TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION.
Austin City Code § 2-1-107
in effect§ 2-1-107 - TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION.
(A) The Technology Commission membership should be broadly representative of community interests. A commissioner should have resided continuously within the City for not less than 180 days.
(B) In this section:
(1) Information and communications technology includes digital devices, networks, and software that allow people to create, access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.
(2) Community technology includes information, communications technology training, and access that promotes civic and cultural participation, employment, and life-long learning.
(3) Telecommunications services include all transmission of voice, data, or video by means of permanent facilities installed in the City's rights-of-way or by means of radio transmission.
(C) The commission shall advise the city council regarding issues that include:
(1) community technology;
(2) telecommunications services;
(3) new sources of funding for access television projects;
(4) new sources of funding for community technology projects;
(5) allocation of annual financial support;
(6) digital equity issues;
(7) broadband development access;
(8) digital skills;
(9) internet affordability and accessibility;
(10) the evaluation of the performance of access television contractors and other community technology contractors, including development of criteria to be used for evaluations; and
(11) information and communications technology facilities and services that are operated by the City for public use, including the City web site, Internet services and open government technologies.
(D) The commission shall conduct public hearings regarding issues that include:
(1) the performance of access television contractors and other community technology contractors;
(2) the identification of community cable, telecommunications, internet, broadband access, device needs, other technology needs, and resources; and
(3) artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
(E) The commission shall promote access to telecommunications services, community technologies, and the internet by methods including:
(1) promoting public awareness, use, and viewership of access television programming and other community media;
(2) identifying community technology needs and problems in the City and defining innovative programming approaches to those needs and problems;
(3) enabling and enhancing public awareness of telecommunications policy and community technology issues; and
(4) collecting community input via open sessions, as needed to address topics relevant to this commission.
(F) The commission shall serve as a coordinating forum for issues relating to the provision of every different type of telecommunications services and community technologies, by receiving reports and recommendations from other City boards and commissions and from City departments, and forwarding these to the city council.
(G) The commission does not possess any sovereign authority regarding any cable television or cable related telecommunications issue, and the commission serves in an advisory capacity only.
(H) The commission shall support the City's Grant for Technology Opportunities Program (GTOPs) in the following ways:
(1) advise city staff on the selection and approval of volunteer grant review panelists to evaluate and score GTOPs applications;
(2) appoint commission members to serve as non-voting (ex-officio) members of grant review panels as needed to provide guidance and leadership to review panelists and to support the process of GTOPs protests;
(3) appoint commission members to serve as voting grant review panelists upon request of city staff; and
(4) advise staff on the final allocation of GTOPs awards.
Source: Ord. 20071129-011; Ord. 20080618-030; Ord. 20111208-073; Ord. No. 20141211-204, Pt. 11, 7-1-15; Ord. No. 20250130-082, Pts. 1—6, 2-10-25.
Source: City of Austin, City Code and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/austin/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT2AD_CH2-1CIBO_ART2BO_S2-1-107TECOFetched: 10/27/2026