since then -- since his bureau, ntia conducts the most extensive survey work of broadband friends in the u.s., most recently in october 2010, not very long ago. it showed that 60% of americans subscribe to broadband. that is up to a 68% is up from 51% in 2007 and 64% in 2010. but that still leaves roughly one-third of americans who do not have access to the internet at home. also troubling, our survey reveals that there is still a substantial digital divide that breaks down a lot -- along traditional racial, ethnic, age, and geographical lines and by disability status. for example, 72% of white households had broadband access at home. compared with only 55% of african-american households and 57% of hispanic households. that is a 17 and 15-point difference. there is a similar divide between urban and rural america, where 70% of urban households have access at home, but only 57% of rural households are subscribing to broadband. seniors in people with disabilities also have far lower rates of adoption in the kent -- then the country as a whole. almost half of all households headed by so

ntia has invested $450 million for public computer centers and sustainable broadband adoption programs throughout the country. several of these also focus on older americans, and virtually all are providing public workstations equipped for people with disabilities. [applause] collectively, the result of this work in san francisco and in the city and -- cities and states across the country, will create templates for success that organizations around the rest of the country can replicate in order to help their communities move online. and getting communities online is the reason that we are so invested in this effort. it is critical to our future, because broadband drives economic growth, and broadband creates jobs. it provides the infrastructure that communities need to attract innovative businesses in a competitive, global landscape. broadband also allows businesses of all sizes to reach markets around the world. people who are aging or disabled have unfortunately historically been at the margins of new technologies when they are introduced. today, as broadband internet brings expanded

we look forward to getting input to the ntia, from the committee. we want to achieve the goal of the statute of having one interoperable public safety network for first responders. we also have to take into account the kinds of issues that you mention. >> could i just ask if it would be a priority in your opinion to work with all of those issues and assuming that they have met all of the requirements that you would be able to move exdish shusly? >> a very small number at the stage that you describe for texas. i believe and think it has been proving, the auctions that have the fewest springs attached. or the ones that are burdened with the least number of restrictions will gain the most income, which is of course what we all want. any question is, is that a priority of yours? and maybe you want to go to the chairman and the ranking republican on trying to keep the future spectrum auctions as free from burdensome restrictions as possible in order to gain the most revenue. mr. chairman? >> i agree that stiimplicity is better than complexity in getting

. -- over to ntia for developing this program. the new board that congress establish will be set up in august and we are not sure yet exactly what will happen. we are continuing to move forward although ntia has cautioned us to slow down a little bit. we were trying to meet every single 1 of the federal deadlines because the original finding was -- funding was rf funding. we have to slow down. we did have a phone conversation with 1 of the undersecretaries in washington and i feel confident that will continue to move forward and we will be 1 of the first to build out our system. san francisco is 1 of 5 counties funded by the state of california to pilot the disaster program. this is a first in the nation effort to strengthen government- affiliated volunteer programs and integrate a volunteer resources. disaster core, we are hoping to get volunteers shortly. these volunteers will be able to do things for us that others cannot do because of the background checks and the classifications that they had as being a member of disaster cor

ntia has invested $450 million for public computer centers and sustainable broadband adoption programs throughout the country.

ntia or children with developmental disabilities. the day-to-day management of the programs under the administration on aging and the administration of developmental disabilities will relatively remain unchanged, with the current program staff containing the assignments. kathy is now the administrator for the new federal agency. henry, the former director of the office of disability, is now the principal deputy administrator and remains a senior adviser to secretary sebelius on issues pertaining to disabilities. so that is the disability committee. we have direct access to the secretary. chairman louis is the commissioner for the administration for now the newly formed intellectual and developmental disabilities. on that the aging said, mr. walker serves as the deputy assistant secretary for aging, advocating on behalf of older americans. now this new federal agency will seek to enhance and improve a broad range of support that individuals may need to live with respect and dignity as full

ntia has invested $450 million for public computer centers and sustainable broadband adoption programs throughout the country. several of these also focus on older americans, and virtually all are providing public workstat

we coordinate with ntia and speak with the military agencies. of course i agree it's important to make sure anything that happens in this area protects the needs of the military, but as others pointed out, there's wide agreement that there's inefficient spectrum use on the part of the federal government and it's in all of our interests to address those and move forward to free up spectrum. >> and has the pentagon expressed any concerns about how you're moving forward with that band? >> my understanding, there's real interest in this idea of sharing mechanism for that band that would free up significant spectrum for commercial users in options soon and preserving the military's ability to use that in the limited area where it needs it. >> i quickly want to jump in on the universal service fund, because you know, it's the usf fund. certainly we all have different viewpoints on it, and new hampshire in the last data out, 2009, is donor state, $25 million. so i commend you on the reform, and i do think it's important that you're slowing the growth o

ntia should be selecting a topic in convening the first meetings very soon. in addition, i have asked a working group to put the administration's privacy blueprint into legislative language. we are drafting, and we stand ready to work with this committee and with other members of congress to put baseline privacy legislation into law. what we do here is -- what we do here in america is paramount to u.s. consumers and companies. but we cannot ignore the global reach of the internet.

ntia should be selecting a topic in convening the first meetings very soon. in addition, i have asked a working group to put the administration's privacy blueprint into legislative language. we are drafting, and we stand ready to work with this committee and with other members of congress to put baseline privacy legislation into law. what we do here is -- what we do here in america is paramount to u.s. consumers and companies. but we cannot ignore the global reach of the internet. europe is in the process of honing its approach to data privacy. other countries around the world understand the need for rules of the road and are looking for models. we have the clear opportunity. as president obama said in his preface to the privacy blueprint, to offer the world a dynamic model of how to provide strong privacy protection and enable ongoing innovation in new information technologies. baseline privacy legislation will ground our system firmly. so america can be an example for the world and pave the way for privacy standards that are interoperable around the globe.

we're working closely with ntia on the 1755 stpectrum. we need to accelerate those efforts, move quickly. there are several pieces of spectrum identified in the legislation with deadlines for auctioning them. we will auction them in the way that's most valuable to the public. for example, finding ways to pair them. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator. senator bunn. on the reform of the universal fee, what are you doing to deal with the issue of unsubsidized competitor in that environment. what we talked about with wrk. how are you defining unserved and underserved and trying to be fair as you look at the unserved community, and then look at the partially served community. little thought on that would be helpfu helpful. >> getting broadband to unserved americans is number one. tackling the areas where the fund is supporting one company with an unsubsidized competitor. there are issues in the margins that become challenging. what if there's partial overlap? those are issues to work through as we implement it and the cognizant

the top projects are reaching every state and territory across the u.s., and at ntia, we're gratified to watch what this team has accomplished here in san francisco. to the top program overall, this project represents critical investments in the future of our nation, investments that are producing immediate benefits but are also going to pay dividends for years to come. thank you again for inviting us to be a part of today's summit. it is truly an honor, and we look forward to continuing to see more great projects and more wonderful events like this here in san -- in san francisco. thank you. [applause] >> well, as the kids say, that is information you can use. thank you so much. our next speaker is the co- founder and chief scientific officer of post-it science. he heads the company's goal team that has for more than three decades. he has been a leading pioneer in brain plasticity research. in the late 1980's, he was responsible for inventing something that i hope to own on my own, and in plans to approve my hearing. in 1996, he was the founder and ceo of scientific learning corporat

we're working closely with ntia, the 1755 spectrum, we need to accelerate those efforts, move quickly, there are several pieces of spectrum that are identified in the legislation with deadlines for auctioning them. when we aurks them, we make sure we're auctioning them in ways that are best for the public. >> thank you senator boezman. senator blunt. >> on the reform of the universal service fee what are you doing to deal with the issue of an unsubsidized competitor? how are you defining unserved and underserved and trying to be fair as you look at the unserved community and then look at the partially served community. some thought on that would be helpful? >> well, getting broadband to unserved americans is goal, along with fiscal responsibility. and tackling those areas where the fund is supporting one company where there's an unsubsidized competitor, we agree that needs to be phased out. what if there's partial overlap, those are issues that we will work through as we implement it, broadband to unserved americans, fiscal responsibility pep and c cogny sans -- we have near term reli

program was established in 2009 by the american reinvestment and recovery act and is administered by ntia. we have nearly $4 billion invested in roughly 230 projects across the country, all aimed at expanding broadband access and adoption in the country. and i want to tell you a little bit about the programs and then tell you about why we care so much about this issue. so, we have the btop for infrastructure projects. these are building broadband networks in areas that are currently underserved. they are making sure that hospitals, schools, and other vital community institutions have the access that they need to make sure that they can compete in this economy. these projects are also going to spur private sector investment, and they're also going to increase availability for consumers at home. we also have btop computer centers. they're located in schools, libraries, fire stations, a community points all over the country, and they're providing broadband access to people who are hunting for jobs, to people who want to go online but do not have access at home, because maybe they do not have

then disappointed i think in the executive branch not with the ntia report with the national broadband plan said we needed to forget 500 megahertz of the spectrum and the federal government occupied the best spectrum. we don't know how efficiently the federal government is using that spectrum and that is the lowest hanging fruit to look at. with the stroke of a pen in the white house executive branch agencies can really redouble their efforts to try to find spectrum to bring to auction and we can find out the actual cost of how much it cost to move federal users of a certain frequency as far as moving elsewhere or just spectrum altogether so i want to know the costs are and i think the congress and the commission brand all have a responsibility here. >> would you like to see executive order mentioned the report which is a part of the commerce department which spoke about the cost could be close to $20 billion to locate the federal government spectrum and then to repurchase that for commercial use does that mean executive order to speed things up in terms of the three purposing? >> i th

we understand that the ntia, which is -- has lead responsibility for first net is preparing comments to us on it. we look forward to getting input from the ncia. from the committee, we want to achieve the goal of the statute of having one inner operable safety network for first responders, we have to take into account the kinds of issues that you mentioned. >> could i ask if it would be a priority in your opinion to try to work with all of those issues, and assuming that they have met all the requirements that you would be able to move expeditiously. >> yes, unfortunately it's a small number, and a very small number at the stage that you described in trks. >> thank you. let me ask you about the spectrum as you are getting ready to go forward with the auctions. i have -- i believe, and i think it has been proven that the auctions, the licenses that have the fewest strings attached, or the ones that are burdened with the least number of restrictions will gain the most income, which is, of course, what we all want. my question is, is that a priority of yours? maybe you want to go to, ma

concerned policymakers, we can of course support our friends at the state department and the fcc, ntia and other government bodies here in the united states. members of congress, they can use their contacts and influence around the world with their counterparts as an opportunity to discuss these issues. i think a key aspect this cannot be the u.s. against the world. if that is the formula, we lose. plain and simple. this has to be something where we engage with everybody around the world, all of the communities of interest who have a stake. whether they know it or not the future of the internet we have to find ways to engage them. if you're a global business, make the case where you can where you have your ability to have some influence and sway in countries where you operate. civil society groups can partner with those engaged. we've been doing that in the u.s. find ways to expand that influence outside the united states. academics, you could help us make the case as well. there are a ton of great academic stuld es but a ton more that can be done, analysis that can be written. the aca

ntia should be selecting a topic convening the first meetings very soon. in addition i've asked a working group to put the administration privacy blueprint into legislative language. we are drafting and we stand ready to work with this committee and other members of congress to put baseline privacy legislation into the law. what we do here in america is paramount to u.s. consumers and companies, but we cannot ignore the global reach of the internet. europe is in the process of honing its approach to data privacy. other countries around the world understand the need for the rules of the road and are looking for models. we have the clear opportunity as president obama said in his preface to the privacy blueprint to offer the world a dynamic model of how to provide strong privacy protection and the anÍbal ongoing innovation and new information technologies. baseline privacy legislation will ground our system firmly so america can be an example for the world and pave the way for privacy standards that are interoperable and not the globe. leading by example wil

we are working closely with ntia the 1755 spectrum we need to accelerate those and move quickly. there are several pieces of spectrum identified in the legislation with deadlines for auctioning them. we are working hard to make sure we option them, we do in a way most valuable to the public here for example, find ways to pay spectrum otherwise put out. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator blunt. >> on the reform of the universal service fee chairman, what are you doing there to deal with the issue of subsidy of an unsubsidized competitor or in that environment we type about before? how are you defining unserved and underserved in trying to be fair as you look at the unserved community and then let that the partially serve community? symbion that would be helpful. >> well, getting broadband to underserved americans of school number one along with fiscal responsibility and tackling those areas where the fund is supporting one country with an unsubsidized competitor. we agree that needs to be phased out. these issues that becomes challenging. what if there's overlapping issues tha