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Research shows 20 percent of households worldwide to be connected by year’s end

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 »

Knight Center efforts highlighted during national conference

Monday, October 12th, 2009

The Council on Foundations Fall Conference for Community Foundations in San Antonio brought together hundreds of high-profile Community Foundation representatives for a three-day event (Oct. 5-7) to discuss creating transformative change in our nation’s largest cities to its most rural communities. The Council on Foundations is a national nonprofit association of approximately 2,000 grant-making foundations and corporations that strive to increase the effectiveness, stewardship and accountability of its sector while providing members with services and support necessary for success.

Several Knight Center of Digital Excellence connected community success stories were showcased during the conference. Knight Center Community Program Consultant James Farstad featured the accomplishments of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and the Miami Dade Broadband Coalition in a presentation about the challenges and opportunities associated with meeting the information needs in large communities. Farstad spoke about Mayor Diaz’s vision for a 21st-century community and how the Knight Center’s unique approach has helped Miami-Dade accelerate efforts to achieve key broadband goals.

Other breakout sessions showcased innovative Knight Center activities in Akron, Ohio, and Milledgeville, Ga. Akron Deputy Mayor David Lieberth demonstrated his city’s commitment to exemplify strategies to meet the information needs of mid-sized cities, and Jim Wolfgang, Director of the Digital Innovation Group at Georgia College, focused on Milledgeville during his discussion on how small cities can uniquely meet their needs.

The importance of access to information and the new role of individuals as information contributors was stressed throughout the conference, with discussions focusing on how new media, libraries and broadband access are crucial to ensuring a consistent, two-way flow of information within a community.

“Informing Communities: Sustaining democracy in the Digital Age,” a report by The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, was introduced, and provided an outstanding perspective on how “information is as vital to the healthy functioning of communities as clean air, safe streets, good schools and public health.”

According to the report, “America needs ‘informed communities,’ places where the information ecology meets people’s personal and civic information needs. This means people have the news and information they need to take advantage of life’s opportunities for themselves and their families. They need information to participate fully in our system of self-government, to stand up and be heard. Driving this vision are the critical democratic values of openness, inclusion, participation, empowerment, and the common pursuit of truth and the public interest.”

Presenters were able to demonstrate how the Knight Center’s efforts in numerous communities across the nation have provided citizens with the new media and broadband technology necessary to maintain open information streams. Attendees were able to see how the Knight Center is demonstrating its ability to accelerate the creation of connected communities by helping them develop strategies and leverage information technologies to drive civic progress and economic development.

Tags: Akron, broadband, Broadband Expansion, community, Council on Foundations, David Lieberth, digital, digital divide, Digital Innovation Group, Fall Conference for Community Foundations, Florida, Georgia, Georgia College, innovation, Internet, James Farstad, Jim Wolfgang, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, library, Manny Diaz, Miami, Miami Dade Broadband Coalition, Milledgeville, new media, Ohio, rural communities, San Antonio, Texas
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, broadband | No Comments »

Follow Knight critical success factors to ensure network sustainability

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

The Knight Center of Digital Excellence is dedicated to helping Knight communities across the nation develop broadband strategies that meet local challenges and help each other compete and thrive in the new economy. The communities range from large cities such as Miami and Detroit to mid-sized cities such as Akron, Ohio, and small, more rural areas such as Milledgeville, Ga.

Our key learning: Each city is unique in terms of their individual needs, but a sustainable network can be established in each one if our proven and innovative approach to digital transformation – our critical success factors – are met:

Inspiring digital visions: During the first stages of engagement awareness is key. We raise awareness of what COULD be, and what the power of information technologies can mean for the broader community and each key stakeholder group. This happens only by making the benefits of broadband tangible, real and achievable to benefit and transform areas including health care, education, government, digital inclusion, workforce development, economic opportunity and democracy.

Enabling local leadership: Once communities are inspired with a digital vision, local leadership needs to be uncovered, developed and supported. The Knight Center builds champions for each initiative, including stakeholders from multiple contingencies.

Developing sustainable community plans: Leaders of community broadband initiatives need to focus on the communities’ top priorities and interests help to help ensure short and long-term support. The Knight Center assists local leaders SEE the desired results and develop a plan, or “roadmap,” to ACHIEVE success.

Resourcing for launch: Every successful community broadband network needs sustainability strategies based on strong and continued value propositions that capitalize on both the needs and desires in a community and a community’s resources. In addition to plans that appropriately line up resources such as business skills, technical talents, financial and other project related assets, successful community broadband projects will have plans in place for continued investment, technology evolution, application expansion, community adoption and community leadership.

A sustainable network can be established in each community if our proven and innovative approach to digital transformation – our critical success factors – are properly met.

But how do you plan to pay for the network once it’s fully functional?

There’s no such thing as a free ticket – that’s the bottom line. Each connected community needs to have a plan, often developed in concert with Knight Center, that can include funding generated from initiative (self-funding), local private and public institutions, and/or national grant funding.

Cost is just one of the many challenges that need to be addressed at the program’s onset. But remember, all players – from the citizen to the highest government official – have the same basic goal in mind – success.

Tags: Akron, broadband, Broadband Expansion, community, Detroit, digital, digital divide, digital vision, Florida, Georgia, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Miami, Michigan, Milledgeville, network, Ohio, rural communities, stakeholder, sustainable broadband adoption
Posted in Knight Center of Digital Excellence, broadband | No Comments »

Stimulus applications now searchable

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 »

James Salter talks Smart Grids

Monday, April 20th, 2009

At a recent conference, Knight Center of Digital Excellence team members met James Salter, who has worked on Smart Grid and fiber-to-the-home projects around the country as chief strategy officer for the Atlantic Engineering Group in Braselton, Ga.

In a presentation at the conference, Salter explained why “Smart Grid” planning matters, especially in planning for stimulus spending. A Smart Grid is an ever-widening palette of utility applications that enhance and automate the monitoring and control of electrical distribution.

He agreed to share his views in our blog, and here the primer he prepared for us:

“We need a much more intelligent electrical grid in order to improve efficiency.

“Why? Because today, our system is set up so that we are doomed to waste energy, while also causing needless pollution. Of the electrical generation capacity available in the U.S., we only use 40 percent on average. Yet unless we want blackouts, we have no choice but to build power plants based on peak demand, which is two-and-a-half times average usage.

“If we could level off our demand, by self-regulating our use of air-conditioners, water heaters and major appliances, we could avoid building new power plants for a long time.

“Another benefit: We would also cut down on carbon emissions that contribute to air pollution and global warming.

“So how do we plan for greater efficiency? The key is having an ability to communicate much more intelligently with end customers. Smart Grids allow such communication.

“For example, you might raise your thermostat or turn on your air-conditioning from a remote website. Imagine a hot summer day when the power utility is giving pricing incentives to encourage customers to level their demand. Or think of the times you leave home, expecting to be back shortly, and you get delayed. Why heat your water if you’re not there, particularly when you can remotely turn it off and save money?

“One of the nation’s largest electric utilities – TVA in the southeast U.S. – has set a goal of creating the ability to control 2.8 million residential water heaters with Smart Grid technology. They believe this alone will save them from having to build one very large electric generation facility (3,000 megawatts) in the next 10 years.

“For consumers, Smart Grids would cut the cost of electricity through improved efficiency. And building Smart Grids costs less than building new power plants.

“Now here’s a kicker: If you build the Smart Grid with fiber all the way to the home, you get the dual benefit of being able to provide a 100 megabit (or greater) broadband connection to the customer.

“For that, we’ll need a federal mandate, as there are 3,200 electric utilities around the country, and coordination to this extent will require federal leadership.”

View Salter’s presentation here for more information on Smart Grids.

Tags: Atlantic Engineering Group, bandwidth, blackout, Braselton, broadband, Broadband Expansion, community, digital, economy, electric generation capacity, electricity, F2C, fiber-to-the-home, Freedom to Connect, Georgia, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, James Salter, KCoDE, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, OneCommunity, power plant, Smart Grid, stimulus, stimulus watch, TVA, utilities
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, OneCommunity, Opinion | 1 Comment »

What’s happening in Milledgeville and how it relates to your rural community

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

With all the attention on the benefits of broadband for rural communities, the Knight Center of Digital Excellence can point to the specific example of Milledgeville, Ga., as a community trying to leverage existing assets to grow and develop with the help of broadband.

What’s happening in Milledgeville is significant because it serves as a model for small communities across the nation looking to implement broadband connectivity for economic and social advancement.

Unfortunately, many geographically attractive communities like Milledgeville have been left out of the fast lane because they have no interstate highways running through them.

Milledgeville does have an active economic development team – but it’s a challenge to entice new companies to this small central Georgia community. The original state capital of Georgia is not without its appeal – located alongside the Oconee River and boasting lush landscapes, Milledgeville is attracting an increasing number of retirees.

Unfortunately, the economy has been hit hard in part by reductions in the need for state run facilities and the support staff that went with them. In addition, one of the community’s largest commercial employers recently announced 800 layoffs.

It’s against this backdrop that Milledgeville is looking for broadband to make a difference in the economic future of its residents.

Milledgeville’s civic leaders are hard at work putting plans in place to develop broadband strategies to create a high-tech environment that will deliver 21st century services to businesses. The hope is that the new infrastructure combined with the beauty of the area will serve as a one-two punch to attract new business.

More specifically, some of the empty buildings at the 1,200-acre state hospital campus can convert very nicely to high-tech industries related to healthcare.

A Clinical and Rural Health specialty medical education and service facility has already been proposed. And having the capacity to connect with big bandwidth to every other medical facility in the state and beyond could make it all a reality.

Tags: bandwidth, broadband, Broadband Expansion, clinical and rural health, community, digital, digital divide, economic development, economy, education, Georgia, healthcare, infrastructure, Internet, interstate highways, KCoDE, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Milledgeville, network, Oconee River, OneCommunity, rural communities
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, OneCommunity | No Comments »