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How will broadband affect burgeoning controversies over health care? The answers to this question and more came courtesy of a Broadband Cenus-hosted, hour-long panel discussion. View a video of the discussion.
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President Obama on Innovation and Sustainable Growth. President Barack Obama has new plans to strengthen the economy that will all favor people with hi-tech educations.
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Elevate Miami, a comprehensive Digital Inclusion program launched by the city of Miami, aims to serve youth, low-income families, minorities, seniors and residents facing barriers to digital inclusion.
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The Knight Center of Digital Excellence held its first Stimulus Webcast Session for Knight communities and program directors July 23. Watch it online now.
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By pushing hard on broadband, lawmakers hope to close the "digital divide" that has long separated rural America. In doing so, they hope to give rural consumers access to the same sorts of high-speed services and opportunities - think telemedicine, distance-learning and Web-based commerce - that city dwellers have enjoyed for years.
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Archive for May, 2009
Friday, May 29th, 2009
We hear a lot of talk about the “digital divide.” But what does it mean?
More than a few answers came to light during a recent symposium in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Alliance for Digital Equality, the Alliance for Public Technology and the Communications Workers of America.
A few key points:
1) America’s 42 million low-income workers will be all but cut out of participation in a “knowledge economy” without increased Internet access to job training skills. That’s according to Dr. Eileen Applebaum, director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University. She also noted the U.S. ranking of 15th in the world in broadband capacity, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
2) Not everyone who has Internet access enjoys the benefits of equal access. Those with slow dial-up service can’t receive and transmit information necessary for them to participate in many new applications, such telemedicine for instance. In the future, this means healthcare professions, in this instance, will be able to monitor some patients from remote locations, but not others. The question becomes: If it’s your loved one, will doctors and nurses know through monitoring devices whether there is a dangerous drop in blood pressure, say, or glucose levels? And if not, what will be the consequences?
3) The cost of broadband access is a driver of differentiation. Women, minorities and immigrants are disproportionately in the low-income category that typically has less access.
4) Another point from Dr. Applebaum, as reported by New American Media: The knowledge economy is not limited to highly skilled and technical jobs, such as in engineering and computer programming. To the contrary, jobs that depend on digital literacy extend to every kind of job there is.
5) High-speed Internet access equates to new, unprecedented opportunity for low-income and unemployed Americans. A single mother, for example, might not have transportation or babysitting available to enable her to go outside the home for job training. Job training via the Internet can be the ticket, both to higher skills and a higher quality of life.
These are just a few examples of why the digital divide matters, and why the Knight Center of Digital Excellence is devoting so many resources toward the goal of equal access for equal participation in American life, culture and the economy of the future. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, through its funding of our work, is making possible additional research and exploration of options in solving the digital divide.
Tags: Alliance for Public Technology, bandwidth, broadband, Communications Workers of America, digital, digital divide, Dr. Eileen Applebaum, economy, education, infrastructure, Internet, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, lliance for Digital Equality, New American Media, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, rural communities, Rutgers University, stimulus
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center, Knight Center of Digital Excellence | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Those of us who have Internet access already know what to do with it. We e-mail. We shop. We search for jobs and information.
But what about the roughly one-third of Americans who don’t have Internet service, and may not have a clue what they’d do with it if they did? The more than $7 billion in federal stimulus money for broadband networks is meant to serve this group.
But what will currently unserved Americans do with all this broadband?
Let’s take the example of Akron, Ohio, where the city, The University of Akron and the Knight Center of Digital Excellence are leading an effort to develop a 12-mile wireless network, the first stretch of which will be up and running in June. Those within the network will have free Internet access.
Knight Center team members are meeting now with various civic leaders, to discuss possibilities of how this broadband network can make a difference.
As we meet with people, ideas start rolling.
Job training could be enhanced, for example, so that current programs are reinforced with practice work online. After-school programs also could be expanded to serve more children through digital classrooms. And even soup kitchens might serve as a place where people can access the Internet.
What if each soup kitchen put up a kiosk, so those who come for meals might also check e-mail, maybe to see if that job interview came through? It will be a long time before everyone has a computer at home. This would give a largely unserved population another point of Internet access, in addition to the public library system and community learning centers being placed in Akron Public Schools.
These are just a few examples of the multiple layers of potential impact. Sure, there are some who will never use the Internet, even if they had it for free. But even these people may need access for health and safety reasons.
Your mother might be among those who wouldn’t use the Internet for any reason. But you’d still want your mother to have access. In an emergency, if she needed an ambulance, you’d want rescue workers to have quick online access to medical information about her.
Or, take a family with no computer in the home. If social workers were called to that home because of suspected child abuse, you’d want them to be able to check online immediately to see if there is a pattern of violence in that home.
We should look at broadband as the new utility service. It impacts how effectively we can participate in the economy, our chances of getting a job, our ability to acquire new skills, and even our health and safety.
America can’t have a third of its population disconnected - and disenfranchised - as a result of no Internet access. The haves and have-nots will be further delineated at a time when we should be narrowing gaps, not widening them.
The question is not, “What will we do with all this broadband?” but “What will we do without it?”
Tags: Akron, American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, bandwidth, broadband, Broadband Expansion, community, digital, digital divide, economy, education, electricity, fiber-to-the-home, healthcare, high-speed, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, KCoDE, Knight Center, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, network, Ohio, OneCommunity, public safety, stimulus, stimulus watch, telemedicine, unserved Americans, utilities
Posted in Knight Center of Digital Excellence, OneCommunity, Opinion, Stimulus Package | 8 Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
We’re just beginning the second half of our afternoon conference here at the Knight Center of Digital Excellence. Jim Baller, of the Baller Herbst Law Group, has joined us. Baller’s law firm is based in Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis, specializes in communications issues. He is also the founder of the National Broadband Coalition, which includes consumer groups, state and local government entities, utilities, nonprofits and others groups working toward consensus on a national broadband strategy.
Right now we’re talking about definitions that are yet to be determined by the federal government, but that will play a key role in decision-making regarding which projects gain stimulus funding for broadband networks. For funding purposes, certain communities will be designated as “un-served,” in terms of Internet access, and others will be designated as “underserved.” Baller comments that it’s likely these two categories will be considered separately, and that projects for those areas designated as un-served areas will get the higher priority for funding.
Karen Archer Perry, who leads the Knight Center’s Connected Community Team, pointed out that data on Internet penetration is difficult to compile in some communities. Many communities don’t have maps showing where fiber lines exist and without a ready source of information, data must be pulled from various sources which, in some cases, involves guesswork.
Even when you know the extent of, or lack of, broadband infrastructure existing in any one community, that alone can’t be the basis for assessing a community’s needs. Many other factors come into play, such as income and educational attainment, poverty levels and unemployment.
Decisions over details such as these will determine which communities, and which projects, end up with stimulus funding for broadband networks that, in turn, will impact job creation, economic development, the delivery of healthcare and education and public safety in cities and towns across America.
Tags: American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, Baller Herbst Law Group, broadband, Broadband Expansion, community, digital divide, FCC, healthcare, infrastructure, innovation, Jim Baller, Karen Archer Perry, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Minneapolis, Obama, recovery.gov, stimulus, stimulus watch, underserved, unserved, Washington D.C.
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, live blogging | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Charles Benton is with us here at the Knight Center of Digital Excellence this afternoon. Besides heading up the Benton Foundation, which is focused on communications in the public interest, he is co-chairman of the National Broadband Coalition. He formerly worked in audio/visual publishing.
Benton is here to learn more about the work of the Knight Center.
For openers, he talked about the unprecedented spending as a result of the $787 billion stimulus plan.
As a part of the $7.2 billion for broadband networks, Congress charged the FCC with developing a plan for broadband deployment. The deadline for filing comments on a national broadband policy is June 8th. The FCC under Chairman Copp is demonstrating a new commitment to openness, and Benton cited examples to show “it’s not just talk.”
One could think of the stimulus package, in its focus on un-served and underserved, as an opportunity to build models that will be beneficial in the future. This is a time to talk about best practices and how to identify them. We should look to build from the models that are successful.
Mark T. Ansboury, Knight Center’s Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, took the floor to say that our nation needs to build good policy, so we have a strategy going forward that serves the public interest. There is a need for transformation at multiple levels. States, for example, need to have policies in place. Without such policies and organized plans, there is no model for consistent broadband infrastructure. Laying such groundwork requires political will.
In terms of winning stimulus money, larger projects that have broad support will stand out. Small projects need to be a beacon of light in order to get noticed.
Back to Charles Benton: There needs to be an opportunity for small innovation as well as big innovation. An innovation fund for smaller projects is one option.
Knight Center has a network that includes the 26 Knight communities. Speaking of best practices, there is an opportunity here to look at best practices within the Knight communities. This would push others nationally to come up with models that demonstrate best practices.
Tags: American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, benton foundation, broadband, Broadband Expansion, Charles Benton, community, digital, digital divide, economy, FCC, infrastructure, innovation, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Mark Ansboury, National Broadband Coalition, recovery.gov, rural communities, stimulus, stimulus watch
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Obama notes, Opinion, Stimulus Package, live blogging | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
Last Friday, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) introduced the Broadband Conduit Deployment Act which would require that when road construction projects are paid for with federal dollars, “an appropriate number” of broadband conduits must be laid down as part of the construction to “accommodate multiple broadband providers.”
Requiring this of already planned construction projects will spare communities from having to tear up the roads a second time, resulting in lower overall costs of future upgrades to the nation’s broadband infrastructure.
In a press release, Eshoo said, “According to industry experts, more than half of the cost of new broadband deployment is attributable to the expense of tearing up and repaving roads. By putting the broadband conduit in place while the ground beneath the roadways is exposed, we will enable any authorized communications provider to come in later and install fiber-optic cable at far less cost.”
Smart move! Communities have been loath to raise the cost of their highway projects to include conduit. By mandating it, Congress will integrate the process with existing transportation projects, and greatly save on future costs.
Eshoo, who also introduced the “Advanced Broadband Infrastructure Bond Initiative of 2009” in January, wrote into the conduit bill the ability for the Department of Transportation to easily waive the conduit requirement “if the Secretary determines such waiver appropriate with respect to a covered highway construction project.”
Eshoo and her colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee are co-sponsoring the legislation: Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), Communications, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Technology and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va). In the Senate, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is working on similar legislation. We can only hope that more take an interest in understanding of the importance of conduit construction, pole attachment policies, and local public rights-of-way (ROW) permitting.
Eshoo’s bill has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure . You can track the bill’s progress here on the Knight Center of Digital Excellence Stimulus Center at http://www.knightcenter.org/stimuluscenter.html
Tags: American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, broadband, economy, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, recovery.gov, stimulus, stimulus watch
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence | No Comments »
Monday, May 18th, 2009
By Karen Archer Perry
In addition to hearing from U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) at the Broadband Breakfast and listening to acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps and other esteemed leaders at the Free Press Summit on Changing Media, I was able to visit with a number of more low-key opinion shapers and broadband leaders in D.C. last week.
Todd Wolfson from Media Mobilizing Project told me that Philadelphia’s CIO, Allan Frank, is bringing parties to the table to collaborate on the next step in public interest broadband in Philly. Greg Goldman of Wireless Philadelphia shared Todd’s excitement. It’s great to hear that community leaders in Philadelphia are still committed to using broadband as a cornerstone for Philly’s future.
To my great delight, I finally met Edyael Casaperalta from The Center for Rural Strategies. Edyael has a place-based reporting application that sounds perfect for communities looking to use broadband to strengthen community ties. I hope we can look at a pilot! Look for more on this later.
I was bowled over by things that Harold Galicer from SeaKay pointed out about SmartGrid and the possibilities for conserving energy through home management systems. He is working with a number of players to accomplish programs that promote energy independence AND universal access, all based on core principles of sustainability and sound partnerships. Very promising.
Another new friend from this visit was Gina McCauley from About our Daughters and Blogging While Brown who told her story of going from “couch potato” to activist all from her living room PC. This woman has followers and it’s easy to see why. I’m there.
Ken Peres is an economist for the Communications Workers of America and an author of CWA’s broadband strategy, which includes the great Speed Matters Campaign. He is also instrumental in ambitious work of the US Broadband Coalition. With over 150 members from all sectors of the telecom industry, the idea of producing a set of consensus recommendations is perhaps optimistic, but Ken, along with Jim Baller, of Baller Herbst Law Group and Wendy Wiggins of Educause are clearly giving the project their all.
And there was Link Hoewing from Verizon, David Eisenberg from Freedom to Connect and Charles Benton from the Benton Foundation – all of whom were at the Changing Media Summit.
FCC Chairman Michael Copps is right. The winds of change are in the air, and we are the change.
Tags: bandwidth, broadband, high-speed, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, Karen Archer Perry, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, rural communities, utilities
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Opinion | No Comments »
Monday, May 18th, 2009
GIS mapping provides better insights for better decisions – plain and simple.
Communities must have a confident understanding of the actual landscape and current broadband coverage to formulate strategic plans that will enable them to achieve economic progress. One tool that helps accomplish this is GIS mapping.
 GIS (Geographic Information System) applications are tools that allow users to create interactive searches, analyze spatial information, edit data and map and present the results.
In short, GIS applications provide knowledge – address level, in-depth knowledge that documents actual broadband coverage and reveals gaps.
Michael Curri, founder and president of Strategic Networks Group Inc., which is currently providing support for the Knight Center of Digital Excellence through deployment of a number of tools and surveys in several Knight communities, was at the recent Broadband Properties Summit in Dallas presenting a grassroots approach to local economic stimulus.
His presentation focused on getting the most out of broadband investment. A crucial aspect of that was measuring broadband usage and benefits utilizing applications such as GIS mapping.
Curri said those who can measure local broadband usage and benefits can better position themselves to stimulate their local economy. While investing in broadband infrastructure to fill gaps in un-served and underserved areas is a priority, equally important is the need to have those networks fully utilized to maximize sustainability and economic stimulus.
According to a 2009 SNG study of Internet and broadband usage in 18 Canadian communities, 29.3 percent of new jobs created in the past 12 months were directly attributed to broadband use. Broadband itself created a direct employment increase of 3.1 percent.
Why are these communities seeing these benefits? You guessed it – they took a structured, best practices approach to develop effective local market broadband strategies.
This is why GIS mapping matters.
Matching broadband supply against demand can better identify un-served, underserved and underutilized areas. This focuses deployment of networks in areas with strong, existing, pent-up broadband demand. It’s the most efficient way to enable strong and sustainable economic development.
GIS also helps link people and businesses with training programs to increase demand and benefits that derive from broadband.
Again, it’s supply and demand. Matching broadband supply with demand while promoting broadband usage is fundamental to increasing productivity and competitiveness. This leads to retaining and growing businesses, attracting new ones and creating higher paying job opportunities locally.
In short, to develop sound and sustainable broadband strategies, policymakers need access to accurate, in-depth data. GIS mapping is a tool to obtain that.
Tags: bandwidth, broadband, Broadband Expansion, Broadband Properties Summit, Canada, community, Dallas, digital, economy, education, Geographic Information System applications, GIS mapping, Grassroots Approach to Local Economic Stimulus, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, KCoDE, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Michael Curri, network, OneCommunity, rural communities, SNG, SNG study of Internet and broadband usage, Strategic Networks Group Inc., Texas
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Opinion | No Comments »
Friday, May 15th, 2009
By Karen Archer Perry, director of Community Outreach and Programs, Knight Center of Digital Excellence
With $787 billion in economic stimulus funding trickling into the market, there are more than just school kids studying the workings of government inside the beltway.
My spring trip to our nation’s capital started May 12 at a breakfast sponsored by Broadband Census. The discussion focused on broadband stimulus funding and development of a national broadband policy that will include definitions of un-served and underserved.
U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who directs the FCC through his role as chair of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, suggested a very narrow definition of underserved communities. He also made clear a strong inclination to give grant preferences to commercial players over municipal entrants, citing their ability to put people to work and to complete projects on time.
From the Broadband Breakfast, my tour took me to the Media and Democracy Coalition’s annual meeting, where Executive Director Beth McConnell was working to pull common agendas from this fiercely independent and passionate group of local media activists and advocates. After joining Free Press for the Members Meeting of Internet For Everyone, it’s refreshing to see organizations such as these having an active and important voice in the upcoming debates on broadband and media policy.
My final stop was at the Newseum, a 250,000 square-foot museum of news, for the Free Press Summit on Changing Media, sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. In contrast to what I found in earlier meetings, this group was looking for bold changes in policy to tightly connect democracy with the free flow of information and with pervasive, ubiquitous access. While all of the speakers were excellent, it was a special treat to hear from three generations of FCC Chairmen: Acting Chairman Michael Copps and former chairs Michael Powell and Reed Hundt. Hundt spoke of the need to create an EducationNet, DemocracyNet, HealthNet and EngergyNet. Powell noted that broadband policy was so strategic to the country that it should really be driven from the office of the president and not the FCC.
Copps presented a compelling vision of the need for change. He identified four tenants for the future of media:
1) It’s all about democracy, and democracy requires information and access;
2) Old Media is not dead and must continue to be on the regulatory radar screen;
3) We must apply our lessons from past regulatory experience to the new environment to ensure true openness, nondiscrimination and competition;
4) Community and grassroots activism will be needed to capitalize on this opportunity and actually usher in the change we all desire. Add to their vision, the words from Susan Crawford, a member of President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council, and the trip certainly capped with inspiration.
The real lesson for all of us, including the Knight Center of Digital Excellence, is the same as it is for students learning about our government for the first time: Government serves us best when we pay attention, stay informed and become engaged. We are the people in the democracy, and for our government to be responsive we need to participate at every level. Let the debate be full and robust.
Tags: American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, bandwidth, Beth McConnell, broadband, Broadband Breakfast, Broadband Census, Broadband Expansion, community, Congress, democracy, DemocracyNet, digital, economy, education, EducationNet, EngergyNet, FCC, Free Press, healthcare, HealthNet, infrastructure, innovation, Karen Archer Perry, KCoDE, Knight Center, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, media, Media and Democracy Coalition, Michael Copps, Michael Powell, network, Newseum, Obama, old media, OneCommunity, president, Reed Hundt, stimulus, stimulus watch, Susan Crawford, Technology and the Internet, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, U.S. House Subcommittee on Communications, U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, underserved, utilities
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Opinion, Stimulus Package, live blogging | No Comments »
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
by Mark Ansboury
As soon as Susan Crawford, of President Obama’s National Economic Council, took the stage she noted the way that information - which used to be centralized - is now radically dispersed. “Information is everywhere,” she said.
However, we can’t be excited about that news if we don’t address who is being left offline in America. “Broadband does not guarantee economic success, but a lack of broadband guarantees stagnation,” Crawford said.
As more of our media move online, we have a key choice to make–will our new media system and broadband be an engine for economic growth, a platform for innovation for new forms of art, education and information? Or will we let the digital divide grow, expanding the information gap and cutting more people off from the benefits of the Web?
Tags: broadband, digital, digital divide, economy, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Mark Ansboury, National Economic Council, President Obama, Susan Crawford
Posted in Knight Center of Digital Excellence, live blogging | No Comments »
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
by Mark Ansboury
Acting chairman for FCC expounds on three core principles
Michael Copps cited three principles regarding the America’s broadband policy. These principles shed light on the media’s role in democracy.
1) Democracy is important. We must change our thinking that consolidation is good because it destroys freedom of choice and eliminates jobs.
2) Old media may fade away slower than expected, but is not dead.
3) Ensure old sins once permitted in the old media are not thrust upon new media.
Change is on the horizon, but how do we promote society’s interests and goals? The FCC is looking ahead to tackling these changes for public interest. However, we must recognize the hurdles we’ve encounters and the lessons we’ve learned. The national broadband policy will empower the FCC to impact our nation’s democracy.
Tags: broadband, Changing Media Summit, digital, economy, FCC, Free Press, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Mark Ansboury, Michael Copps, national broadband policy
Posted in Knight Center of Digital Excellence, live blogging | No Comments »
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