2015 ATALM Library Summit: Opening Remarks from the White House

In this panel on White House intiatives impacting information access to Native American communities, Mary Alice Ball, Senior Library Program Officer at the Institution for Museum and Library Services, introduces the members of the panel: Nancy Weiss and Jake Brewer, both Senior Advisors to the Chief Technology Officer within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Raina Thiele, Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement Liaison working with Native American Tribes. Weiss discusses the need to help all members of a community use digital technologies provided by programs like the E-Rate Program for discounted telecommunications services. Jake Brewer summarizes the White House's goal to provide broadband internet access to every resident in the US, including the challenges of improving access to those at the lower end of the economic spectrum. Finally, Raina Thiele discusses how an initiative called Generation Indigenous seeks to engage Native American youths in improving access to information and technology. This panel was part of the Library Summit during the pre-conference activities for the 2015 ATALM annual conference in Washington, DC on September 9, 2015.