In February a summit was hosted by The National Urban League, National Council of La Raza, The Asian American Justice Center, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (Broadband Opportunity Coalition - BBOC); this group had the common goal of tackling a huge problem - eradicating broadband access barriers. Created from the melding of these dedicated minds was a report which was released Monday outlining how responsibly crafted broadband policies can “advance the interests and needs of communities of color”.

The BBOC recognized how aligned their objectives were with the Obama administration and purposed themselves with creating policy recommendations for Obama’s broadband adoption policy–a policy that Obama sites as being a major part of his economic recovery plan. For this plan, the administration has set aside a little money for the diffusion and adoption of broadband - about $7.2 billion and though it seems like a large sum of money to me and you, this coalition believes that it should just be viewed a starting point.

The BBOC seeks to assist the Obama administration narrow the focus of their broadband policy by recommending they address those issues which, current research shows, are truly barriers to the efforts of broadband adoption, issues like:

• “lack of understanding of the benefits of broadband
• lack of technical knowledge and training (”digital literacy”)
• shortage of relevant content
• language barriers
• privacy concerns”

The general consensus of this coalition is that these barriers can only be brought down with a change in the perception of the importance of broadband technology. Simply put, habits of the mind must be changed in such a way that broadband technology is no longer viewed as a luxury only a few can afford but instead a necessity that all can afford.