The internet has become a critical communications infrastructure, and access is among the ``assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, [that] are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.'' [CISA] But the internet is more than an issue for the nation as a whole. Internet access affects the security, health, safety, and opportunities in life for individuals and communities, and the economic vitality of businesses everywhere. On the one hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the success of broadband access in allowing society to function, even during lockdowns. On the other hand, the pandemic has exposed weak, unreliable, or even nonexistent, broadband access and usability in many areas and for many individuals, including especially rural residents and children in many school districts, urban, and rural, as well as a compelling need for universal reach and affordability. It was thus timely that in November 2020, the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored a series of workshops to identify new research areas to drive the broadband NSF agenda for the next five years. This request followed similar initiatives during the past twenty years, the most recent in 2016. This Broadband Research Workshop Report of 2021 discusses the research questions and challenges that need to be addressed to provide robust, affordable, and meaningful broadband access to every resident of the United States.
翻译:互联网已成为至关重要的通信基础设施,接入是“资产、系统和网络,无论是实物还是虚拟的”,对美国而言都被认为至关重要,以至于其丧失能力或破坏会对安全、国家经济安全、国家公共卫生或安全或任何组合产生破坏性影响。'[CISA]但互联网不仅仅是整个国家的一个问题,互联网接入影响到个人和社区的安全、健康、安全和生活机会,也影响到各地企业的可承受的经济活力。一方面,COVID-19大流行病表明宽带接入在允许社会运行方面取得成功,甚至在封锁期间也是如此。 另一方面,这一大流行病暴露了许多地区以及许多个人,特别是农村居民和许多学区、城市和农村地区的儿童薄弱、不可靠、不可靠或甚至根本不存在宽带接入和可用性,以及迫切需要普及和负担得起。因此,在2020年11月,国家科学基金会举办了一系列讲习班,以确定新的研究领域,推动宽带运行,即使在封锁期间也是如此。