Here’s the latest from the September Blandin eNews…
Austin
The Mayo Clinic is donating $5 million over five years to the Hormel Institute Medical Research Center in Austin. The money will fund laboratory equipment and program support for researchers from the Hormel Institute, Mayo Clinic, and the University of Minnesota. http://tinyurl.com/6j4h3t
Itasca
Through the Blandin Foundation, Bill Coleman has been working in the Itasca County community (home of Blandin Foundation) to help stimulate thinking about making effective use of the robust and competitive networks in this part of Minnesota. Bill led a discussion of schools, non-profit organizations, the Itasca Economic Development Corporation and the Itasca Technology Exchange (a business incubator) about applications that might be developed and deployed to better connect organizations together and to Itasca County residents. Organizations are preparing preliminary applications to the Blandin Foundation for funding. The priority is to fund projects that are bandwidth intensive, interactive and designed to improve productivity and effectiveness.
Mankato
Mankato is in the middle of redesigning their website and is training staff on Contribute to maintain the site. They are planning a big re-launch in the near future. http://tinyurl.com/6he97p Mankato is a Get Broadband Community. http://tinyurl.com/6kco3d
Monticello
Monticello will begin construction of a smaller fiber loop build on September 2 with a completion date by the end of the year. http://tinyurl.com/6he97p Monticello is a Get Broadband Community.
Nicollet
Nicollet hired a native speaking Mandarin teacher who will work in schools throughout south central Minnesota thanks to the technology of Project SOCRATES. http://tinyurl.com/59fele
Northfield
Northfield has been looking into fiber as a public utility – but since that’s the root of the Monticello lawsuit, some are suggesting a wait and see approach before investing too much time and money on any policy. http://tinyurl.com/6rldbw Northfield has received Blandin funds to do an Open Access Feasibility Study. http://tinyurl.com/5hwyol
Renville County
Renville County is hosting a Virtual Job Fair from September 15-19, including Virtual Job Fair Prep workshops at the Olivia Library. Renville County is a Get Broadband Community. http://tinyurl.com/6kco3d
St Paul
Rondo Library hosts DigiDaze, an event to introduce kids and parents to various Internet and technology game and educational tools. http://tinyurl.com/62h7ug
Todd County
Todd County is in the process of wrapping up its current Broadband Grant award (http://tinyurl.com/6kco3d) and is now working on a County wide FTTP program, concentrating first on fiber loops (backbones) in the city of Staples and Long Prairie. They are positioning ourselves for the next level of Broadband deployment.
Twin Cities
You Tube Founder and St Paul Central graduate Jawed Karim visits the Twin Cities to talk about his latest venture, Youniversity Ventures. http://www.youniversityventures.com/
Winona
Home and Community Options (HCO) has installed a remote monitoring system and is moving to the next phase – testing. http://tinyurl.com/6kdyoe HCO is a Blandin Light Speed fund recipient. http://tinyurl.com/5hwyol
(Many stories are gathered from local online newspaper. Unfortunately each newspaper has a different policy in regards to archive news and therefore we cannot guarantee access to all articles cited.)
Coleman’s Corner
It is very exciting to know that the MN Broadband Task Force’s work is now underway. Their activities should raise the priority of this important issue for Minnesota policy makers. I had heard a story about one legislator who was opposed to the task force saying “If we create this task force, we will have to do something.” I hope so! The task force does have its work cut out for it in just defining the scope of their considerations. In my presentations to communities, I always place equal priority on getting connected and making use of the connectivity – the network and the applications. Without a robust network, advanced applications are impractical. Without applications, the network is just glass and electronic boxes, an underutilized asset. I hope that the task force thinks about this as well. We will hear more about their work and you will have an opportunity to provide input at the Blandin Conference this fall. http://tinyurl.com/5hurvx
In my work with Community Broadband Resources (http://tinyurl.com/55nr5d), county and regional telecommunications efforts are becoming more commonplace. Both the Upper MN River Valley and the Region Nine Development Commissions have applied for and been approved for technical assistance grants and work is now beginning. It will be interesting to see if these regional efforts attract strong participation and generate success stories. At a minimum, these efforts will inform community leaders about their current situation, existing telecommunications networks and providers and opportunities for collaboration. If state programs emerge from the work of the task force, these regions will be well-positioned to take advantage of funding opportunities.
Increasingly, wireless communications are coming to the forefront as a top concern. People and businesses are relying on cell phones and cellular data services for business and personal needs and are extremely frustrated when that service is unavailable. Two years ago at the Blandin Broadband Conference, our panel of college students expressed their love of their cell phones as their primary communication device. That dependence has now spread to a greater share of the population, including myself.
Good luck to the task force!
