[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3280-3281]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00399]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 11, 2017 / 
Notices  

[[Page 3280]]



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
    Title: Community Connectivity Initiative Self-Assessment Tool.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission; new collection.
    Number of Respondents: 500.
    Average Hours Per Response: Annually: 12 hours.
    Burden Hours: 6,000.
    Needs and Uses:
    The National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) launched BroadbandUSA in January 2015 in response to demand from 
communities that realized broadband access and use are vital to their 
economic development, innovation, education, and healthcare needs. 
BroadbandUSA provides technical assistance, guidance, and resources to 
communities across the country that want to expand their broadband 
capacity and promote broadband adoption. BroadbandUSA brings 
stakeholders together to solve problems, contribute to emerging 
policies, link communities to other federal agencies and funding 
sources, and address barriers to collaboration across agencies.
    In March 2015, President Obama created the Broadband Opportunity 
Council (Council), an interagency collaboration among 25 federal 
agencies co-chaired by the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture, to 
determine what actions the federal government could take to eliminate 
regulatory barriers to broadband deployment and to encourage investment 
in broadband networks and services.\1\ The Community Connectivity 
Initiative is one of NTIA's commitments outlined in the Council's 
report released in September 2015.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Presidential 
Memorandum--Expanding Broadband Deployment and Adoption by 
Addressing Regulatory Barriers and Encouraging Investment and 
Training (March 23, 2015), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/23/presidential-memorandum-expanding-broadband-deployment-and-adoption-addr.
    \2\ Id. at 19. The report tasked NTIA, in collaboration with the 
National Economic Council, to ``convene stakeholders to design and 
launch a community connectivity index.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The purpose of the Community Connectivity Initiative is to support 
communities with tools and resources to attract broadband investment 
and promote meaningful use. NTIA and the National Economic Council 
conducted outreach to more than 200 stakeholders and communities to 
seek input on the implementation of the Community Connectivity 
Initiative. The initial findings of that outreach resulted in 
collaborators and communities assisting in the creation of the 
framework for the community connectivity self-assessment tool. The 
questions developed for the community connectivity self-assessment tool 
reflect extensive input from stakeholders in communities, businesses, 
and nonprofits across America. Throughout 2016, NTIA conducted more 
than 20 webinars and workshops where individuals and groups served as 
collaborators in shaping the Community Connectivity framework, 
assessment, and resources. That stakeholder input is the foundation of 
the Community Connectivity Initiative.
    The objectives of the Community Connectivity Initiative are to: (1) 
Support communities as they convene, assess, and act to promote local 
priorities and advance broadband access, adoption, policies, and use; 
and (2) increase the number of communities actively assessing 
connectivity impacts and investing to improve broadband outcomes. The 
Community Connectivity Initiative includes three resources for 
communities, including the community connectivity framework, an online 
self-assessment tool, and resources that support local planning and 
action. The community connectivity framework provides a structure to 
engage local stakeholders in conversations about broadband access and 
community priorities.
    The online self-assessment tool will provide local leaders with a 
means for assessing broadband needs in their communities. The tool will 
enable them to record findings and integrate assessments with national 
datasets on community broadband by providing users with data and asking 
questions covering three specific categories: access, adoption, and 
community. Initially, at the time of the 60-day Federal Register 
Notice, NTIA intended to collect input through the community 
connectivity self-assessment tool across four major categories: access, 
adoption, policy, and use. However, in response to stakeholder 
engagement in clarifying the framework, NTIA decided to combine the 
policy and use categories into one category called community.
    The community connectivity self-assessment tool will collect input 
on the same information outlined in the 60-day Federal Register Notice. 
Since the Notice, NTIA has also decided to reorganize the tool's 
categories and sub-categories. The reorganized approach does not change 
the information that NTIA intends to collect, only the order in which 
NTIA collects the information.
    Upon completion of the self-assessment tool, communities will 
receive a report that combines input from the self-assessment tool with 
other data sources, along with resources that communities could use to 
improve their broadband capabilities. Through this effort, the 
community connectivity self-assessment tool will produce improved 
broadband planning assets for communities, thereby increasing the 
number of communities actively investing to improve broadband access 
and digital inclusion.
    Affected Public: State, regional, local, and tribal government 
organizations.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    NTIA published a Notice in the Federal Register on June 28, 2016 
soliciting comments on this information collection, with a 60-day 
public comment period. NTIA did not receive comments on this Notice.
    This information collection request may be viewed at reginfo.gov or 
http://federalregister.gov/a/2016-15149. Follow the instructions to 
view

[[Page 3281]]

Department of Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

Sheleen Dumas,
PRA Departmental Lead, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-00399 Filed 1-10-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-JE-P