After spending a week talking with the global south about the digital divide, I find my self back in NYC, amazed at New York City Council Member Gail Brewer's staff bridging our own digital divide. To reach out to its constituents more effectively, the Council Member's office is not using a multi-million dollar communications platform developed by a government contractor, but by a simple blogspot blog. Tomorrow is the first meeting of the New York City Broadband Advisory Committee, a committee to hear the problems ALL New Yorkers face bridging the digital divide.

New York City Broadband Advisory Committee will hold its first public hearing on Friday, March 30, from 10 am to Noon, in the Gould Memorial Library Auditorium, Bronx Community College, University Avenue at W. 181st Street. (Directions).

Council Member Gale A. Brewer, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. and Bronx Community College President Carolyn Williams will all make opening remarks. The Committee will then hear testimony from members of the general public, including concerned citizens and senior citizens from Bronx senior centers. After the official testimony period, anyone from the audience is invited -- and encouraged -- to speak.

If you cannot make it to the hearing on March 30, we still want to hear from you! You can comment about the issue of broadband in New York City by going to the Advisory Committee's blog (http://nycbroadband.blogspot.com/). Comments will then be posted on the Committee's blog for public consumption. Or you can mail any questions or comments to Colleen Pagter, Policy Analyst for the Committee on Technology in Government, New York City Council, 250 Broadway, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10007.

As a former NY State Senate Staffer to Senate Minority Leader Paterson, now Lt. Governor, I feel the pain of the most populous city in America. Even though New York is the third populous state in America and New York City is larger than Los Angeles and Chicago combined, our municipal and state governments still don't have the tools to communicate WITH it's constituents. If you can't make it to the Bronx, post a comment and by all means pay attention to the Albany Project.


Note - Personal Democracy Forum's founder, Andrew Rasiej is a member of this Advisory Committee.

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