IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

California Broadband Task Force Releases Report to Governor Schwarzenegger Today

The Children’s Partnership today commended the work of California Broadband Task Force (CBTF) and the release of its report, "The State of Connectivity: Building Innovation Through Broadband" noting its potential to broadly impact California’s future and the future of the 10 million children living in the state. The report was delivered to the Governor this morning and can be viewed at www.calink.ca.gov/taskforcereport.

Likening high-speed Internet to basic infrastructure needs such as power and roads, a state task force on Thursday urged a new push to make affordable broadband available to all Californians.

Saying such a system is crucial to the state's economic health, the California Broadband Task Force said government and private industry must team up to expand Internet access and increase speed.

In a final report by the California Broadband Task Force, the group said the state must continue to push for broadband across the state, to ensure residents and businesses realize the full economic, educational and social benefits of widespread high-speed access. The taskforce called on the state to invest in broadband deployment, ease permitting hurdles and create an e-health network in California that will help drive demand for broadband services.

Today, Citizens for a Digital Future (CDF), a national coalition whose members support and advance public policies that encourage broad deployment and robust enhancement of broadband and digital technologies, launched in North Carolina.

"In order for consumers to have access to the latest technologies and best services possible, it is imperative for North Carolina to ensure its laws are keeping pace with the proliferation of new and innovative telecommunications options available today," said John Watson, Chairman of Citizens for a Digital Future. "Citizens for a Digital Future supports policies that encourage investment in and deployment of broadband and other digital technologies that enhance our lives in so many ways."

The state of Colorado has launched a series of pilot programs to create smart buildings and to implement distance learning and remote healthcare with the aid of telepresence, announced the state and Cisco Systems last week.

One pilot focuses on energy efficiency in towns and cities on the west slope of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, such as Grand Junction, where Cisco will work with Colorado to integrate power, lighting, HVAC, and computer networks across multiple buildings.

Colorado and Cisco are collaborating to demonstrate how advanced modeling and simulation tools can support pilot projects related to health care, energy and education -- key areas that will foster economic development and sustainable practices throughout the state.

Cisco has signed a memorandum of understanding with Colorado officials to establish the Colorado Connected Communities Initiative (CCCI), which will develop accessible education opportunities, advance the delivery and quality of health care, and reduce statewide energy consumption, Colorado officials said.

Broadband is the electricity of the 21st century, with the power to fundamentally change the way Colorado companies and other organizations do business, Gov. Bill Ritter said Friday.

"Expanding broadband (high-speed Internet) access has never been more important," Ritter said in opening the second annual Colorado Broadband Summit at the Level 3 campus in Broomfield.

Visitors to Husker Harvest Days this week had a chance to get up close and personal with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln BIT (Business Information Technology) mobile lab.

According to a recent statewide poll, nine out of 10 Oregonians feel it is important to have reliable and consistent cellular phone coverage in rural areas for public health and safety. Nearly 75 percent also said reliability of service, wireless coverage and call quality are the most important wireless issues they want the federal government to address.

McSlarrow wrote to express NCTA’s enthusiastic support for the broadband stimulus programs, while informing lawmakers of the group’s preferred direction for grant programs.

The law creates a $40 million Massachusetts broadband incentive fund, allowing the state to issue 30-year bonds to help bring broadband to unserved communities like Goshen. The funds will be adminstered by a quasi-public agency, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which has been studying broadband in Massachusetts.

The Task Force, chaired by Senator Roy Herron and Rep. Mark Maddox, includes representatives from the telecommunications industry as well as representatives from a number of state agencies. The Task Force was established to study the challenges related to providing high-speed Internet (commonly referred to as broadband) to all Tennesseans.

David McClure, the CEO and president of the United States Internet Industry Association (USIIA), has penned a news report which claims that the digital divide in the United States is not caused by a lack of broadband availability but rather by slow broadband adoption.

State legislators, federal regulators and a U.S. congressman say they don’t know how to push broadband technology into the nation’s rural areas.

But they know it has to happen.

Connected Nation’s survey has revealed that internet has improved the user’s quality of life. The reason cited behind this is the availability of healthcare applications on the internet. Health improvement in case of Kentuckians is a major point to be noted since the state has often been noted to have a relatively unhealthy population. The broadband connectivity helped the people at Kentucky look for healthcare information when they turned to Internet for help.

“In today’s fast changing economy, broadband is a key element in providing jobs and new investment for Maine’s economy,” he said. “The Public Advocate’s report highlights the measures already in place to ensure that Maine broadband consumers have full and fair access to the Internet.”

Say you are the president of the United States. Your country invented the Internet, yet it has fallen to 15th in the world rankings for high-speed or broadband Internet connectivity. How do you explain such a development? Well, if you are President Bush, you declare victory, claim success in supplying affordable broadband Internet access to Americans, and ignore the fact that many of your citizens don't have access to broadband - and those who do pay much higher fees for much slower speeds than almost every other industrialized nation in the world. But if you're a progressive member of the Maryland General Assembly, you may have a different answer.

Advanced information technology applications are necessary to connect Delta residents to the knowledge-based economy. Proper deployment of the technology resources now available will allow us to bring world-class education, health services, employment opportunities and business opportunities to even the smallest communities in our region. Those who make policy at the local, state and federal levels would never consider preventing people's access to highways. By the same token, we shouldn't hinder access to the information highway.

Just as railroads and the interstate highway system are central to transportation and commerce, the Internet has grown to be vitally important to economic development and the prosperity of families and businesses in Maine and across America. Unlike railroads and the interstate, there is no speed limit on the Internet superhighway. And people and businesses that are unable to take full advantage of the mind-numbing speed of the Internet are at a distinct disadvantage to those who can.