November 21, 2023 – The Joint Venture board of directors elected Brent C. Harris to its body. Harris is VP of Augmented Reality at Meta. Harris is focused on how to build the next mobile computing platform for people and businesses across the globe and was named an “expert in international regulation” by Wired. “I am enthusiastic about taking on this role at Joint Venture to contribute towards tackling crucial economic and societal challenges in Silicon Valley and to help grow the organization," said Harris. 
November 27, 2023 - In an opinion piece in the Mercury News, David Witkowski, Joint Venture's, Executive Director of Civic Technologies, says the California Public Utilities Commission seems to be hesitating and giving undue consideration to people opposed to technical progress. "...it is being held back by a minority of naysayers who are opposed to technical progress. It’s time for the commission to move our state’s communications network forward to the 21st century."
November 20, 2023 - Joint Venture’s Institute has completed a report in partnership with the University of Washington School of Social Work, Center for Women’s Welfare which models guaranteed basic income (GBI) scenarios. Supported by a 2022-23 grant from the County of Santa Clara with additional support from Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Modeling Guaranteed Basic Income & Household Income Adequacy in Santa Clara County examines how GBI programs can help move families out of poverty and into economic security.
November 27, 2023 - With one of the highest priced housing markets in the country, Silicon Valley’s median home sale price shot up to an all-time high of $1.53 million in 2022. The hottest Silicon Valley housing markets this summer were Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and Fremont. Is demand changing the demographics within those sub-regional areas? Joint Venture’s research arm, partnered with Unacast to tap into aggregated mobile device location data. The analysis offers zip-code-level insights on characteristics ranging from age to poverty rate to migration patterns. 
November 27, 2023 - Joint Venture’s Institute for Regional Studies, recently joined with the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits and Thrive Alliance to produce A Landscape of Change and Impact, a report on issues confronting nonprofits in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. The groups produced the report to support the nonprofit community and its partners by offering an overview of organizational health, workplace practices, racial justice and equity, and strategic alliances.
November 27, 2023 - Carl Sagan once said, “Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out. Do something." Barry Vesser, COO of the Climate Center, has taken this sentiment to heart. Barry leads The Climate Center’s program and policy development and implementation teams. Barry moved around a great deal as a young man and served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines where he was inspired by the sense of community and kindness that was expressed by people of modest means. 
November 20, 2023 - Mark your calendar now for the 2024 State of the Valley Conference to be held Friday, March 1 at San Jose State University. Count on the most recent data on the state of the Bay Area and illuminating analysis by experts who will break down the numbers.
Primer offers tips for community leaders, residents, service providers
SAN JOSE, Calif. | August 7, 2008 – Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network announced today it has published a new report on regional cell phone service that details the latest information on coverage issues and offers tips for improving cell reception in the region.
The 16-page report, now accessible on the Joint Venture web site at www.jointventure.org, is a primer for government officials, community leaders, service providers, businesses and residents on ways everyone can help to identify problems and improve cell phone service in Silicon Valley.
“It’s ironic that we live in the technology capital of the world yet our cell phone service is not up to global standards,” said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture. “But the reasons are not technical. The reasons have to do with the way we make decisions in city halls throughout the region. Until now, a strong regional voice has been missing from those deliberations. Joint Venture intends to change that.”
The report lists four major reasons for spotty service, noting the original network was designed to serve business districts and travel corridors, not residential communities, and that the growth in users and new data services like email, Web search, mapping, photo exchange and video is overloading a network designed to handle voice communications only. Further, the permit process for carriers to expand coverage with new or improved facilities is slow and cumbersome.
Two common myths residents cite to stall cell phone service improvements – that there are potential health hazards from cell site equipment and that the sites will be unattractive, spoil their view or reduce property values – are dispelled in the report.
To address cell phone service issues, Joint Venture asks residents to report coverage problems not only to their service providers but to their elected representatives and on the Joint Venture Web site and other Web-based reporting sites. It urges carriers to work with cities and counties to identify areas with poor coverage and develop strategies for filling them in with cell sites that conform to local guidelines for aesthetics and safety. And it asks city and county leaders to help their staff fast track applications for cell sites that meet guidelines.
The cell phone study was headed by Joint Venture vice president and COO Seth Fearey, and project co-chairs, Dean Warshawsky of the Los Altos Town Council and Ellen Becht, head of enterprise risk management for SVB Financial.
