It’s going to Next week will be a busy week for those of us following the Ultra High-Speed Task Force. The Task Force is meeting on Friday in Fergus Falls. I’ll be there taking notes. Here are the specifics:

Friday, August 21, 2009
8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Bigwood Event Center 925 Western Avenue Fergus Falls, MN

Here’s the agenda for the meeting:

8:00 – 9:00 – Coffee & rolls – meet and greet the Task Force – open to all
9:00 – 9:15 – Opening comments; review meeting agenda
Approve meeting minutes from July 17th meeting

9:15 – 9:45 – Public comment

9:45 – 10:15 – Bonnie Neas, VP Information Technology, North Dakota State University

10:15 – 10:30 – Recommendation #1 – Identify the level of service
• Approve report language for speed goals and symmetrical service
• [Craig Taylor, Brent Christensen, Dan McElroy, Peg Werner, Shirley Walz]

10:30 – 11:00 – Recommendation #2 – Policies and actions necessary to achieve ubiquitous broadband – sub-group report
• Review sub-group recommendations
• [Mike O’Connor, Brent Christensen, JoAnne Johnson, Diane Wells, Peg Werner, Mary Ellen Wells/Joe Schindler, Carlos Seone]

11:00 – 11:15 – Break

11:15 – 12:30 – Role of Government – sub-group report
• Discuss and decide on language for the report
• [Tom Garrison, Mike O’Connor, Vijay Sethi, Karen Smith, John Stanoch, Robyn West]

12:30 – 1:00 – Break for Lunch

1:00 – 1:45 – Recommendation #3 – Opportunities for public and private sectors to cooperate to achieve goal – sub-group report
• Review sub-group recommendations
• [Brent Christensen, Steve Cawley, Tom Garrison, Tim Lovaasen, Vijay Sethi, Robyn West, Mary Ellen Wells/Joe Schindler, Diane Wells]

1:45 – 2:45 – Recommendation #4 – Evaluation of strategies, financing, financial incentives used in other states/countries to support broadband development & Recommendation #6 – Cost estimate – sub-group report
• Review sub-group recommendations
• [John Gibbs, Dan McElroy, John Stanoch, Dick Sjoberg, Diane Wells]

2:45 – 3:00 – Plans for Upcoming Meetings (reference Planning Calendar)
• September 18th Thomson Reuters
• October 2nd,16th, 30th Thomson Reuters

3:00 – Closing comments, adjourn meeting

If time permits – Recommendation #5 – Evaluation and recommendation of security, vulnerability, and redundancy actions necessary to ensure reliability – sub-group report
Review sub-group recommendations
[Mike O’Connor, Steve Cawley, Craig Taylor, Jack Ries/Gopal Khanna, Shirley Walz]

There are a couple of events happening the day before the Task Force meeting:

Thursday, August 20th

1:30-4:30pm DEED on the Road: Summer Tour 2009 “Advancing Economic Prosperity: Partnering to Shape our Future”
Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Legacy Hall, 1414 College Way

4:15-6:00pm Minnesota Broadband Policy Seminar sponsored by Blandin Foundation at Bigwood Event Center

5:00 – 7:00pm Reception at Bigwood