Feb 25, 2015

Assemblywoman Susan A. Bonilla Recipient of CENIC’s 2015 Innovations In Networking Award

Assemblywoman Susan A. Bonilla (D-Concord) is being honored by the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) as a recipient of the 2015 Innovations in Networking Award for Broadband Applications.

Assemblywoman Bonilla is being recognized by CENIC for her leadership and commitment to broadband access and digital learning in California’s K-12 schools, which serve nearly six and a half million students and employ more than a quarter-million teachers. Her work on Assembly Bill 2319, which called for the creation of an innovation, training, and technology block grant for schools, paved the way for improving broadband infrastructure upgrades in California’s public schools.

Assemblywoman Bonilla was also instrumental in helping to secure $26.7 million in last year’s budget for the Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant (BIIG) program, which will enhance broadband infrastructure for school sites with the most severe infrastructure deficits. With bandwidth-hungry applications like online assessments, rich media, and participation in remote events becoming ever more common in classrooms, broadband access has established itself as a vital necessity for education, and will become even more so as the pace of innovation continues. Without the access that the BIIG program will provide, students, faculty, and staff at schools with severe deficits risk being permanently left behind.

“California’s education system has always been one of the most powerful forces behind the state’s global leadership position, and maintaining this position requires committed advocacy on behalf of broadband access for education,” stated Louis Fox, President and CEO of CENIC. “Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla’s advocacy on behalf of California’s K-12 schools has been critical to ensuring that the our schools have the 21st century infrastructure they need to prevail over 21st century challenges.”

Since 2010, Assemblywoman Bonilla has represented California’s 14th Assembly District, which includes Contra Costa County and Solano County. She is also the past chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance, and currently chairs the Assembly Select Committee on Increasing the Integration of STEM Education in California K-14 Schools.

Innovations in Networking Awards are presented each year by CENIC to highlight the exemplary innovations that leverage ultra high-bandwidth networking, particularly where those innovations have the potential to revolutionize the ways in which instruction and research are conducted or where they further the deployment in underserved areas.

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