Annual Digital Infrastructure Investment Event in Washington DC

Joined by an array of leading broadband experts, infrastructure investment fund managers, institutional investors, private equity, and venture capitalists will gather in the nation’s capital next week for a day-long in-person conference to discuss and explore the digital infrastructure and investment asset profile required to support a 21st century information economy.

The Annual Digital Infrastructure Investment conference, which brings the broadband infrastructure and financial services communities together, will be held on Thursday, November 17, 2022, at Clyde’s of Gallery Place in Washington, D.C. And though spots are filling up fast, there is still time to register to attend here.

The conference program will begin at 8:30 a.m. and run until 3:30 p.m. and will feature four panels. The first panel – What’s the State of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)? – will be led by moderator Gabriella Novello, Assistant Editor of Communications Daily, and Glen Howie, Director, Arkansas State Broadband Office. The panel will explore how state broadband offices are feeling about the pace of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in moving the BEAN program forward, what states are doing to prepare for it, how big of an impact the infrastructure bill will have on the broadband industry.

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The second panel – Broadband Mapping: Are We on the Right Track or the Wrong Track? – will include Bryan Darr, Executive Vice President of Smart Communities at Ookla and Jim Stegeman, President of CostQuest Associates. That panel will get into the nitty gritty of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) quest to publish more accurate broadband maps.

The first of two afternoon panels – Financing Mechanisms for Community Broadband – is being moderated by our Christopher Mitchell, director of ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative, and will cover how the “Private Sector is from Mars” and “Non-profits are from Venus” attitude is evolving and leading to new approaches in the financing of new networks. That panel will include Jeff Christensen, President & CEO of EntryPoint Networks; Kim McKinley, Chief Marketing Officer at UTOPIA Fiber; and Jane Coffin, Chief Community Officer with Connect Humanity.

The last panel of the day – Financing Roundtable: How Venture Capital, Private Equity and Institutional Investors Are Watching Digital Infrastructure – will be a roundtable discussion moderated by Broadband Breakfast editor and publisher Drew Clark. Representatives from financial institutions investing in broadband and smart cities will take center stage and include insights from Tom Coverick, Managing Director with Keybanc Capital Markets.

You can register for the event here.

More details on the event and speaker bios can be found here

Watch a preview video of the event below: