Members of the technology community met with city officials last week to discuss the future of drone policy in Seattle and how to expand broadband and technology access over the next two years.
The Community Technology Advisory Board (CTAB) met with staff members from Mayor Ed Murray’s office earlier this month and shared new ideas for technology policy and how to meet the city-wide goals of the digital equity initiative.
Mayor Murray continues to look for ways to improve policy-making procedures by encouraging the public to be involved in the city’s data website, according to staff member Ryan Biava, This publicly-accessible portal can be used for everything from viewing an inventory of cultural spaces in the city to seeing the progress of pothole repairs by the Department of Transportation.
“It shows that this is a mayor who is interested in showing results, even when they’re bad,” Biava said, after using data that illustrates the department’s failure to meet a pothole filling goal. “It’s not a question of pointing a finger at — it’s saying ‘how can we improve?’”
Despite the number of projects discussed throughout the evening, the digital equity initiative and the strategies to achieve these goals remained the focus.
The initiative, launched at the beginning of last year, is the city’s attempt to increase access to technology for all Seattle citizens. In the first phase, the city collected information on the community needs and the current state of technology resources. Now, the city will use this data to prioritize needs and roll out digital access to those with the greatest need.
Amy Hirotaka, CTAB chair, emphasized the importance of making technology more accessible for a variety of reasons, like cyber safety and increased productivity.
“People without internet access spend more time doing things that we might take for granted,” Hirotaka said. “They can’t use things like online banking, so instead they take time to go to the bank and wait in line.”
Hirotaka explained that it isn’t just low-income communities being negatively impacted by inadequate technology access, but also senior citizens who might not know how to utilize digital resources. Cybercrime, like identity theft, puts those people at risk because they don’t know how to be safe online, she said.
Another issue discussed was technology access when it comes to education, but not solely because of student resources, Hirotaka continued. Now that school systems often use web portals to post grades and student progress, some parents don’t know how their kids are doing in school, even if they have a computer.
“The first step is access,” she said, “but the second is literacy.”
For this exact reason, technology training is one of the three pillars of Seattle’s Digital Equity Initiative, with connectivity and technical support being the remaining two. However, Hirotaka remains concerned about the cost associated with any idea, no matter which pillar it is associated with.
“The way funding works is a giant issue,” Hirotaka explained. “There’s a major problem with sustainability for continuous programs.”
Though the City of Seattle’s Technology Matching Fund grants $30,000 each year to nonprofits and specific projects, Hirotaka asserts that it is not enough.
Another topic discussed at Tuesday’s meeting was drone policy. While elaborating on a unique list of priorities from his offices, Councilmember Bruce Harrell’s representative, Vinh Tang, flagged the lack of regulations over drones as an issue that could rapidly develop in the coming year. He suggested that the board prepare to address drone policy or provide “guidance” on how to deal with them.
Although drones have yet to become a regular presence in Seattle, Tang reported that Amazon’s ongoing development of their “Amazon Prime Air” drone delivery system is already causing a stir among residents.
“It’s a public safety matter, but I think with Amazon it’s somewhat a technology issue,” Tang said. “We’ve gotten emails saying ‘ban drones in Seattle, don’t allow them.’”
In the midst of these complex and emerging topics, business professionals in the tech field continue to join the discussion. Many see value in creating more accessible and sustainable technology programs as well, and Mark DeLoura is no exception.
DeLoura, a game developer and former digital media advisor for the Obama Administration, returned to Seattle in 2014 and seeks to expand education access to technology programs.
“There’s great research out there showing that using games in the classroom can lead to improvements in cognitive learning outcomes,” DeLoura wrote in an email. However, lack of community involvement and resources for skills training continue to be a challenge to advance that mission, even in a tech hub like Seattle, he explained.
CTAB meets monthly and welcomes all members of the community interested in technology policy in Seattle.
