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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 ‘Knight’
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
In Northeast Ohio, the Cuyahoga County Public Library System (CCPL) has established a new beachhead for bridging the digital divide. After five years of experimenting with ultra-broadband and integrating it into the library’s menu of services, CCPL is now known across the country as a pace-setting library system and an early innovator in ultra- broadband applications for servicing the public.
For communities all over the country, the public library – often the only agency offering free access to Internet-based services – is playing an increasingly relevant role in helping to bridge the digital divide. The opportunities for impact are profound, however the challenges are numerous: Access to funding and bandwidth are critical ingredients for responding to rising public need and demand, and the ability to effectively track impact remains elusive. Yet for populations across the country, having digital access, or not, may also mean: Acquiring new skills or not. Learning English or not. Applying for a job … or not. In these times of national economic stress, the role of public libraries in the digital-divide equation may be more critical than ever.
CCPL’s experiences provide lessons for pursuing a broadband vision that can impact the digital divide in communities around the country. In the wake of CCPL’s advances in Northeast Ohio, a new threshold of innovation has dawned, and for public libraries nationwide, so has the opportunity to serve as beacons of hope to the millions of Americans in danger of being left behind in the digital divide.
For a thorough analysis of CCPL’s experience, download “Broadband & The Digital Divide: The New Role of Public Libraries,” a case study supported by the Knight Foundation.
Appendices:
Appendices A to C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
Appendix G
Appendices H to I
Tags: broadband, Broadband Expansion, CCPL, community, Cuyahoga County Public Library, digital, digital divide, economy, education, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, Knight, library, network, Northeast Ohio
Posted in Cleveland Experience series, Digital news, broadband | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
A crucial part of President Barack Obama’s transparency agenda has always been to increase public participation in government by bringing it online. In fact, you may have heard him or a member of his administration discussing e-government as a key element of a national broadband plan.
These statements are not just rhetoric – using broadband to increase civic participation in policymaking efforts is the law. No, you didn’t just misread that sentence – there’s a law stating what a national broadband plan must include, and e-government is stamped right on it.
Now that we know the law, let’s take a closer look at what drives successful e-government initiatives – information. After all, information has allowed civilians to participate in local and national government since there’s been a government.
“Informing Communities: Sustaining democracy in the Digital Age,” a report by The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, provides 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.”
| Are you an informed community? |
| According to the report, a community is a healthy democratic community – an “informed community” – when:
• People have convenient access to both civic and life-enhancing information, without regard to income or social status.
• Journalism is abundant in many forms and accessible through many convenient platforms.
• Government is open and transparent.
• People have affordable high-speed Internet service wherever and whenever they want and need it.
• Digital and media literacy are widely taught in schools, public libraries and other community centers.
• Technological and civic expertise is shared across the generations.
• Local media – including print, broadcast, and online media – reflect the issues, events, experiences and ideas of the entire community.
• People have a deep understanding of the role of free speech and free press rights in maintaining a democratic community.
• Citizens are active in acquiring and sharing knowledge both within and across social networks.
• People can assess and track changes in the information health of their communities.
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The commission also states that to achieve its vision of informed communities, the following three fundamental objectives must be pursued:
Maximizing the availability of relevant and credible information to communities
The availability of relevant and credible information implies creation, distribution and preservation. Information flow improves when people have not only direct access to information, but the benefit also of credible intermediaries to help discover, gather, compare, contextualize and share information.
Strengthening the capacity of individuals to engage with information
This includes the ability to communicate one’s information, creations and views to others. Attending to capacity means that people have access to the tools they need and opportunities to develop their skills to use those tools effectively as both producers and consumers of information.
Promoting individual engagement with information and the public life of the community
Promoting engagement means generating opportunities and motivation for involvement. Citizens should have the capacity, both individually and in groups, to help shoulder responsibility for community self-governance.
A large part of the report also focuses on the importance broadband technology and new media in revitalizing traditional journalistic roles and values. Since the advent of the 24-hour news cycle and the subsequent rise of sometimes superfluous content, many have forgotten the media was initially created to serve as a “watchdog of the government” – to provide civilians with accurate information on what their elected public officials were doing and to take those officials to task when they overstepped their bounds.
Traditional, accurate journalism efforts on civic affairs have always played a crucial role in providing individuals with the necessary information to participate in government. That service can only be enhanced as consistent innovation creates new information channels. The challenge for media outlets is to revamp their old business models to better incorporate new broadband technologies while staying true to their original “watchdog” role.
However, it’s extremely difficult to predict what kinds of innovation will occur in any industry, yet alone communications. But given what we have today, it’s imperative for public bodies to invest in the creation of universal broadband access for all Americans. Enabling citizens to participate in civic affairs through the accessibility of a national broadband infrastructure is a proper role for government.
Tags: 24-hour news cycle, Barack Obama, broadband, Broadband Expansion, community, digital, e-government, education, government transparency, high-speed, information, information channel, informed communities, innovation, Internet, journalism, Knight, Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, network, new media
Posted in Opinion, broadband, national broadband plan | No Comments »
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
The Knight Center of Digital Excellence has been extremely active in helping its Knight communities participate in the first round of broadband stimulus funding by collaborating with like-minded organizations to create a host of innovative programs designed to create jobs and bolster local economies.
We also supported local groups with their own asks – including Philadelphia’s Digital Philadelphia initiative; Miami’s “Elevate Miami;” Miami-Dade County’s Public Safety/Special Purpose Broadband; Detroit Broadband LLC’s (Clearwire); St. Paul, Minn.; Duluth, Minn.; and Biloxi, Miss.
Our proposals included:
• Connect Your Community
• Miami-Dade Broadband Coalition Infrastructure Project
• Northeast South Dakota Rural Broadband Project
Connect Your Community
A Sustainable Broadband Adoption stimulus proposal, Connect Your Community (CYC) saw the Knight Center partner with a host of the nation’s top digital adoption experts to propose a program that would engage, train, equip and support new broadband users in multiple communities, including Aberdeen, S.D.; Akron, Ohio; Biloxi/Gulfport, Miss.; Bradenton, Fla.; Detroit; Lexington, Ky.; Miami; and St. Paul.
CYC would directly help more than 75,000 disadvantaged households benefit from Internet access through a high-touch, community-based, replicable approach. The program would include digital literacy training and support, creating about 136 direct jobs while generating another 50 indirect positions. The Knight Center has partnered with community agencies such as urban leagues, libraries, educational institutions, economic development groups and health and human services organizations that would carry out the work in each targeted region.
National collaborators that would support key aspects of CYC include the Benton Foundation; the Alliance for Community Media; PBS; PC Rebuilders and Recyclers; TechSoup; Angela Siefer, of ShinyDoor; Jim Baller, of Baller Herbst Law Group and the U.S. Broadband Coalition; and Karen Peltz Strauss, of KPS Consulting. Dr. Kate Williams, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois and a leading authority on program evaluation, would design evaluation methods for the project.
Miami-Dade Broadband Coalition Infrastructure Project
The Knight Center partnered with the Miami-Dade Broadband Coalition in the planned construction of a robust, open, carrier-neutral broadband network that would provide broadband services augmented by nearly 35 square miles of wireless Internet access to up to 900 community organizations and institutions while reaching more than 2 million residents. This project has the potential to serve as a model economic engine and platform for innovation for the healthcare, education, public safety, digital inclusion, biotechnology, research and e-government applications.
This infrastructure project is expected to create more than 1,150 immediate, high-paying jobs directly involved with the implementation of the project, and 575 indirect jobs as a result of project related activity. The estimated economic impact created by this project is projected to be more than $1 billion with an increase in direct annual income of more than $700 million.
The Knight Center and the Miami Dade Broadband Coalition submitted a proposal to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, requesting $64 million to cover close to 80 percent of the total project costs. If this funding is not obtained, the project will continue at a smaller scale.
Northeast South Dakota Rural Broadband Project
The Northeast South Dakota Rural Broadband Project is possible through a partnership between the Knight Center, TelServ Communications and the North East Council of Governments. The project aims to bring a wireless broadband super-highway linking 12 contiguous counties in rural Northeast South Dakota and provide broadband connectivity to more than 60,000 people. The Knight Center also worked with both partnering organizations to submit a Broadband Information Program application for funding.
In addition to the possible development and deployment of advanced public safety, e-government, telemedicine, agricultural, biotechnology and learning applications, the project is expected to generate an economic impact of more than $22 million a year, including preserving and creating more than 50 immediate, high-paying jobs directly involved with implementation and 470 indirect jobs.
These projects are just the beginning as rounds two and three should provide even more opportunities for Knight communities. The Knight Center of Digital Excellence is dedicated to helping our communities become connected communities. For more information on what the Knight Center is doing in your community and others, visit www.knightcenter.org.
Tags: Aberdeen, Akron, Alliance for Community Media, American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, Angela Siefer, Baller Herbst Law Group, bandwidth, benton foundation, Biloxi, BIP, Bradenton, broadband, Broadband Expansion, Broadband Initiatives Program, broadband stimulus funding, Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, BTOP, community, Connect Your Community, CYC, Detroit, digital, Digital Philadelphia, Dr. Kate Williams, Duluth, economy, education, electricity, Elevate Miami, Gulfport, healthcare, high-speed, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, Jim Baller, Karen Peltz Strauss, KCoDE, Knight, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, KPS Consulting, Lexington, Miami, Miami-Dade County, network, North East Council of Governments, Northeast South Dakota Rural Broadband Project, PBS, PC Rebuilders and Recyclers, Philadelphia, rural communities, ShinyDoor, South Dakota, St. Paul, stimulus, stimulus watch, TechSoup, telemedicine, TelServ Communications, U.S. Broadband Coalition, University of Illinois, utilities
Posted in ARRA, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Stimulus Package, broadband | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
As the nation’s first state broadband authority, North Carolina’s e-NC has made a dramatic impact on broadband in the state. E-NC has been involved in every part of the broadband world from mapping and coordinating local groups looking to apply for stimulus funding to becoming a key partner in bringing fiber to North Carolina’s 100 school districts.
At the Knight Center of Digital Excellence, we feel the concept of state broadband authorities is key, but believe they must remain impartial organizations with the public good as their priority.
Similar to e-NC, OneCommunity, a nonprofit organization, serves Northern Ohio by connecting public and nonprofit institutions to its next-generation fiber-optic network. This connectivity enables institutions to offer enhanced, innovative solutions that can transform Northern Ohio’s image and economic future by attracting outside investment and creating business and job opportunities. OneCommunity operates the Knight Center through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
An example of how OneCommunity is benefiting the Northern Ohio community was recently on display in Akron, as the city launched the first phase of its Connect Akron Wireless Network. The launch is the beginning of a build out that reflects two years of planning and partnership between the City of Akron and OneCommunity
While an initial build out will cover 10 square miles of Akron, city officials are hoping federal stimulus money will be available to extend wireless to the other 52 square miles of the city. OneCommunity is assisting Akron in its bid for broadband stimulus funds.
A state broadband authority provides a number of advantages. To start, a dedicated, state-level entity comprised of people dedicated solely to tackling the host of multifaceted issues that comes with broadband investment automatically realizes a heightened level of efficiency.
Why it does: A singular state authority is committed to broadband as its only issue, as opposed to one government agency that has broadband and multiple other issues on its plate.
Second, each state is different. A state entity has a distinct advantage over a federal agency in terms of knowing how to effectively encourage development and adoption within its own borders as well as a better idea of how to get local and regional groups to better coordinate.
Third, an entity working at the state level can best leverage federal support. A state authority has the ability to aggregate applications so that individual programs aren’t competing for the same funding.
The few states that have broadband authorities have seen those organizations make a substantial impact on getting communities connected.
OneCommunity and e-NC are excellent examples of agencies that have already helped their respective areas gain major ground in getting connected. It’s definitely worthwhile for other states to see what similar organizations can do.
Tags: Akron, bandwidth, broadband, Broadband Expansion, broadband mapping, Connect Akron Wireless Network, e-NC, economy, education, fiber optic network, high-speed, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, KCoDE, Knight, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, North Carolina, Ohio, OneCommunity, state broadband authority
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, OneCommunity, Opinion | No Comments »
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
The Knight Center of Digital Excellence has been actively involved in the planning of an innovative, IT workforce development program in the Knight community of Lexington, Ky.
YouthTech will have participants (18 to 24 years old) take part in training programs that include technology classes, mentoring, personal development and workforce training. In addition, all participants receive case management and referral services as appropriate.
The program is designed to address four key areas:
• Workforce development: Overall, the goal of YouthTech is that students will ultimately develop into self-reliant, productive adults working in the IT field. But in addition to students working to become IT-competent, they’ll work to become “employable.” This includes developing skills in resume writing and delivery; bolstering interview techniques; and developing professional habits such as punctuality, dependability and workplace-appropriate communication.
• Education: The program isn’t designed to simply teach students basic information technology skills. Training will focus on participants obtaining industry-standard certifications, such as Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) Server 2008 Administration Training, MCTS Application Development Training and others.
• Community service: To complete certification, students will demonstrate skills through service learning projects. As participants progress through the program, projects will be identified comparable with their skill levels. Projects may include teaching a computer literacy course, designing or performing maintenance on the website of a local non-profit organization, or even working on community initiatives to provide wireless Internet access at a reduced rate to low-income neighborhoods in their area.
• Partnerships with local businesses: Plans for YouthTech include the promotion of partnerships with local businesses for mentorship, internship and possible job placement. An interesting aspect of the program will be the individual success plans developed for each participant. For some participants, this could be job readiness upon completion of high school, or admission into and success in a two-year vocational training program or a four-year degree program. Regardless of the goal, local mentors will be assigned to students to foster a relationship that helps carry the student through the program and into post-program success.
If successful, YouthTech will be a high-impact addition to the collection of Lexington-area programs dedicated towards teaching students valuable technology skills. The city already boasts Tubby’s Clubhouse, a computer-training program for low-income middle school students in Lexington-Fayette County; an Academy of Information Technology at Bryan Station High School; and an Information Technology program at Fayette County Public Schools East Side Technical School.
These types of programs can really make a difference for a community.
Lexington is home to numerous small technology businesses in addition to three major hospitals that require advanced security networks and are working to transition into the new era or bioinformatics.
Programs like YouthTech can position local youth to serve as the qualified individuals needed to fill existing and future jobs. It’s this kind of initiative that ensures connected communities will have an intelligent workforce prepared to compete in an ever-evolving global environment.
Tags: Academy of Information Technology, bioinformatics, broadband, Broadband Expansion, Bryan Station High School, community, community service, digital, digital divide, economy, education, Fayette County Public Schools East Side Technical School, healthcare, high-speed, hospital, Information Technology, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, IT, Kentucky, Knight, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Lexington, Lexington-Fayette County, MCTS, Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, network, partnerships, rural communities, technology classes, Tubby's Clubhouse, workforce development, YouthTech
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center, Knight Center of Digital Excellence | No Comments »
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
The FCC’s recently-released Rural Broadband Strategy report covers a lot of ground and touches on many points we’ve been preaching at the Knight Center of Digital Excellence.
One of the big ones? The need for government agencies, communities and individuals to get coordinated.
In the report, a lack of interagency coordination was named as a significant challenge to the deployment of broadband in rural areas. Suggested efforts listed to overcome this challenge included:
• Streamlining and improving existing federal programs;
• Promoting efficient use of government funding and resources;
• Coordinating program criteria; and
• Expanding government websites and offering easy-to-access information on resources available for promoting broadband.
While these are good starting points, there’s still a need for specifics. It’s one thing to suggest collaboration, but quite another to target where the effort is needed most.
Here at KCoDE, we’ve been in the rural trenches and know that while larger government entities have plans, there’s a real need to get local communities coordinated. After all, it’s hard for individual towns and cities with populations of less than 1,000 people to put together economic development strategies and combat brain drain.
That’s where a hub city comes in. Let’s look at what’s going on in Aberdeen, S.D., a Knight community surrounded by numerous tiny towns.
The city has taken the lead in its area on broadband deployment with the launch of Absolutely! Aberdeen, an online economic development and marketing program designed to improve the quality of life and job creation in the Aberdeen area through promotion.
Absolutely! Aberdeen’s regional development plan, Prairie Vision, emphasizes this. The plan outlines an understanding – that by unifying shared concerns and pooling resources, the region strengthens its voice and effects positive change and development while building relationships and bringing about mutual opportunities.
Population decline due to both brain drain and an aging population is a primary concern across the Northern Plains. By unifying efforts, communities in northeastern South Dakota feel they’ll become stronger and better position themselves to succeed.
But Absolutely! Aberdeen is an example of a specific coordination solution for a specific rural community.
Specifics. While it’s good to see the FCC report emphasize the need for coordination at all levels, it’s important to realize that coordination efforts can’t be cookie cut. They need to be tailored to fit individual areas. The creation of hub cities is one way effective regional coordination can be achieved.
Work at the community level to increase regional coordination – and ensure that various programs are accomplished in an effective and efficient manner.
Tags: Aberdeen, Absolutely! Aberdeen, broadband, Broadband Expansion, community, digital, digital divide, economy, FCC, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, KCoDE, Knight, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, network, Prairie Vision, Rural Broadband Strategy, rural communities, South Dakota
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, OneCommunity, Opinion | No Comments »
Friday, February 13th, 2009
By Mark T. Ansboury
If America is about to spend nearly $7 billion on building a new pipeline for Internet access, then we should clearly understand the spending choices we’re about to make.
A place to start is by drawing a comparison to our national network of delivering gas and electricity to consumers. Imagine if federal regulation were so lenient that competing companies in the same community each built their own separate grids and pipelines to deliver these essential utilities. Everyone would pay more for gas and electricity in order to finance the high cost of excess infrastructure. In the case of gas and electricity, America has one complex grid and pipeline system to serve everyone. Multiple providers each tap into the same system.
Today, it’s the opposite in the case of broadband networks. Communications companies such as AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and cable operators such as Time Warner, Comcast and Cox each invest in their own separate networks. And who pays for this duplication of expense? You do, (more…)
Tags: bandwidth, broadband, Congress, digital, infrastructure, Knight, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, stimulus
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center, OneCommunity, Opinion | No Comments »
Thursday, February 5th, 2009
High speed broadband access through a world-class fiber optic network. Sounds great but what does it mean to your community?
A fiber optic network allows tremendously large amounts of data to travel across ultra thin glass strands literally at the speed of light. How fast is fast?
Let’s break it down.
4 Mbps is the minimum (more…)
Tags: bandwidth, broadband, digital, gbps, gigabit, infrastructure, Knight, Knight Center, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, mbps, Obama
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center, OneCommunity | No Comments »
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
We know we need to put people back to work. We also know that a key component of the Obama Plan is to stimulate our economy through the development of a next-generation broadband infrastructure.
Key to this goal is making Americans see – giving them that “Aha” moment – so that there is a clear understanding how broadband can advance our economy in the same radical way that telephone service and electricity did a century ago. As an essential utility service of the future, broadband can change how we do business, deliver health care, educate our children, provide safety services in our communities, and in short, how we conduct our daily lives. This is why broadband (more…)
Tags: Akron, bandwidth, broadband, digital, gigabit, infrastructure, Internet, Knight, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Obama
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center, Obama notes, OneCommunity | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
With the economy in turmoil, it’s not surprising that U.S. mayors are looking for fresh ideas to jump-start local economies. It was in that spirit that the U.S. Conference of Mayors invited the Knight Center of Digital Excellence to deliver a keynote address on the potential of broadband and the promise of a “connected community” at its 2009 winter conference on Jan. 18 in Washington, D.C. (See video from Conference of Mayors broadband discussion)
One person who knows how the Knight Center can help communities is Manny Diaz, mayor of Miami, and president of the conference of mayors. The Knight Center has been working with Mayor Diaz and other Miami leaders to develop a community broadband strategy, so he asked the Knight Center to explain the tangible impact broadband infrastructure would have on creating jobs and helping local economies. (more…)
Tags: Add new tag, Akron, broadband, digital, infrastructure, Internet, Knight, Knight Center, Knight Center of Digital Excellence
Posted in Digital news, Knight Center, OneCommunity | 1 Comment »
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