Standing on the stage of the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics, Jay Dominick, vice chancellor of information technology at UNC-Charlotte, moderated a panel representing what the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) calls "community anchor institutions" – a key component to BTOP.
Schools, libraries, medical and health care providers, public safety entities, community colleges and other institutions of higher education, and other community support organizations and agencies are considered anchor institutions.
BTOP experts in the state say the program will reduce the cost of broadband throughout the state, increase the speed of the connections, create a new capacity to take advantage of new applications, and engage more citizens than ever before.
"The importance of broadband and the pipes that deliver it are just as important as the shelves that our books are sitting on," said North Carolina’s State Librarian Mary Boone. "It’s very interesting to walk into a public library today."
Marjorie Benbow, director of the N.C. Biotech Center in the Greater Charlotte region, noted the positive impacts of high-speed broadband on endeavors from from research to farming in North Carolina. Steven Cline, assistant secretary of Health Information Technology with the N.C. Department Health and Human Services, spoke about bandwidth for IT in health care.
"Telehealth, electronic medical records, home monitoring – there is so much information that medical practitioners have to work with now," explained Cline. "The amount of data and information in those systems is huge … and health care is a huge economic driver in this state."
Willie J. Gilchrist, chancellor at Elizabeth City State University, spoke about the excitement in higher education for citizens in northeast North Carolina.
"I wish it could get here faster," Gilchrist said. "The more bandwidth we can provide to our citizens, the more production we will see in our communities.… I know if we could connect immediately, we would double our enrollment due to the demand."
John Windhausen, Jr., president of Telepoly Consulting and SHLB Coalition Coordinator, also participated on the panel.
MCNC was awarded $28.2 million through BTOP in January to fund the engineering and construction of approximately 400 miles of new fiber to expand the optical footprint of NCREN in southeastern and western North Carolina.
MCNC also received an additional $75.75 million in August in a second round of funding to support the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative (GLRBI). The Golden LEAF foundation awarded $24 million in matching funds for MCNC’s successful Round 2 application.
Both of MCNC’s awards are a part of a coordinated strategy developed by the the governor's office, the N.C. Office of Economic Recovery & Investment and e-NC, the state’s rural broadband authority, to improve broadband access for businesses and residents in underserved areas.
Once all work is complete, the two rounds of BTOP infrastructure have the potential to serve directly, or through MCNC partnerships with private-sector service providers, more than 1,500 anchor institutions and 180,000 businesses and reach more than 300,000 underserved families.
NCREN Community Day was set to wrap up Friday afternoon. Highlights include keynote remarks by U.S. Rep. David Price and more panel discussions on Networking Applications and Technology in Action: What this Means to Students?
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Quelle/Source: Local Tech Wire, 19.11.2010
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