The Benton Foundation has changed its name to the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, putting an exclamation point on its longstanding efforts to promote broadband deployment, adoption and inclusion.
“All Americans should have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. In the Digital Age, open, affordable, robust broadband is essential for enabling all of us to reach for—and achieve—the American Dream,” said executive director Adrianne Furniss in announcing the name change. “Our new name squarely reflects our accelerating efforts to advance policies that help ensure broadband opportunities for everyone.”
The change also comes in advance to its planned release of a comprehensive action plan for closing the digital divide: "Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s."
In other news, Benton announced that veteran communications attorney Andrew J. Schwartzman, currently senior counselor to Benton, will be joining the institute from Georgetown Law’s Communications and Technology Law Clinic while continuing to teach at Johns Hopkins.
Schwartzman will focus on "maintaining 2015’s network neutrality rules and reforming and modernizing the Universal Service Fund Lifeline program," Benton said.
