FCC Diversity Group to Draft Model Anti-Discrimination Language for IIJA Implementation

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel charged the Communications Equity and Diversity Council with drafting model policies for localities to adopt to prevent discrimination in the implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, she announced at the group’s second meeting Wednesday. The IIJA directs the agency to draft such policies, and the council will work “as an independent partner” with the FCC to do so, Rosenworcel said. The chairwoman's “urgent request” means the group will have to issue recommendations by July, said Dominique Harrison, chair of the CEDC’s Digital Empowerment and Inclusion Working Group. “We can’t afford to wait for the end of our charter to do this work,” said CEDC Chair Heather Gate.

The working group will do research into how digital discrimination happens, through interviews with stakeholders to include ISPs, civil rights groups, and state and local officials, said working group member Jon Gant of North Carolina Central University. The group will draft a report and make recommendations for best practices and model policies for state and local governments, which will then be voted on by the full CEDC to be presented to the FCC.

Rosenworcel announced a notice of inquiry on digital discrimination Tuesday (see 2202220069), and several CEDC working groups said they will work on defining the term. The phrase is mentioned five times in the IIJA but never defined, Gate said. Wednesday’s CEDC meeting ended on a discussion of how digital discrimination should be defined, and whether its meaning differs from digital redlining, but no conclusion was reached. Historical discrimination set up systems where communities may not realize they’re enacting discriminatory policies, said Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council Vice President-Policy Fallon Wilson. “With this new money shepherded to the states, are we going to see unequal distribution of resources?” asked Council Vice-Chair Nicol Turner Lee, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Several other CEDC subgroups working on matters connected to the IIJA are also aiming to issue results in July, including a report on best practices for increasing procurement and grant opportunities for small, minority and women-owned businesses. The CEDC’s current charter stretches until July 2023. Previous FCC diversity committees typically didn’t release final recommendations until the end of their terms. The group needs to act quickly because the IIJA is “a generational opportunity” to address longstanding inequalities, said CEDC Vice-Chair Susan Au Allen, CEO of the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation. “The time is now. Not ever before have we seen such a historic investment” in addressing digital inequality, said Turner Lee.

The CEDC will also host public meetings to gather information on and address other diversity issues in the communications industry. The CEDC’s Innovation and Access Working Group plans a webinar on media and tech business opportunities for female and minority entrepreneurs, and a “public convening” on digital skills training for diverse and underserved groups. The Diversity and Equity working group plans a symposium on nontraditional “anchor institutions” that aid diverse communities in developing tech job skills and finding employment.

The Council also aims to produce several reports and resource guides, on subjects such as resources for “upskilling” to increase employment in diverse communities and on “lessons learned” from previous broadband adoption efforts, such as the Emergency Broadband Benefit. That information will be gathered through interviewing participants, said Clayton Banks, Silicon Harlem CEO and Digital Empowerment working group member.