The FCC’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) has been rechartered and rebranded as the Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC). Fletcher Heald partner Frank Montero served on the ACDDE in the early 2000s when it was first established. The overall mission for the CEDC is to expand on the work done by the ACDDE who focused on reviewing critical diversity and equity issues across the tech sector. Some of the expanded goals of the CEDC are to accelerate the deployment of broadband in all communities, strengthen existing broadband networks and develop new broadband networks. The CEDC has planned its first general meeting for November 3, 2021. The meeting will be available for public viewing via live feed on the FCC website.
The agenda for this upcoming meeting includes establishing working groups. Working groups will help the council carry out its work on advancing equity throughout the FCC. Presently there are three working groups within the FCC: Access to Capital Working Group, Digital Empowerment and Inclusion Working Group, and Diversity in the Tech Sector Working Group. These groups work in conjunction to address issues such as: improving access to capital, encouraging a diverse range of voices in management and ownership, assessing access and use of broadband by under-resourced communities, and examining the hiring, promotion, and retention of women and minorities in the tech industries.
Members of the public may submit any questions they have during the meeting to livequestions@fcc.gov or they may submit comments using the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System at www.fcc.gov/ecfs. Comments to the CEDC should be filed in GN Docket No. 17-208. Open captioning will be provided for this event and other reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request. Requests for such accommodations should be submitted via email to fcc504@fcc.gov or by calling the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).