81 FR 41961 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Community Connectivity Initiative Self-Assessment Tool

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 124 (June 28, 2016)

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites the general public and other federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the proposed framework for the community connectivity self-assessment tool. This framework is an element of the Community Connectivity Initiative, which is one of the commitments of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) through its work with the Broadband Opportunity Council, which President Obama established to review actions the federal government could take to reduce regulatory barriers to broadband deployment, competition, investment, and adoption. The Community Connectivity Initiative will support communities across the country with tools to help accelerate local broadband planning and deployment efforts. The community connectivity self-assessment tool will provide a framework of benchmarks and indicators on broadband access, adoption, policy and use, helping community leaders identify critical broadband needs and connect them with expertise and resources.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 28, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41961-41963]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15149]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Community 
Connectivity Initiative Self-Assessment Tool

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, invites the general public and other federal 
agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the proposed framework 
for the community connectivity self-assessment tool. This framework is 
an element of the Community Connectivity Initiative, which is one of 
the commitments of the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration (NTIA) through its work with the Broadband Opportunity 
Council, which President Obama established to review actions the 
federal government could take to reduce regulatory barriers to 
broadband deployment, competition, investment, and adoption. The 
Community Connectivity Initiative will support communities across the 
country with tools to help accelerate local broadband planning and 
deployment efforts. The community connectivity self-assessment tool 
will provide a framework of benchmarks and indicators on broadband 
access, adoption, policy and use, helping community leaders identify 
critical broadband needs and connect them with expertise and resources.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before August 29, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 1401 
and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instruments and instructions 
should be sent to Laura Spining, Telecommunications Policy Specialist, 
Broadband USA, National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Room 4878, Washington, DC

[[Page 41962]]

20230 (or via email at [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    In March 2015, President Obama created the Broadband Opportunity 
Council (Council), composed of 25 federal departments and agencies, 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 Departments of Commerce and 
Agriculture co-chair the Council.
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    \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 (May 23, 2015), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/23/presidential-memorandum-expanding-broadband-deployment-and-adoption-addr.
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    In parallel with the work of the Council, NTIA launched 
BroadbandUSA in January 2015 to help satisfy a demand from communities 
that realize broadband access and use are vital to their economic 
development, innovation, education, and healthcare needs. BroadbandUSA 
offers technical assistance, guidance, and resources to communities 
across the country seeking to expand local broadband deployment, 
investment, and adoption.
    In September 2015, the White House released the Council's report, 
which describes 36 concrete steps the member agencies will take over 
the next 18 months to reduce barriers and promote broadband investment 
and adoption.\2\ The Community Connectivity Initiative is one of NTIA's 
commitments outlined in the Council's report.\3\ The purpose of the 
Community Connectivity Initiative is to empower 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 this action item. The initial findings of that 
outreach resulted in collaborators and communities assisting in the 
creation of the framework for the Community Connectivity Initiative.
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    \2\ Broadband Opportunity Council, Report and Recommendations 
Pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum on Expanding Broadband 
Deployment and Adoption by Addressing Regulatory Barriers and 
Encouraging Investment and Training (Aug. 20, 2015) at 12, available 
at https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/broadband_opportunity_council_report_final.pdf.
    \3\ 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.''
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    The objectives of the Community Connectivity Initiative are: (1) To 
support communities as they convene, assess, and act to promote local 
priorities and advance broadband access, adoption, policies, and use; 
and (2) to 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 a report with recommendations for each 
participating community. 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 framework for assessing 
broadband needs in their communities. The tool will enable them to 
record their findings and integrate the assessments with national 
datasets on community broadband. 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 
recommendations for resources that they could use to improve their 
broadband capabilities.
    NTIA is seeking input on the framework and types of questions that 
the self-assessment tool will ask local community leaders in order to 
help achieve local priorities and improve broadband planning efforts. 
NTIA will use the collection of information to support communities 
working to accelerate broadband deployment, deepen broadband adoption, 
strengthen local policies, and use broadband to advance local 
priorities. Through this effort, the Community Connectivity Initiative 
will produce improved broadband planning assets for communities, 
thereby increasing the number of communities actively investing to 
improve broadband access and digital inclusion.
    The community connectivity self-assessment tool will collect local 
input across four major areas, incorporate key local data from national 
data sources, and produce a report focused on actions communities can 
take to support broadband deployment and adoption. The four major 
categories covered in the self-assessment tool are:

1. Broadband Access and Assets (Access)
2. Digital Inclusion and Skills (Adoption)
3. Policy and Funding (Policy)
4. Community Priorities (Use)

    The access category will include imported and user-provided data on 
wireline and fixed wireless broadband access, mobile broadband access, 
and community technology assets. Additionally, the self-assessment tool 
will ask community leaders about their communications resilience 
planning efforts, the availability of WiFi hot spots and public 
computing centers, and their experiences with the availability, 
affordability, and quality of broadband in their localities.
    The adoption category will include three sub-categories: broadband 
utilization, digital inclusion, and digital skills. The broadband 
utilization sub-category will ask about subscriptions to mobile data 
plans, connections to mobile data plans, and the number of internet-
enabled devices owned by people in the community. The digital inclusion 
sub-category will include questions about the following: Outreach 
efforts to vulnerable populations; digital literacy training and 
support services; availability of discount and subsidy programs; device 
loan programs; and accessibility. The digital skills sub-category will 
ask community leaders about programs available to their populations 
that would provide advanced skills to prepare residents and businesses 
for the digital economy. This topic area includes: digital basics and 
work skills; digital participation and content creation; coding, 
computer science and application development; and privacy, security, 
and online safety.
    The policy category will include three sub-categories: leadership, 
funding, and use of public assets. The leadership sub-category will 
seek information on whether community leaders consider community 
connectivity a priority, allocate resources appropriately, and 
incorporate broadband planning and technology innovation across local 
agencies. The funding sub-category will ask how a community funds 
public access, digital inclusion, innovation, and technology as funding 
decisions reflect a community's support for broadband deployment and 
digital equity. The use of public assets sub-category will ask about 
accessible inventory of public assets, regulations providing for fair 
use of assets, and processes enabling use and promoting accountability.
    The use category will include questions about a community's use of 
broadband applications in the following areas: Government services and 
public safety; economic development and innovation; and education and 
health. The government services and public safety sub-category will ask 
about e-government services, citizen

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engagement, safety communications, and network resilience and 
reliability. The economic development and innovation sub-category will 
ask about workforce development. The education and health sub-category 
will ask about student device ownership and support; broadband capacity 
to schools and libraries; electronic health records; telemedicine; and 
broadband capacity and connections to hospitals and clinics.

Description of Proposed Use

    The community connectivity self-assessment tool will capture local 
information about broadband access, digital inclusion, adoption, 
policies, and priorities. The self-assessment tool will use the 
information input by the community leaders in combination with existing 
information from national data sources to create a report targeted to 
the needs of the local community. The resulting report will present the 
information that is relevant to the local community and provide 
recommendations for action along with references to BroadbandUSA and 
other resources. NTIA intends to use this self-assessment to support 
communities as they consider investments and actions to further align 
broadband access with community priorities.
    A primary strategy for reducing respondents' burden in the self-
assessment tool is to create the reports using existing national data 
sources, which may include data from the American Communities Survey 
produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and Broadband Deployment and 
Subscription data collected by the Federal Communications Commission.

II. Method of Collection

    This will be administered as a voluntary online tool for 
communities.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: None.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission; new collection.
    Affected Public: State, regional, local, and tribal government 
organizations.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Number of Respondents: 500.
    Average Time per Response: 12 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 6,000.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $406,730.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they will also become a matter of public record.

    Dated: June 22, 2016.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-15149 Filed 6-27-16; 8:45 am]
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