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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 ‘Minnesota’
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 | 3 Comments »
Friday, July 24th, 2009
The long-awaited Broadband Initiatives Progam (BIP)/Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) FAQ was recently added to the BroadbandUSA FAQ section today. The document contains answers to many of the questions asked by BIP/BTOP application workshop participants and others working frantically to meet the Aug. 14 application deadline.
In addition to the document, you can read some of the key learnings the Knight Center of Digital Excellence identified during recent participation at the July 21 stimulus application workshop in Minneapolis, Minn.:
• Stimulus workshop debrief: Part one
• Stimulus workshop debrief: Part two
Be sure to monitor BroadbandUSA for new information. If you have any questions, contact the Knight Center of Digital Excellence at info@knightcenter.org, or visit the Knight Center of Digital Excellence Stimulus Center.
Tags: American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, BIP. BTOP, broadband, Broadband Initiatives Program, broadband stimulus workshop, Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, BroadbandUSA, FAQ, Internet, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Knight Center of Digital Excellence Stimulus Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, stimulus, stimulus watch
Posted in ARRA, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Stimulus Package, broadband | No Comments »
Friday, July 24th, 2009
As reported in the first part of our stimulus debriefing, the Knight Center of Digital Excellence continued our participation in the broadband stimulus workshops on July 21 in Minneapolis, Minn.
The workshop opened eyes to facets of the application process that may have been glossed over previously. Here are some more key points the workshop stressed:
• Applicants can submit examples of proposals, specifically their methodology, to allow officials to check for weaknesses. However, success will come down to a succinct and well-written application that follows the RUS Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) self-scoring checklist. (See pages 38-39 of the BIP application guide for the checklist.)
The NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) doesn’t have a formal guideline, but applicants were told to use the BIP checklist for guidance.
• Following the compliance requirements will help avoid red flags. In short, a compliant program will meet the deadlines stated in its application and use money as indicated. Programs will be monitored for compliance after funding is awarded. Those that fail in this area will be asked to return the money. See the workshop’s compliance presentation for more information.
In addition, ask yourself these questions: Have I built a sustainable model that will last well after the funding ceased in two or three years? Is it already in place?
• Applications should forecast the potential impact a program will have. Impact indicators include the identification of how many households will benefit and how many jobs would be created.
• Challenges to programs will be allowed. Proposals will be posted and entities can challenge the conclusions, data and findings of other applicants. Challenges can be refuted as well. In addition, you’ll get to see the specific challenge and what the challenger’s data suggests.
The workshop was a well-organized, important event, but there’s a lot of information to sort through. The application process is definitely a more complex undertaking than originally thought. One place to go for help is the Knight Center Stimulus Center for links to several industry experts’ guidelines and checklists relative to the application process.
With the deadline for applications quickly approaching, it seems firms or entities that have gone down the funding route before and have already identified projects and strategies will have the advantage in the long run. While innovation and creativity in programming was stressed, applications supported by a solid foundation of data and that employ a cross-collaboration effort seem to stand the best chance.
But keep in mind that time is your worst enemy at this point. While workshop officials acknowledged being behind in posting to the BroadbandUSA FAQ section, a BIP/BTOP FAQ document was recently added containing answers to many of the questions asked by workshop participants.
Be sure to monitor BroadbandUSA for new information. If you have any questions, contact the Knight Center of Digital Excellence at info@knightcenter.org, or visit our Stimulus Center.
Tags: American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, BIP, broadband, Broadband Expansion, Broadband Initiatives Program, broadband stimulus workshop, Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, BroadbandUSA, BTOP, compliance, digital, FAQ, innovation, Internet, KCoDE, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Knight Center Stimulus Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, network, NTIA, RUS, stimulus, stimulus watch
Posted in ARRA, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Opinion, Stimulus Package | 1 Comment »
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
The race for broadband stimulus dollars is well underway – with the first “quarter pole” for the Knight Center of Digital Excellence and others being Aug. 14.
Continuing our attendance at the broadband stimulus workshops, the Knight Center attended the July 21 Minneapolis, Minn., event this week. The workshops are designed to answer questions on the application process for broadband grants and loans under the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act.
Numerous NTIA and RUS officials made it very clear – Aug. 14 will remain the funding application deadline for round one. Proposal authors will be notified by the end of September if their submissions make it to the second review. Awards will be announced Nov. 7.
Some key learnings included:
• Officials said successful proposals would most likely need to score at least 90 points of the application’s possible 100. A score of 30 or less will result in rejection. To see where your proposal stands, a point checklist is available online to see how certain Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) application parts are awarded.
• If you find your application would have a low score (in the 30s or 40s), you may be better off trying to find collaborators. With the number of similar proposals, firms and organizations that can demonstrate experience and show work already accomplished will probably get an edge. While awards will be given to the best proposals, reviewers will be looking at the total package. If you feel your organization might not stack up in this area, you may benefit from collaborating or forming a strategic alliance with a firm to better solidify a unified application.
Another idea may be to link your proposal to a program in your community that already has funding or is applying to a different stimulus department for funding.
• An emphasis was placed on coordinating proposals at all levels to achieve more buy-in from stakeholders. Cross-collaboration is very important. Officials want to see letters of recommendation from a community’s power players – one of the criteria said that will really separate the best from the rest. (For more information on this, read the Knight Center’s “Increase your chances to obtain stimulus funding.”)
Tags: American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009, BIP, broadband, Broadband Expansion, Broadband Initiatives Program, broadband stimulus workshop, cross-collaboration, infrastructure, innovation, Internet, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Minneapolis, Minnesota, network, NTIA, RUS, stimulus, stimulus watch
Posted in ARRA, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Opinion, Stimulus Package | 2 Comments »
Thursday, May 7th, 2009
by Mark Ansboury, VP & CTO OneCommunity and Knight Center of Digital Excellence
1:00
Tim Nulty of EC Fiber in Vermont just finished sharing his thoughts on why laying fiber is cheaper than copper was 80 years ago. He also spoke about the fact that rural communities cannot find funding and do not have the capacity to build business cases and financing. His solution: We should reconsider business models to create an open network.
1:10
Gary Evans from Hiawatha Broadband in rural Minnesota has created a sustainable network like the network created in Cleveland by OneCommunity Hiawatha has fiber access across more than 600 square miles and are doing fiber to the premises in rural cities and expanding middle mile to connect rural communities.
1:20
Donny Smith of Jaguar Communications definition of community based broadband: build as capital is available and achievable and take the rates penetration rates up to 90%.
Tags: Add new tag, broadband, digital, digital divide, Donny Smith, EC Fiber, economy, Gary Evans, Hiawatha Broadband, high-speed, infrastructure, innovation, Jaguar Communi, KCoDE, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Mark Ansboury, Minnesota, OneCommunity, stimulus, Tim Nulty, Vermont
Posted in Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Stimulus Package, live blogging | No Comments »
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