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From YouTube: Committee on City, Neighborhood Services and Military & Veterans Affairs on October 22, 2019
Description
Docket #1105 - Message and order authorizing the City of Boston to accept and expend a grant from Verizon Wireless for an amount of One Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000.00). The purpose of this grant is to fund Digital Equity Programs and to support a Smart City Fellow position
A
Morning
my
name
is
Edie
Flynn
and
I
am
the
chair
of
the
Committee
on
City,
Neighborhood,
Services,
veteran
and
military
affairs.
I
want
to
remind
you
that
this
is
a
public
hearing.
It
is
being
recorded.
Broadcast
live
on
channel
Comcast,
8,
RCN,
82
Verizon,
one
964
in
webcast,
Boston
gov,
slash,
City,
Council
TV.
Please
silence
your
cell
phones
other
devices.
We
will
also
take
public
testimony
and
appreciate
it
if
you
would
sign
it
to
testify
at
the
start
of
your
testimony.
Please
state
your
name
affiliation
in
residence.
Today's
hearing
is
on
docket
one
1:05.
A
A
B
I'm
Chris
I
was
good,
I
have
the
honor
of
serving
as
mayor.
Walsh
is
chief
of
streets
and
happy
to
sort
of
start
from
the
three
of
us
I'm
joined
here,
as
you
mentioned,
by
Casey
Brock
Wilson
from
the
mayor's
office
and
Chris
Carter,
who
co-chairs
the
mayor's
office.
Some
newer
mechanics
I
also
want
to
recognize
David
ljus,
who
serves
as
the
mayor's
chief
information
officer,
is
also
here
with
us
today.
B
Today,
as
you
mentioned,
we
are
seeking
your
approval
on
a
1.5
million
dollar,
accept
and
expand
from
Verizon
Wireless,
and
this
investment
allows
us
to
advance
two
key
goals
for
the
city
for
the
administration
for
the
mayor.
First
of
those
is
a
million
dollar
investment
into
digital
equity,
as
you
referenced
in
a
$500,000
investment
in
technology
that
helps
us
make
our
streets
safer,
improves
our
ability
to
maintain
our
streets
and
helps
make
our
streets
simply
more
engaging
and
more
delightful
for
all
of
our
constituents.
B
In
a
moment,
I'm
going
to
turn
over
to
Casey
we'll
talk
about
digital
equity
into
Chris.
Who
will
talk
about
technology
on
our
streets,
but
I
just
want
to
give
a
little
bit
of
context
for
where
this
funding
is
coming
from?
In
2016,
the
city
of
Boston
signed
a
agreement
with
Verizon
Wireless
governing
the
essentially
installation
or
attachment
of
antennas
on
city
street
lights,
that
sort
of
the
broad
outlines
of
that
agreement
and
that
work
is
largely
managed
or
determined
through
the
SEC,
but
they're
specifically
allowed
within
this
agreement.
B
Some
elements
around
things
like
permitting
annual
fees,
meetings,
responsibilities,
etc.
Last
fall.
We
actually
updated
that
agreement
and,
as
part
of
that,
update,
actually
included
these
two
investments
that
Verizon
will
be
making
to
the
city
of
Boston.
We
think
both
these
investments
are
things
which
our
constituents
are
looking
for.
C
You
and
thank
you
Chris
and
councillor
Flynn.
We
are
really
excited
about
this
investment
in
digital
equity
and
on
behalf
of
and
Schwager
who
is
actually
out
in
the
field
working
with
one
of
our
digital
equity
fund
grantees.
Today,
I
wanted
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
the
digital
equity
fund,
the
history
of
it
and
how
its
impacted
the
residents
of
Boston.
C
So
the
digital
equity
funders
are
received
by
the
Department
of
innovation
and
technology
and
the
digital
fund
Council,
which
is
an
external
group
that
is
responsible
for
reviewing
applications
and
select
recipients
and
making
recommendations.
The
fun
councils
are
appointed
by
the
mayor
and
served
three
year
terms
to
qualify
for
a
grant.
The
nonprofit
organizations
must
be
Boston
based
and
serve
Boston
residents.
C
This
grant
program
started
in
2018
with
a
thirty-five
thousand
dollar
investment
from
Mayor
Walsh
and
the
Castle
Square
tenants
organization
was
awarded
the
first
grant
and
created
a
technology,
audio-visual
college
course,
an
internship
program
with
befit.
In
its
second
year.
We
were
very
excited
to
see
increased,
grant,
making
power
of
$100,000
in
FY
19,
and
we
are
able
to
award
three
grants.
The
three
grant
T's
this
year
are
la
alianza,
hispana,
mujeres,
Mita,
seventh,
Otto
and
the
south
end
Technology
Center,
as
I
mentioned
earlier.
I.
C
Think,
what's
really
important
to
note
is
that
the
increase
in
interest
over
the
past
two
years
has
been
significant
when
it
launched
in
the
fall
of
2017,
we
received
eight
applications
for
the
$35,000
grant
in
FY
19.
We
received
30
proposals
from
29
organizations
and
we
were
only
able
to
award
three
grants.
I
think
what
is
really
exciting
about
this
additional
million
dollar
investment
is
that
we
were
able
to.
C
We
will
be
able
to
expand
on
the
goals
of
the
digital
equity
fund
by
awarding
more
grants
to
community
organizations
and
supporting
the
goals
of
digital
equity
just
at
a
high
level.
The
way
we're
thinking
about
digital
equity
is
digital
equity
is
a
condition
in
which
all
individuals
and
communities
have
the
information
technology
capacity
needed
for
full
participation
in
society,
democracy
and
the
economy.
We
believe
it
is
necessary
for
civic
and
cultural
participation,
employment,
lifelong
learning
and
access
to
essential
service,
essential
services.
So,
with
that
I'll
hand
it
over
to
Chris
Thank.
D
You
Casey
Chris
Carter
at
co-chair
the
mayor's
office
of
new
urban
mechanics,
we're
working
on
a
broad
range
of
different
prototypes
and
experiments
to
improve
the
lives
of
people
in
the
city
of
Boston,
so
Thank
You
councillor
Flynn,
for
holding
this
hearing
on
this
important
issue.
We're
looking
forward
to
the
council
passing
this
and
putting
these
dollars
to
work
for
residents
in
the
city
of
Boston.
Increasingly,
cities
are
being
faced
with
complex
and
trade-offs
of
the
use
of
technology
in
our
public
realm,
our
streets
or
sidewalks,
on
parks
from
sensors
to
video
cameras.
D
The
kiosks,
our
physical
space
is
increasingly
being
integrated
with
our
digital
public
space.
So
over
the
last
year,
the
mayor's
office
of
newer
mechanics
with
funding
from
the
Knight
Foundation
has
been
working
with
Emerson
Engagement
lab
and
community
members
on
a
pilot
called
betablox
as
a
way
to
navigate
some
of
these
tough
conversations.
We've
done
deployments
in
Codman
Square,
lower
Austin
Chinatown,
the
Copley
Central
Library,
and
actually
this
week.
D
If
you
went
down
on
the
mezzanine
and
City
Hall,
you
would
see
a
portion
of
that
engagement
strategy
where
we've
talked
to
hundreds
of
residents
about
how
they
think
technology
can
improve
their
lives
and
what
sort
of
questions
or
concerns
they
might
have
the
Smart
City
Fellow
or
what
we
have
renamed.
The
technologists
for
the
public
realm
position
is
funded
through
a
grant
from
Verizon
to
further
this
work
of
the
betablox
project.
It
works
to
improve
city
operations,
trust
transparency
and
the
quality
of
experiences.
Those
living
working
and
visiting
the
city
of
Boston.
D
This
person
has
a
role
that
will
have
a
dual
mandate
to
work
closely
with
city
departments
to
understand
what
their
needs
are,
and
maybe
the
opportunities
for
technological
solutions,
and
it
will
also
work
with
community
groups
to
identify
their
needs
and
integrate
their
concerns
into
those
prototypes
and
policies.
So
thank
you
for
supporting
the
city's
efforts
to
continue
being
a
global
thought
leader
on
the
responsible
use
of
technology
and
improve
people's
lives
and
experiences.
I.
Think
we're
happy
to
take
any
questions
you
might
have
yeah.
A
Thank
you
thank
you
Chris,
and
into
into
Casey
into
Chris
as
well.
Can
you
I
know
I
know
you
mentioned
at
the
beginning,
the
castle
square
grant
I
actually
had
the
opportunity
to
visit
there.
Many
times
and
I
do
see
the
great
work
that
they're
doing
on
that
grant
so
I
know
the
money
is
the
money
that
is
being
spent
is
really
helping
a
lot
of
a
lot
of
people
in
need.
How
is
this
grant
helping
currently
or
will
help
our
immigrant
community
in
Boston.
C
Great
great
question,
councillor
I
think,
as
you
look
at
the
awardees
this
year
for
the
grant,
we
were
really
excited
to
see
a
wide
variety
of
applications.
You
know
I
mentioned
earlier.
We
had
30
applications
this
year
for
$100,000,
so
we
were
only
able
to
award
three
I
think
all
of
them.
Actually
all
three
grantees
serve
our
immigrant
communities,
sole
Alianza
and
particular-
is
using
the
thirty
five
thousand
dollar
grant
to
empower
individuals
and
strengthen
the
Latino
community
by
leveraging
partnerships
and
providing
social,
educational
and
health
services
through
technology.
C
The
south
end
Technology
Center,
as
you
know,
as
well,
has
a
couple
of
fantastic
programs
that
serve
immigrants
and
specifically,
they
are
focused
on
steam
and
stem
for
the
population.
That's
served
there.
As
you
know,
it's
a
wide
variety
of
immigrant
communities
that
live
in
the
south
end
as
well.
Mm-Hmm.
A
C
So
the
grant
program
is
we
distributed
through
a
wide
variety
of
kind
of
a
wide
variety
of
different
ways.
So,
through
the
city's
funding
update,
we
sent
out
two
department
heads.
We
make
sure
that
lots
of
different
departments
know
that
this
resource
is
available,
and
so
PHA
certainly
pushed
it
down
to
some
other
tenants
associations
to
make
sure
that
they
could
apply.
I
think
we
would
like
to
see
more
there
and
to
use
the
Castle
Square
example
is
something
that
could
be
done
in
other
VHA
properties
with
additional
funds
like
this.
A
A
They
often
have
to
call
3-1-1.
They
don't
necessarily
have
the
computer
access
to
login
something
into
the
3-1-1
computer
system,
but
I'm
always
concerned
about
my
constituents
that
do
not
speak
English
and
making
sure
that
their
voices
are
heard
at
City
Hall.
How
are
you
communicating
with
3-1-1,
and
how
can
we
better
streamline
the
communication
system
for
non-english
speaking
residents.
B
So
I
would
say
two
things:
the
first
across
the
board,
the
mayor
has
been
investing
in
sort
of
improving
language
access
with
the
city
of
Boston,
the
City
of
Boston
services,
a
lot
of
that's
focused
through
the
mayor's
office,
specific
engagement
and
our
3-1-1
office.
In
addition
to
thinking
about
how
we
improve
language
access
through
on
one,
we
are
also
looking
at
how
the
city's
mobile
app
boss
3-1-1
can
also
work
in
a
variety
different
languages
right
now.
C
I
think
the
exciting
thing
that
we've
seen
at
least
around
City
Hall
too,
is
a
language
identification
card.
So
for
many,
a
front
service
staff
who
are
the
first
person
someone
sees
when
they
walk
into
City
Hall
if
they
aren't
able
to
communicate
in
that
language
with
a
constituent,
the
ability
to
use
the
language
identification
card
to
start
the
process,
so
that
we
can
find
someone
to
make
sure
that
the
conversation
can
happen
in
their
first
language.
I
think
has
been
a
huge
step
forward
in
the
last
year.
No.
A
Thank
you.
That's
probably
one
of
the
issues
I've
spent
the
most
time
on
is
language
access
and
I
would
like,
if
you
would
be
able
to
keep
me
posted
on
some
of
the
outreach
that
you're
doing
on
language
access
in
the
progress
that
you
are
making
I
know
it's
a
very
important
issue
in
my
district,
especially
and
I.
Think
my
final
question
is:
can
you
as
we
as
we
approach
the
census
2020
as
it
relates
to
again
residents
that
may
not
speak?
They
may
not
speak
English.
A
It's
it's
often
difficult
for
them
to
engage
the
census,
Census
Bureau,
making
sure
that
their
voices
are
heard.
I
know
the
mayor
is
doing
a
lot
of
great
outreach
on
it.
I've
been
working
with
various
organizations,
including
the
Chinese,
progressive
Association,
on
making
sure
my
my
residents,
their
voice
is
counted
in
the
census.
But
what
are
you
doing
any
type
of
outreach
as
it
relates
to
advanced
technology
or
technology,
making
sure
that
our
immigrant
community,
their
voice,
is
heard
during
the
census,
2020
and
what
technology
might
be
available
to
them
to
help
in
the
process.
C
Thing
I'll
add,
is
one
of
the
things
we
did
do.
As
you
know,
the
mayor
made
$100,000
investment
for
census,
2020
and
through
that
grant
making
program,
we
specifically
made
sure
to
reach
out
to
all
30
of
the
organizations
to
apply
this
year
for
the
digital
equity
fund,
as
well
with
the
idea
that
technology
could
facilitate
some
of
the
work
that
needs
to
be
done
for
the
2020
census.
So
you
know
we
are
trying
to
make
sure
that
digital
equity
is
a
part
of
that
pool
that
we're
investing
in
for
census
2020
as
well.
D
I'll
add
one
additional
thing:
one
of
the
projects
that
we've
been
working
on
through
the
beta
blocks
has
been
deploying
these
sort
of
digital
community
bulletin
boards,
as
experiments
in
a
couple
of
your
neighborhoods.
Chinatown
is
one
of
those
which
allows
community
members
to
post
and
whatever
their
language
of
choice,
might
be
to
a
digital
sign
in
the
neighborhood.
D
A
You,
and
as
it
relates
to
digital
equity,
I,
know
I'm
very
happy
that
the
the
mayor
in
the
administration
is
is
building
is
going
to
build
a
permanent
library
in
Chinatown.
What
type
of
digital
equity
in
technology
will
we
have
for
the
residents
of
Chinatown?
Many
of
them
again
might
be
elderly
a
lot
of
them.
Don't
use
a
computer
limited
technology
skills?
How
can
we,
how
can
we
educate
or
train
some
of
the
some
of
our
elderly
residents?
Immigrant
residents
on
on
this
technology,
I.
C
Don't
know
too
much
about
the
design
of
the
library
but
I
do
know,
and
it
having
worked
with
some
of
the
BPL
team,
they
do
work
with
the
central
office
with
the
various
librarians
to
make
sure
that
the
digital
equity
trainings
that
they
do
at
central
office
can
be
extended
to
all
the
branches.
So
we
can
certainly
get
more
information
on
that
for
you,
but
I
don't
have
anyone
else,
anything
else
out
there
as.
A
As
the
library
goes
forward
with
you
and
Chris,
would
you
maybe
work
with
David
Leonard's
group,
the
library
staff
and
making
sure
that
you
know
as
we
as
we
focus
on
educating
and
training
over
elderly
and
in
you
know,
Chinese
community?
That
may
speak
Cantonese
if
we
can
make
sure
that
they're
their
input
is
covered,
and
you
know,
maybe
we
can
try
to
try
various
programs
to
train
and
educate
them
on
on
on
computer
skills
and
I.
Think
would
go
over
very
well
in
the
Chinatown
community.
We'll
follow
up
on
that.
Absolutely
okay.
A
Well,
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
mayor's
office
to
make
walls
to
Chris
into
Casey
into
into
Chris,
for
your
leadership
on
this
important
issue.
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
one
Lopez
for
helping
coordinate
this
and
Neil
Dougherty
from
the
mayor's
office
as
well
I'm,
looking
forward
to
giving
an
update
at
the
next
City
Council
hearing
on
this
grant
and
I'm
going
to
recommend
that
the
City
Council
vote
in
passed,
the
grant
and
again
I
want
to
say
thank
you
for
your
leadership
on
this
important
issue.