMENDATION ON, UH, SURVEILLANCE FOR THE CITY.
SO WE CAN ADD THAT AS AN AGENDA TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION AND, UM, FORMING A, UH, WORKING GROUP NEXT TIME.
IF THERE'S NOTHING ELSE, GO AHEAD.
JESSE? UH, YEAH, JUST, UH, ONE ITEM.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S GONNA BE READY FOR, UM, EITHER THE NEXT MEETING OR THE MEETING AFTER OR THE MEETING AFTER THAT, BUT SOMETIME IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, UH, I THINK THAT WE'LL BE IN A POSITION TO PRESENT ON THE, UH, SHARED TRAVIS COUNTY, CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, FINDINGS FROM THE RESEARCH THAT BEGAN A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO THAT THE COMMISSION HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH, UH, REGARDING, UH, THE, THE NEEDS TECHNOLOGY NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR CENTRAL TEXAS.
AND SO I JUST WANNA PUT THAT ON THE COMMISSION'S RADAR, UM, FOR OUR PRESENTATION IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
IS THERE ANYTHING THAT, UH, AROUND G OS, UM, I KNOW COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS AND I ARE, UM, REVIEWERS, IS THERE GONNA BE A FINAL, WE WE CAN DO ANNOUNCEMENTS OKAY.
[02:35:01]
OF THE AWARDEES AS THEY COME OUT.WE'RE ABOUT TO CLOSE ON THE, UH, APPLICATION PROCESSES FOR GTOP S MINI AND GTOP S CAPACITY.
YEAH, LET'S DEFINITELY ADD THAT TO THE AGENDA THEN.
UM, THAT MOVES US TO OUR FINAL ITEM ADJOURNMENT.
I WILL ACCEPT A MOTION TO ADJOURN.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? I SECOND THEM.
UH, WHO, UH, WAS THAT COMMISSIONER RICE? IT WAS ME.
UH, MOTION PUT FORWARD BY COMMISSIONER DES GUPTA, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PINA VIA IF I COULD HAVE ALL THE, UH, ALL COMMISSIONERS COME ONLINE.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF ADJOURNMENT, SWEAR YOU IN.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF ADJOURNMENT, PLEASE SAY AYE.
I THINK WE'RE UNANIMOUS ON THAT.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SERVICE.