Mission Statement:

By Economic Development Chairman Jim Baller 

Broadband Communities, which is committed to helping all communities maximize the potential economic benefits of advanced broadband networks, hosts its seventh annual Economic Development Conference on October 23-25, 2018, in Ontario, California. 

We chose the city as the site of our six-state regional conference because Southern California has become a hotbed of community dynamism, creativity, and success in developing and taking advantage of advanced communications networks.  

As always, we will address the key developments affecting community-led fiber projects, in both densely populated and more rural areas. We will continue to examine successful partnerships of many kinds; the emerging role of cooperatives; what next-generation wireless networks may mean for fiber networks; the key legal and regulatory issues; federal, state and other funding sources; “Smart Cities” initiatives and much more. 

And, we will cover the latest developments at the Federal Communications Commission -- including its Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee – and in Congress, the states and the courts.  

We will also continue our examination of the future of work. With artificial intelligence, robotics, globalization, and other forces threatening traditional jobs at an ever-accelerating pace, we will examine what adaptive communities are doing, or can do, to ensure that they will survive and thrive in the years ahead.

We are assembling an outstanding multi-disciplinary roster of experts, practitioners and community leaders from Southern California and the West as well as elsewhere. All have highly relevant, first-hand experience. Our speakers will provide a wealth of economic research; how-to materials; case histories highlighting what is working well and what is not; and other practical information that attendees can take home and put to immediate use in their communities.

Finally, we also provide ample time for networking and learning about relevant, cutting-edge products and services.