Brigitte Daniel, executive vice president of Wilco Electronic Systems, Inc. is working to increase technology access in diverse, and traditionally underserved, communities.

Daniel has been appointed to the Federal Communications Commission’s re-chartered Federal Advisory Committee on Diversity in the Digital Age.

Appointed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Daniel is the only committee member whose business is based in the Philadelphia region.

The Committee on Diversity in the Digital Age provides recommendations to the FCC regarding policies and practices that will further enhance cultural and ethnic diversity in the industries the commission regulates.

“The role in this case would be recommending policy regarding universal access, universal broadband adoption and just recommending good policies that allows our private companies and organizations to bridge the digital divide,” says Daniel.

“For Wilco, as a minority provider, and one of the last African American-owned providers remaining in the United States, to be on this committee with renowned professional leaders in our industry is a huge deal,” she said.     

Daniel joins other committee members including Debra Lee, chief executive officer, Black Entertainment Television and Marc Morial, president, National Urban League.

“I am just honored to represent our low-income marketplace, particularly the Philadelphia Housing Authority residents, and have a seat at the table just to make sure that their interests are represented as people that live in public housing — that’s seniors, families and all types of minorities,” says Daniel, who will serve a two-year term on the committee.

Wilco played a key role in bringing broadband access to Philadelphia’s low-income residents through the Freedom Rings Partnership.

Funded through a $11.8 million federal grant, Philadelphia Freedom Rings is a public-private consortium formed to provide Internet access, training and technology to residents in underserved communities. The city of Philadelphia’s Division of Technology, the Urban Affairs Coalition and Drexel University are leading the initiative.

Through the initiative, 5,000 netbook computers will be provided to PHA residents over the next three years. In August, the first 100 PHA residents graduated from a training program facilitated by the Community College of Philadelphia.

Through her work with the consortium, Daniel received a 2011 Eisenhower Fellowship award enabling her to visit India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore to explore technologies that she can bring back to the marketplace.

“It’s almost a fact-finding mission for me to go abroad to kind of see what things are going on with similar types of population groups,” says Daniel, who will be out of the country until December.

She is particularly interested in bringing emerging mobile applications and technologies that focus on health and wellness to public housing residents.

“Online access is a civil right. Everything is online, everything is fueled by technology, whether that’s health, jobs or education. If you don’t have it in your home, or you don’t have access to it, you’re not at the table,” she says.

Founded in 1977 by Will F. Daniel, Wilco is one of the last remaining African American-owned and operated cable operators in the nation, and has provided cable services, telecommunications services and security systems for the last 31 years.

The Fort Washington, Pa-based firm became the first sole and exclusive provider of cable television services for PHA in 2001. Wilco is gearing up for a systems upgrade.

“We’re very niched and we’re very tailored to the marketplace that we currently serve in Philadelphia and I think that has helped us to maintain our success and I think because we offer really affordable technology and that is something that is not usually seen in our sector,” Daniel added.

As Wilco’s executive vice president, Daniel’s responsibilities include corporate communications, government affairs, regulatory affairs, public affairs and corporate administration.

Before joining Wilco, Daniel served as an officer with the city of Philadelphia’s Minority Business Enterprise Council and served as the director of Business Development and Governmental Affairs for the Academy of Screen Arts, a film school that opened in Ghana, West Africa, in 2002. She also worked with BET, the FCC and Wilkinson Barker Knauer law firm.

Contact Tribune staff writer Ayana Jones at (215) 893-5747 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .