12:35

I am on stage at the National Press Club in Washington DC and listening to Bill Schrier, Chief Technology Officer, City of Seattle talk about what an intelligent community looks like.

Who is unserved?

Bill says the entire nation is unserved and global competition is here so WE NEED TO STEP UP.

12:50

Chris Vein, Chief Information Officer for the City of San Francisco is discussing the recent successes for the city in reaching the unserved though health and digital inclusion.  It is not just about Internet access, it is about hardware, it’s about focus on content/application, it’s about training and support.

San Francisco is creating a network of community networks - running city fiber to over 5,000 federally funded low income housing

Interesting note: the low income users now have faster access than most other San Franciscans.

Additionally, the city is providing affordable new and refurbished computers and a community education network. San Francisco has also created community health clinics in the inner city with telemedicine hub for real time care from doctors and specialists.

This is amazing! The city of San Francisco has stepped up in a big way to use technology to help provide solutions for the city’s top social programs.

Tags: Bill Schrier, broadband, Chris Vein, City of San Francisco, City of Seattle, community, digital, digital divide, fiber-to-the-home, infrastructure, KCoDE, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Mark Ansboury, OneCommunity, stimulus