Here’s the news from our latest newsletter. It’s mostly a compilation of Minnesota-related stories from the blog in the last month – but sometimes it’s nice to have it compiled.
U of M gets ARRA Funding
The first round of BIP/BTOP awards was announced and Minnesota was one of the winners. http://tinyurl.com/ygnbmop Specifically, the Regents of the University of Minnesota received a $2.9 million grant with matching funds of $741,000 to enhance broadband awareness and use for residents in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Learn more about the program online. http://tinyurl.com/yh87yuq More awards are scheduled to be announced between now and February. At least two other Minnesota organizations with proposals have been contacted for more information, but not much else is known to date. http://tinyurl.com/ylhqq2t
Connect Minnesota gets ARRA Funds for Mapping
The NTIA awarded ARRA mapping grants to 15 states, including Minnesota. http://tinyurl.com/ydo7373 Connect Minnesota received approximately $1.2 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and almost $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a five-year period in Minnesota, bringing the total grant award to approximately $1.7 million.
St Paul Library Gets Funding
The St Paul Public Library received funding from the Knight Foundation for the library Mobile Workplace Project, which will help pay for a mobile computer lab where librarians can provide computer training and educational support to patrons. http://tinyurl.com/ykujm8m
Broadband Good for Rural Economy
There have been a number of articles in the news lately about the importance of broadband for economic development in rural areas. A recent OECD report points out the community-wide benefits of public investment in broadband, specifically looking at potential public cost savings in four areas: electricity, healthcare, transportation and education. http://tinyurl.com/y9yq768 Brad Finstad from the Center for Rural Policy and Development writes more pointedly at the importance of broadband to the vitality of rural areas and keeping skilled workers in the community. http://tinyurl.com/ydlp74j Even sources that don’t normally focus on technology or rural areas are recognizing the opportunities. http://tinyurl.com/y8jyfth
National Broadband Plan
In December, the FCC gave a sneak preview of its National Broadband Plan. http://tinyurl.com/ylsglu5 The assertion is made that broadband is part of the solution to the nation’s greatest challenges; policy tweaks and changes were suggested to support the need for increased access to broadband both in terms of ubiquity and speed.
Innovation Awards: Time to Nominate
The Humphrey Institute, the Association of Minnesota Counties, the League of Minnesota Cities, and the Minnesota School Boards Association are accepting nominations for the Local Government Innovation Awards. The deadline is January 15. It’s not specifically for broadband projects, but it would be nice to see some broadband projects in the mix. http://tinyurl.com/ykha37x
Broadband News on the Local Front
Chaska
Chaska looks at how to archive today’s news for tomorrow given the nature of the 24-hour news cycle and prevalence of online news. http://tinyurl.com/ybdxw7q
Cook County
In November, Cook County passed a referendum to help pay for a countywide broadband network. However, a referendum to construct and equip a new telephone did not pass leaving Cook County in a quandary. http://tinyurl.com/ylzdoa3 The impact of policies and more were discussed at the December TISP meeting. http://tinyurl.com/ylr4bqw
Dakota County
Dakota County comments on the Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force recommendations, emphasizing the need for greater upload speeds. http://tinyurl.com/yf447tu
Duluth
BusinessNorth, in Duluth, looks at the future of news dissemination and newspapers in a wired world. http://tinyurl.com/ybdxw7q
Eagan
Students from Eagan High School create a video for worldwide viewing through the Student Video Network. http://tinyurl.com/yfq3hk8
Minneapolis
Map for Nonprofits catalogs a series of videos providing technology and technology planning support to nonprofits. http://tinyurl.com/yj7jlk3
Northwestern Minnesota
Read the tale of woe from a student who has gone home to the country for the holidays to find the “gaping wound called broadband”. It’s a glimpse at the importance of broadband for rural communities hoping to retain or attract younger citizens. http://tinyurl.com/ylrsw85
Park Rapids
The Park Rapids Enterprise supports the Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force, particularly the goal of ubiquity. http://tinyurl.com/yk5h6re
Ramsey
James J Hill and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation hosted a Broadband Summit to talk about plans for the City and County. http://tinyurl.com/yj2u3bo
St Louis Park
St Louis Park’s MoneyGram launched a service where consumers can send make payment through any SMART Money account linked to the SMART mobile phone. http://tinyurl.com/y8dfh7t
Twin Cities
Clearwire plans to roll out mobile WiMAX service in all 39 states where Comcast operates now, including the Twin Cities. http://tinyurl.com/yl5spes
Washington DC (via Minnesota)
In early December, Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN) and others introduced the Cell Phone Early Termination Fee, Transparency and Fairness Act. http://tinyurl.com/yj3hkcz
Coleman’s Corner
Happy New Year to all! For our organizations and personally, the coming of the New Year always presents an opportunity for reflection, evaluation, celebration, planning and commitment. The start of a new decade magnifies the opportunity.
As someone whose own track record on resolutions is rather dismal, I would not be so bold as to offer advice on your personal resolutions. However, I would like to recommend two resolutions for consideration by your community.
First, I would encourage you to end any isolation of your broadband development initiatives from your overall community and economic development efforts. Broadband promotion, technology promotion and education efforts need to be integrated throughout your community initiatives. They cannot be segregated or delegated to small group of advocates in the corner.
Second, I would encourage you to investigate and adopt a framework for organizing your community. For many years, I promoted the Star City Program; their 12-step process had a tremendously positive impact on Minnesota communities. More recently, I have been promoting the five elements of Intelligent Community as a way to integrate broadband and community economic development. Last week, I learned about “slow communities”, an interesting concept that originated in Italy.
While each framework has unique elements, they share foundational concepts of broad leadership, shared vision and commitment. Deciding which framework is right for your community would spur an interesting discussion about values, goals, assets and strategies. We could use this same discussion at regional and state levels.
I wish you and your community all the best in health, happiness and success in the coming year!
