Know What's News — May 2024

Looking Ahead to our Broadband Future

In an era of increasing internet ubiquity, the ability to access and use online tools, services, and information is an essential aspect of everyday life. Many segments of society, however, remain under-connected and even excluded from the digital world. As technology evolves, the harms associated with the digital divide are compounding. To address this, Congress created the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (“BEAD”) Program, which presents a transformational opportunity for advancing broad digital inclusion in many areas within the United States.

To better understand the future of broadband regulation after BEAD’s implementation, CU Boulder’s Silicon Flatirons Center convened a roundtable discussion, entitled A Look Ahead to Access and Regulation in the Not-Too-Distant Broadband Future, on December 1, 2023. Held at the University of Colorado Law School, the Roundtable brought together experts from government, academia, public interest, and industry to discuss this pressing and timely issue. Adhering to the Chatham House Rule to encourage open dialogue, participants discussed the work that remains to close the digital divide—and keep it closed—including digital equity and inclusion, network upkeep and cybersecurity, and funding broadband access programs.

The roundtable report synthesizes the discussion, highlights findings from each session, and includes recommendations for those working to close the digital divide.

To explore the detailed findings and recommendations from the recent roundtable, view the broadband roundtable report .

Know What's Next

Startup Variety Show

Tuesday, May 14

Join us on May 14 for a special edition of the Startup Variety Show for Boulder Startup Week . The Variety Show stitches together the startup scene, CU Boulder, innovators from the Federal Labs, as well as technologists from incumbent technology companies.

Learn more and register.

Tuesday, June 18

Join us on June 18 for the Startup Variety Show. In addition to spotlighting several entrepreneurial leaders from across the Front Range, this session will also introduce the 2024 participants in the Startup Summer Program to the startup community!

Learn more and register.

Student Success

Students Prepare for Summer Internships in Washington, D.C.

The DC Summer Program places students in technology-focused private and public organizations and government agencies in Washington, D.C. for internships. Participating organizations include the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Department of Commerce, Federal Communications Commission, Echostar, Public Knowledge, Common Cause, Verizon, and AT&T. Prior to leaving for DC, students take part in the Spectrum Management and Policy course taught by Silicon Flatirons Executive Fellow Dale Hatfield and Senior Fellow David Reed.

The 2024 DC Summer Program participants include: Matt Alexander , Sofia Carrillo , NTIA; Fynn Fehrenbach, AT&T; Kailey Lauter , FCC Commissioner Starks’ Office; Rina Mehana , International Assoc of Privacy Professionals; Alyssa Navarro , Department of Commerce, Commercial Law Development Program; Kevin Nguyen , Wiley Rein; Jessica Sneesby , Public Knowledge.

Special thanks Ariel Diamond West , Stacey Weber and DLA Piper for their sponsorship and support.

Congratulations to these former DC Scholar students who have accepted jobs in Washington D.C. after graduation: Isabelle Dean , Hogan Lovells; and Jackson McNeal , Wiley Rein.

In Case You Missed It

Rothgerber Conference: AI and the Constitution

The Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law and Silicon Flatirons hosted the 32nd Annual Rothgerber Conference on AI and the Constitution . Interdisciplinary scholars, scientists, lawyers and students from around the world gathered at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder to discuss recent AI developments and the impact on the right to privacy, free speech under the First Amendment, and judicial interpretation. To learn more, read the conference summary .

April Startup Variety Show — Capital, Talent, and Startups: Under Resourced, Under Served, Overlooked

Entrepreneurs and investors for the April 9 Startup Variety Show examined issues which challenge greater inclusion in the startup ecosystem via keynote presentations and responses, panel discussions, and audience Q&A, including: capital access, investment gaps, social networks, workforce preparedness, and other concerns.

AI Ethics Series: AI and Bias

The AI and Bias lunch talk , hosted by Daniels Fund , Byron R. White Center, and Silicon Flatirons, featured three presentations follow by Q&A. The main objective was to foster greater understanding of generative AI and how bias is embedded in and replicated by this new technology in the practice of law, and how this risk can be mitigated. To learn more, read the event summary.

Community News

Silicon Flatirons Faculty

Dale Hatfield — Spectrum Policy Initiative Co-Director and Distinguished Advisor, University of Colorado Adjunct Professor

• Appointed to serve another two-year term on the FCC's Technological Advisory Council (TAC), and currently actively participating in its Advanced Spectrum Sharing and AI/ML Working Groups. (The TAC was established in 1998 when Dale was Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology at the FCC.)
• Quoted in an NBC News Article (March 20, 2024) Anti-drone companies market radio jammer devices online despite FCC rules outlawing them.
• Featured in the documentary When Wire Was King , produced by Jennifer Manner. Syndicated by American Public Television and currently showing on PBS stations across the U.S.
• Spotlighted in a video interview conducted in Washington, DC in November 2021 by the Wireless History Foundation. The recently released video addressed Dale's career as an engineer and as a policy maker in DC during the early days of cellular communications.

Margot Kaminski — Privacy Initiative Director, Colorado Law Professor

• From Gods to Google , SSRN.com (forthcoming, Yale L. J.)(with Rebecca Aviel, Toni M. Massaro, & Andrew Keane Woods) was recently listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for U.S. Constitutional Law: Rights & Liberties eJournal.
• Panel discussant on Regulating Artificial Intelligence at the Regulators and Regulation in the Digital Era Conference , European University Institute Centre for a Digital Society (April 11, 2024).
• Constructing AI Speech , SSRN.com (with Meg Leta Jones) was recently listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for Information Privacy Law eJournal.
• Presenter, "Stakeholder Participation in AI Governance ," University of Bristol Centre for Law and Innovation (April 22, 2024).

Blake Reid — Telecom and Platforms Initiative Director, Colorado Law Associate Professor

• Panel moderator, "AI Speech and the First Amendment," Rothgerber Conference (April 19, 2024).
• Law School A/V Club Net Neutrality Oral Argument Listening Party (Apr. 25, 2024).

Harry Surden — Artificial Intelligence Initiative Director, Colorado Law Professor

• Publication: ChatGPT, AI Large Language Models, and Law , 92 Fordham L. Rev. 1941 (2024).
• Panel speaker on The State of the Art in Legaltech Circa 2024 at the Standford Codex Futurelaw Conference (April 11, 2024).
• Keynote speaker and moderator, "AI and the Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and Other Legal Documents," Rothgerber Conference , (April 19, 2024).

Support the Center

Silicon Flatirons exists thanks to the generosity of our supporters and the strength of our community. We rely on their contributions to advance our mission to catalyze policymaking and innovation and to develop the next generation of tech lawyers, policy experts, and entrepreneurs.

Want to become an official supporter? Make a donation or contact [email protected] for more information about how to contribute.

Intellectual honesty is critical. Good debate and thinking require it. Thus, while we are fully funded by our generous supporters, our programming and initiatives remain staunchly unbiased and?objective.

What We Do

Founded in 1999 by Phil Weiser, Colorado’s current Attorney General, the center is a recognized leader in interdisciplinary events and programs . We serve students, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and professionals, and support the joint missions of Colorado Law on teaching, scholarship, and public service.

Although technology and innovation have evolved radically over two decades, our purpose remains the same: to convene multi-stakeholder discussions, support innovation, and develop the next generation of technology lawyers, policy experts, and entrepreneurs. Explore the center’s history .

For more about our initiatives, upcoming events, programs, publications, media, and student opportunities, visit our website at siliconflatirons.org .