The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is almost 20 years old.

It’s hard to believe how much has changed since then – it’s safe to say just about everything. More than half of us got a smartphone, tablets appeared, the apps marketplace emerged, social networking became a household term, clouds became more than what we see in the sky … the list can go on and on.

It is today’s rapidly changing world of technology, our dependence on it, and the networks that support our gadgets and gizmos is what prompted the Internet Innovation Alliance to create the IIA 2013 Broadband Guide for the 113th Congress.

This 21-page guide issued last month aims to provide the next generation of lawmakers and leaders with the information they need to make informed decisions about Internet policy. It includes six sections with answers to common questions, definitions of technical terms, and background on the importance of the IP evolution.

“We love technology here and believe in its power to change the country, the world, and that it’s a non-partisan issue,” said Bruce Mehlman, IIA founding co-chairman and former assistant secretary of commerce for technology policy in the George W. Bush Administration.

Mehlman explained that innovations in broadband technology are not exclusively relegated to the wired world. Today, mobile devices act as general-purpose computers. Massive amounts of data are necessary to operate these mobile devices, and the future of lightning-fast, mobile communications depends on migrating America’s communications networks away from outdated legacy phone line networks and toward IP-based infrastructure.

“It’s a different world today to continue regulating a multi-platform, hyper-competitive environment the way we do … philosophically, the best thing government can do is to get out of the way,” added Mehlman. “We have written this guide to show the importance of broadband and to provide a regulatory framework for a new generation.”

IIA Honorary Chairman Rick Boucher, who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 28 years, noted that more than 2.5 billion people are connected to the Internet today and have access to information and opportunities that did not exist 20 years ago. Boucher, also the co-founder of the House Internet Caucus and former chair of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications & the Internet, added, “It’s critical that policymakers be well-informed as they make decisions affecting the Internet in order to promote and encourage the expansion of Internet investment, access and adoption.”

The IIA Guide provides many broadband-related data points, for example:

• Nielsen reports that American smartphone adoption has increased from 16.9 percent to 54.9 percent over the past three years.

• One out of three American homes now relies on wireless-only technologies, according to the U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

• The tech industry added nearly 100,000 jobs from January to June 2012, a 1.7 percent increase, according to TechAmerica Foundation’s Competitiveness Series.

• As of April 2012, 66 percent of American adults had a high-speed broadband connection at home versus 11 percent a decade earlier, according to Pew Research.

• The app economy, which didn’t even exist five years ago, now employs more than 500,000 Americans, according to research by economist Michael Mandel.

According to the IIA, the vast majority of network upgrades and day-to-day operation of the Internet are overseen by private businesses, universities and organizations, yet governments – domestic and international – continue to exert influence over the environment in which the Internet evolves.

The Internet Innovation Alliance was founded in 2004 and is a broad-based coalition supporting broadband availability and access for all Americans, including underserved and rural communities.