Forum One reception with author Jim Cashel

Thursday, October 3rd, 5:00-6:30pm 
1110 Vermont Avenue, Suite 500, Washington, DC, 20005

Forum One is pleased to host a special book reading and discussion with Jim Cashel, Forum One Chairman and author of the recently-published, The Great Connecting: The Emergence of Global Broadband, and How That Changes Everything. The evening reception is an opportunity to meet Jim and learn more about his research around the opportunities and implications of broadband internet access worldwide. A limited number of complimentary books will be available at the event.

About The Great Connecting:

What happens when affordable broadband finally reaches the half of the planet that has little or no Internet access? Google, Facebook, SpaceX, and many others have major initiatives underway to connect the rest of the planet over the next few years. For the first time, even the poorest and most remote of global citizens will have access to information, communications, identity authentication, government programs, global philanthropy, online banking, telehealth, distance education, and other powerful services heretofore impossible. In The Great Connecting, Jim Cashel speaks with the major players driving the broadband revolution and travels to the most remote corners of the globe to consider the changes in our world about to take place ― certainly one of the biggest events in human history. As Cashel explains, the expansion of broadband offers many challenges but will also bring a remarkable opportunity for the planet.

“Jim Cashel has identified our position on the precipice of potentially one of the great turning points of history. Almost half the world’s population has never known the ability to connect with the other half and with each other. The result will change lives, economies, and existing social structures. Cashel describes how connections have consequences, and he explores both the promise and peril that accompany connecting three billion people living in societies built around the absence of such connections. The Great Connecting is a must read for those who want to get ahead of this transformation curve.” 

—Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and author of From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future.

Devex article (September 9, 2019): “Development actors have ‘big responsibility’ as poorest parts of the planet come online.”

About the author:

Jim Cashel is a recent Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He also is Chairman of Forum One, a digital communications agency. After completing studies in Human Biology at Stanford University, and Public Policy and Medicine at Harvard University, Jim has worked in international development, philanthropy, and technology. When not on the road, Jim lives with his family in Sonoma, California.