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According to a Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project study, "The Mobile Difference," nearly 40 percent Americans have positive and improving attitudes about their mobile communication devices, thereby further immersing themselves into a more robust digital lifestyle.
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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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Posts Tagged ‘California’
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
If there were any lingering doubts that broadband is truly the future world platform for innovation, the information technology research and advisory company Gartner Inc. put some of those to rest with their recent projections on worldwide broadband penetration.
| Knight Community broadband penetration figures |
| Gartner reports 60 percent of U.S. households have a fixed broadband connection. Curious to know how your Knight Community ranks? The following figures are from a demographics study that determined what percentage of respondents said they connect to the Internet from home using a broadband or high-speed connection:
|
| Aberdeen, S.D. |
46.9 percent |
| Akron, Ohio |
45.7 percent |
| Biloxi, Miss. |
53.0 percent |
| Boulder, Colo. |
69.7 percent |
| Bradenton, Fla. |
45.7 percent |
| Charlotte, N.C. |
58.2 percent |
| Cleveland |
38.5 percent |
| Columbia, S.C. |
55.1 percent |
| Columbus, Ga. |
50.8 percent |
| Detroit |
35.8 percent |
| Duluth, Minn. |
54.3 percent |
| Fort Wayne, Ind. |
48.1 percent |
| Gary, Ind. |
35.1 percent |
| Grand Forks, N.D. |
57.4 percent |
| Long Beach, Calif. |
49.5 percent |
| Macon, Ga. |
39.9 percent |
| Miami-Dade County |
44.6 percent |
| Milledgeville, Ga. |
41.2 percent |
| Myrtle Beach, S.C. |
48.8 percent |
| Palm Beach County, Fla. |
63.1 percent |
| Philadelphia |
45.0 percent |
| San Jose |
62.3 percent |
| St. Paul, Minn. |
53.8 percent |
| State College, Pa. |
68.6 percent |
| Tallahassee, Fla. |
57.1 percent |
| Wichita, Kan. |
51.6 percent |
| Source: Demographics Now |
Overall, Gartner projects 422 million (about 20 percent) households worldwide will have a fixed broadband connection by the end of this year, a roughly 11 percent increase from the number of households that had a fixed broadband connection at the end of 2008.
According to Gartner, South Korea is currently the leader in household broadband penetration with 86 percent of South Korean households connected to broadband, followed by the Netherlands (80 percent), Denmark (75 percent), Hong Kong (72 percent), Canada (69 percent) and Switzerland (69 percent). Gartner reports the U.S. lags behind with a 60 percent broadband penetration rate, but expects it to pass several nations in the next four years as projections have the U.S. adding 27 million new connections and raising its penetration rate to 78 percent by 2013.
Gartner also predicts several developing nations will see a massive rise in their number of broadband connections with an additional 135 million in the next four years. The firm expects Brazil, Russia, China and India to account for more than two-thirds of new connections in the developing world and nearly half of all new connections worldwide.
At the Knight Center of Digital Excellence, these numbers tell us what we already know: The cry for better broadband can be heard all over the world and it’s not being ignored any longer. Nations that have been at the forefront will continue to grow and innovate further (Gartner predicts South Korea’s household broadband penetration rate will be 93 percent in 2013.), while nations that have gotten a late start will begin to utilize the same life-changing applications many already take advantage of.
Tags: Aberdeen, Akron, bandwidth, Biloxi, Boulder, Bradenton, Brazil, broadband, Broadband Expansion, broadband penetration, California, Canada, Charlotte, China, Cleveland, Colorado, Columbia, Columbus, Demographics Now, Denmark, Detroit, digital, Duluth, Florida, Fort Wayne, Gartner Inc., Gary, Georgia, Grand Forks, high-speed, Hong Kong, India, Indiana, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, Kansas, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Knight communities, Long Beach, Macon, Miami, Milledgeville, Minnesota, Mississippi, Myrtle Beach, Netherlands, network, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Palm Beach, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Russia, San Jose, South Carolina, South Dakota, South Korea, St. Paul, State College, Switzerland, Tallahassee, Wichita
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, broadband | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
A recent event that didn’t get a lot of attention but managed to bring in a lot of the communication industry’s heavy hitters was SUPERCOMM 2009, held in Chicago during late October.
Speakers presenting on their insights and strategic plans included top-ranking officials from many major communications companies such as Verizon Communications, AT&T Operations, NBC Universal and Cox Communications – just to name a few. Verizon Communications Chairman Ivan Seidenberg delivered a keynote address touching on using networking technology to create a “smarter planet, smarter health care and smarter education.”
Private sector interests were also represented by Hardik Bhatt, Chicago’s chief information officer; Jonathan Adelstein, administrator, Rural Utilities Service; Larry Strickling, assistant secretary for Communications and Information and administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration; Blair Levin, executive director, Omnibus Broadband Initiative, Federal Communications Commission; and Aneesh Chopra, U.S. chief technology officer and associate director for technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who delivered a keynote address on how he feels broadband will change the U.S. economy.
The event featured a number of suppliers showcasing the latest in broadband innovation as well as exhibits that demonstrated an industry-wide commitment to “green broadband,” which explores green regulations, recent studies on business opportunities in the low-carbon economy and how applications like intelligent monitoring can help reduce the energy burden of broadband.
Despite “always on” operation, broadband devices typically don’t consume a large amount of energy on their own, according to a U.S Department of Energy report. However, the appreciable indirect energy consumption they cause through extended use of related devices is proving to be significant. Figures presented at SUPERCOMM showed the standby power-draw from routers in 61 million U.S. homes served with broadband represents enough energy to meet the needs of the entire city of Oakland, Calif.
SUPERCOMM 2009’s complimentary programming also focused on broadband solutions. Technology-focused sessions took a forward-looking approach at how certain technologies were deployed in a network or how a service was applied, and how that technology or service will evolve to apply to future needs. Educational sessions covered topics such as the upcoming national broadband plan, digital content, service-oriented networks and social media.
While a number of interesting topics were discussed, it was good to see such a diverse group of key public and private sector thinkers convene to discuss how future innovation benefits everyone. It’s evident that key players in the communications game are placing an emphasis on broadband technology and the kinds of services and applications it can potentially power.
Tags: Aneesh Chopra, AT&T, Blair Levin, Broadband Expansion, California, Chicago, Cox Communications, digital, digital content, digital divide, economy, electricity, FCC, Federal, green broadband, Hardik Bhatt, high-speed, Illinois, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, Ivan Seidenberg, Jonathan Adelstein, Larry Strickling, national broadband plan, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, NBC Universal, NTIA, Oakland, Omnibus Broadband Initiative, Rural Utilities Service, RUS, service-oriented network, social media, SUPERCOMM 2009, U.S. Department of Energy, utilities, Verizon
Posted in Digital news, broadband | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
The spigot is officially on. Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the first four stimulus grants for broadband deployment in four states. The initial projects will be in California, Indiana, North Carolina and Vermont, and are aimed at increasing broadband access and adoption through improved data collection and planning.
Federal officials are continuing to review applications from all remaining 46 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.
Here’s a synopsis of the first four projects:
• California will receive $1.8 million; North Carolina, $1.6 million; Indiana, $1.3 million; and Vermont, $1.2 million, to collect data and verify the availability, speed and location of broadband across those states. The projects are to extend from now through 2011, with initial data to become available next month.
• California will also receive an additional $500,000 for broadband planning over four years. An additional $435,000 will also go to North Carolina for broadband planning over five years.
In a press release, the NTIA offered clues as to the degree of thoroughness it expects in successful applications. Specifically, the four winning applications contained the following:
• Plans for data collection from multiple sources. All four recipients will collect data from broadband providers – but each plans to delve further by tapping other sources of information as well. For example, there will be speed tests as well as online and field surveys. Recipients also plan to use third party existing data (developed for other purposes) to assist their mapping efforts.
• Plans for multiple verification methods. Once again, recipients will seek independent information on speeds and locations of broadband.
• Collaboration: Each state demonstrated commitment to build partnerships to achieve desired results with the greatest efficiency possible.
The comments from federal officials echo our thoughts at the Knight Center of Digital Excellence: The best projects are meticulously planned, draw on well-documented information from as many sources as possible and bring government and civic-minded organizations together in partnerships.
Tags: American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, bandwidth, BIP, broadband, Broadband Expansion, Broadband Initiatives Program, broadband mapping, Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, BTOP, California, collaboration, Indiana, infrastructure, Internet, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, network, North Carolina, NTIA, stimulus, stimulus watch, Vermont
Posted in ARRA, Digital news, Stimulus Package, broadband | No Comments »
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
Courtesy of the NTIA and RUS, a searchable database went live recently that provides public information on broadband stimulus applications. The measure is part of the federal government’s promise of transparency throughout the grant process.
Right now, a Knight Center of Digital Excellence look at the numbers shows 2,186 applications are contained in the database, representing a total of $21.2 billion in grant requests and $6.5 billion in loan requests. The largest number of applications came from the states of Virginia (222), California (178), North Dakota (130) and Texas (112), with Georgia and New York submitting 97 each. On the low side was Delaware, with only two submissions.
Here’s a further breakdown of the applications by type. Keep in mind the database doesn’t include paper applications or applications received for the State Broadband Data and Development Program.
Applications per Program:
BIP: 400
BTOP: 953
BIP/BTOP: 833
Applications per Project Type:
Last Mile: 113
Last Mile Non-Remote: 633
Last Mile Remote: 383
Middle Mile: 368
Public Computer Center: 361
Sustainable Adoption: 328
Applications are searchable by organization, keywords, project type, program and state. Searches also list applicant contact information, project title, the amount of grant money requested and a project description. According to the NTIA and RUS, those who want to protect proprietary information have until Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. (EDT) to provide an adjusted copy of their executive summary; otherwise the agency will indicate that information isn’t available when searchers look for it. If you’re planning to provide an adjusted copy, keep in mind applicants are being told they can only remove information, but not add to or alter it.
Tags: BIP, broadband, Broadband Initiatives Program, Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, BroadbandUSA, BTOP, California, database, Delaware, executive summary, Georgia, government transparency, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Last Mile, Middle Mile, New York, North Dakota, NTIA, OneCommunity, public computer centers, RUS, State Broadband Data and Development Program, stimulus, stimulus watch, sustainable broadband adoption, Texas, Virginia
Posted in Digital news, NTIA, RUS, Stimulus Package, broadband | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
 By Doug Adams, Knight Center of Digital Excellence
With the U.S. investing more than $7 billion in federal stimulus for broadband, imagine what life may be like in just five or 10 short years from now?
What might my life be like, say in 2019? Here is a scenario:
6 a.m.
The alarm goes off, saying I have 27 unread e-mails and 14 articles cued up in my browser ready to read on my Kindle 10.0.
7 a.m.
While driving to work, I listen to Dan Patrick via my in-dash computer’s WiFi connection. WiFi is everywhere now.
8:30 a.m.
My wife calls. She’s worried about her mother, Betty, who lives three states away. Betty’s health monitoring provider tracks her movement patterns. Today, the Web-enabled video monitor showed Betty hadn’t made it to the kitchen by the time she usually does. Given she’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, a nurse from the monitoring provider looks in and finds her on camera in the study.
9:30 a.m.
I check back with my wife – she has just renewed her driver’s license and made her home business into an LLC. With government services online, she does this via our TV and ultra high-speed fiber optic Internet connection. I’m so glad we have a fiber connection to our home – it’s similar to the change we experienced when we went from dial-up to my old cable modem. Only with this upgrade have I been able to utilize the Internet for rich, two-way video communications with my doctor, work colleagues and friends.
10:45 a.m.
I check in on my daughter at school via webcam. She’s in biology class, and students are watching a live heart surgery in progress at the world-class Cleveland Clinic Foundation. They can see, hear and interact with doctors.
Another class is also watching the surgery – from India. It’s a class my daughter’s interacts with frequently. The same broadband application that allows students to watch live surgeries also allows them to engage with other students from across the world, bridging national and cultural differences.
Noon
Lunch with my college roommate, Bob. He’s an engineer for a California company, but works from home in Indianapolis. His fiber optic Internet connection allows him to send 3-D virtual mockups to his boss. At lunch, we check the stock market and box scores from the touch screen computer imbedded in our table.
We’re briefly distracted as a pair of officers having lunch in a booth behind us rush outside to confront an individual with a warrant out for his arrest. How do I know? Police are equipped with mobile computer systems and handheld devices that provide up-to-date information on suspects and threats. Using one of these handheld devices, one of the officers was able to make a positive ID and alert his partner before his lunch arrived.
3 p.m.
A problem crops up at work. Defective materials were delivered to a construction site in Texas. Our team utilizes visual feeds to inspect the materials and send images of the problem pieces to the manufacturer.
4:30 p.m.
I haven’t been feeling well, so I check in with my doctor from my desk. I open my mouth, say “ah,” and the diagnosis is strep. An e-prescription goes out to my pharmacy.
I know my wife likes to keep the temperature in our house a little cooler, but I’m not sure that’d be a good environment for me to come home to given my illness. Fortunately, I’m able to monitor and adjust my home’s utility services remotely. I decide to raise the thermostat a few degrees. Hope she doesn’t notice.
6 p.m.
Working too late to make my son’s soccer game, so I watch from my desk. Not only is high-speed, high-capacity WiFi everywhere, but so are webcams. They are completely secure and password-protected.
9 p.m.
The last thing I remember is driving, tired, on the back roads close to home. I’m thankful public safety monitors alerted safety forces when my car veered off the road. The paramedics told me they video-conferenced with emergency room doctors less than 10 minutes after the accident. The operating room and specialist I needed were onsite when I arrived.
The world I’m describing is not science fiction. All these “future” applications are available today, mostly overseas. They save lives, improve quality of life, create job opportunities and prepare citizens to be productive members of the knowledge economy.
The vision we really need as Americans? To see the future is here, we’re a good 10 years behind and we have no time to waste investing in the broadband infrastructure necessary to catch up.
Doug Adams oversees public information efforts for the Cleveland-based technology nonprofit OneCommunity, which operates the Knight Center of Digital Excellence in partnership with The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. To learn more about the Knight Center, go to www.knightcenter.org or e-mail info@knightcenter.org.
Tags: Akron, American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, bandwidth, broadband, Broadband Expansion, California, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, community, Dan Patrick, digital, digital divide, Doug Adams, economy, education, healthcare, high-speed, India, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, KCoDE, Kindle, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, network, Ohio, OneCommunity, public safety, stimulus, stimulus watch, telemedicine, utilities, WiFi
Posted in Knight Center of Digital Excellence, OneCommunity, Opinion, Stimulus Package | No Comments »
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OneCommunity and Knight Center of Digital Excellence CEO Scot Rourke and CTO and Senior Vice President Mark Ansboury recently received the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Supporter of Entrepreneurship category in Northeast Ohio. Rourke and Ansboury were two of only ten winners selected.