[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 11, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55684-55685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22087]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration


ConnectED Workshop

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting.

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SUMMARY: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) will convene a meeting of stakeholders from the education, 
technology, and government sectors to share ideas, discuss policies, 
and consider promising strategies for achieving the President's goal of 
connecting virtually all K-12 students in the United States to next-
generation broadband. This Notice announces that the ConnectED Workshop 
will be held on October 7, 2013.

DATES: The meeting will be held on October 7, 2013, from 12:30 p.m. to 
5:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the Gallery (located on the 
lobby level) of the American Institute of Architects headquarters, 
located at 1735 New York Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joelle Tessler, Manager of Stakeholder 
Relations and Outreach, National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 4897, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
4829; email: [email protected]. Please direct media inquiries to 
NTIA's Office of Public Affairs, (202) 482-7002.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  President Obama recently set an ambitious 
goal to connect practically all American students to ultra-fast 
broadband within five years. The President's ConnectED initiative would 
bring next-generation Internet speeds to K-12 schools across the 
nation. See ConnectED: President Obama's Plan for Connecting All 
Schools to the Digital Age, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/connected_fact_sheet.pdf. The Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC) also recently launched a proceeding to 
overhaul and update the federal E-Rate program, which funds Internet 
access in schools and libraries. See In the Matter of Modernizing the 
E-rate Program for Schools and Libraries, WC Docket No. 13-184, Notice 
of Proposed Rule Making (rel. July 23, 2013). To help inform these 
efforts, NTIA will convene stakeholders from the education, technology, 
and government sectors to share ideas, discuss policies and consider 
the most promising strategies for equipping K-12 schools for digital 
learning.
    The ConnectED Workshop will discuss the growing bandwidth needs of 
K-12 schools as more schools use mobile devices to enrich the learning 
experience; as teachers increasingly integrate Web video and other 
digital content into the curriculum; and as classroom management 
software tools move everything from homework assignments to testing 
into the cloud. The workshop will explore possible strategies to 
connect virtually all of our students to next-generation broadband in a 
timely, cost-effective way. It will also share promising practices, 
from NTIA's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and State 
Broadband Initiative (SBI); the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural 
Utilities Service's Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP), Broadband Loan 
Program, Community Connect Program, and Distance Learning and 
Telemedicine Program; and the U.S. Department of Education.
    The meeting will be open to the public and press. Due to the 
limited number of seats, attendance at the workshop will be on a first-
come, first-served basis. Attendees may pre-register for the Workshop, 
but pre-registration does not guarantee the availability of seating. 
Information on how to pre-register for the meeting will be available on 
NTIA's Web site (www.ntia.doc.gov). NTIA will ask registrants to 
provide their first and last names and email addresses for both 
registration purposes and to receive any updates on the ConnectED 
Workshop.

[[Page 55685]]

    The public meeting is physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Individuals requiring accommodations, such as language 
interpretation or other ancillary aids, are asked to notify Jean Rice, 
at (202) 482-2614 or [email protected], at least five (5) business 
days before the meeting.
    The meeting will also be webcast. A webcast page will be published 
on NTIA's Web site (www.ntia.doc.gov) several days in advance of the 
meeting containing webcast instructions and other information. If you 
have technical questions regarding the webcast, please contact Charles 
Franz at [email protected].
    Meeting updates and relevant documents will be also available on 
NTIA's Web site at http://www.ntia.doc.gov.

    Dated: September 6, 2013.
Kathy Smith,
Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013-22087 Filed 9-10-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-60-P