Monthly Archives: February 2013

Building broadband demand in Cook County

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As I’ve mentioned already this week, I was on the road last week with the Blandin team visiting MIRC communities. We got an update on broadband expansion in Cook County – we also got an update on broadband adoption from  Sawtooth Mountain Clinic. The situation at the clinic mirrors the situation in the county in an interesting way. The clinic had hoped to bring a full-fledged patient portal but that didn’t work out so they did the next best thing, they created an innovative portal that encourages patients to use the tools at hand and whets the appetite for something bigger when it’s available. You can see the fun demo we saw of their healthy portal below:

To some degree Cook County has used a similar strategy. Cook County is one of the most challenged areas in terms of access to broadband. That could have been a hindrance for their MIRC project – where the goal was to get local residents and businesses to use broadband. What they have done is create solutions that encourage greater use of broadband for those who have access and create a market for others to sign up once broadband becomes available.  One example is the fast growing Videos from the Edge – a great site of local videos from professionals and resident volunteers. Not everyone in the area can access the site – but it goes a long way to promoting the area to potential tourists and provides resources to locals with access.

Background and Update on Arrowhead Electric’s Fiber in NE Minnesota

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Last week I was luckily enough to travel with the Blanidn Foundation broadband team to several MIRC communities, including a visit to Cook County. I’ll post more information on broadband adoption in Cook County – but for today I wanted to post an update on broadband access. We started our tour of the area with a visit with Joe Butweiler at Arrowhead Electric Coop.

Arrowhead was awarded a combination grant and loan package from the USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) a couple of years ago – and now they are on the brink of completing construction of 700-800 miles of fiber in some of the rockiest terrain in Minnesota.

Joe talks about how and why they got into the broadband business and how they will be able to serve customers through strategic partnerships soon.

Internet and the Libraries: Both are here to stay!

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libraryWhile I was doing training in Windom last week, one of the students asked if I thought there was a role for libraries as we know them in the future – after all won’t everything be going online. So it was fun later in the week to run into the recent survey from Pew Internet & American Life that demonstrates that libraries are still vital…

Fully 91% of Americans ages 16 and older say public libraries are important to their communities; and 76% say libraries are important to them and their families. And libraries are touchpoints in their communities for the vast majority of Americans: 84% of Americans ages 16 and older have been to a library or bookmobile at some point in their lives and 77% say they remember someone else in their family using public libraries as they were growing up.

Here are the top activities people say they perform in the library…

  • 73% of library patrons in the past 12 months say they visit to browse the shelves for books or media.
  • 73% say they visit to borrow print books.
  • 54% say they visit to research topics that interest them.
  • 50% say they visit to get help from a librarian. Asked how often they get help from library staff in such things as answering research questions, 31% of library patrons in the past 12 months say they frequently get help, 39% say they sometimes get help, 23% say they hardly ever get help, and 7% say they never get help.

And as far as libraries and technology go…

Some 26% of Americans ages 16 and older say they used the computers there or the WiFi connection to go online.

The Gates Foundation also released a recent survey on libraries and Internet access finding that…

Over the past year, 45 percent of the 169 million visitors to public libraries connected to the Internet using a library computer or wireless network during their visit, even though more than three quarters of these people had Internet access at home, work, or elsewhere. The widespread use of these services by people of varying age, income, and experience is an indication of the unique role that public libraries play in the evolving digital landscape.

So I think the short answer is yes – people need libraries now and will need them in the future. But I also think it can be helpful to flesh out computer use at the library a bit. Last week, Minnesota Public Radio ran a story on the role of libraries in tackling the digital divide. MPR makes the point that while there are a couple of demographic segments that seem more challenged than others (older people, African Americans and folks in rural areas) that poverty is the most striking factor…

But income is the real dividing line. More than 90 percent of people with incomes over $75,000 a year are online. That’s compared with just 55 percent of those making less than $30,000 a year.

The article alludes to the idea that eventually the divide will close itself…

“There’s a lot of talk of digital divide, and most people seem to think that it will go away on its own as generations change and there’s Internet access all around,” says Young. “But I feel really strongly that it won’t without a lot of outside support, making Internet access more affordable, getting the resources out there and telling people how to use the resources.”

I don’t think that gap will close itself. I think there will always be some technology and communications that will be financially beyond the reach of some of us. I think that libraries will continue to be a place to access technology – today computers and broadband, in the near future that might broaden to include telepresence center or even kiosks to provide access for individuals and groups.

I also think the role of the librarian will remain is key. As Pew study indicates, talking to a librarian is a top activity at the library. And I think librarians will continue to be a key for closing the digital divide through education partially because I think the far end of the digital divide will constantly be moving – we all have something we can learn to improve our use of technology and broadband.

Grandmas on Facebook: Closing the Digital Divide on the Leech Lake Reservation

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Photo 1Last week I was on the road with the Blandin Foundation visiting MIRC communities. We stopped in a number of places, including the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Temporary Employment Program. Through MIRC funding, the TEP developed a number of projects, including a computer center and access to digital literacy programs. I have written about the program before – the quick take is that TEP participants now have the opportunity to take digital literacy classes as part of the service that is offered. The lab is also open to other community users.

This visit we talked about the folks who come to visit the lab outside of the TEP participants. People walk to the lab, drive to the lab and sometimes the dedicated Program Director (Janice Gale) gets a van to shuttle users to the lab. She has done that to bring elders to the lab where they have learned to use computers through digital literacy training lessons (also developed through MIRC funding). It is very basic and starts with the assumption that the user has no experience with computer and apparently it’s a very good fit with the elders.

It was also fun to hear about how folks are being trained for better jobs – but it was a story told by Mike Jones that caught my attention. He said that one thing he learned through the program was that his grandmother was on Facebook. Mike made the point that with tools such as Facebook more people (especially older people) are interested in getting online because it is a connection back to family. His grandmother lives out of state, but is now able to connection with generations of her family.

I think Mike’s observation – that everyone wants to get online – struck me because the day earlier I had heard Jack Geller speak about the segment of the population who will never be interested in adopting broadband.  It just seems like there’s room for a couple big pushes to get more people to adopt. That may require getting a van and shuttling people to the computer center, or getting their grandkids to friend them on Facebook, but I left the TEP more hopeful.

TISP Forum: Minnesota Legislaive Broadband Agenda: March 7, 2013

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Looks like a good meeting. I’m planning to attend and hope to take notes.

Telecommunications and Information Society Policy Forum
Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Roy Wilkins Room (215)
University of Minnesota – West Bank Campus
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
March 7, 2013 * 4:00 to 5:30 PM

REGISTER HERE

MINNESOTA LEGISLATIVE BROADBAND AGENDA

Sen. Matt Schmit, Minnesota Senate
Rep. Sheldon Johnson, MN House of Representatives
Rep. Sandra Masin, MN House of Representatives

Moderator: Milda K. Hedblom, Director, TISP Forum

Discussion is underway at the Minnesota State Legislature about the best path forward for broadband policy in Minnesota. Issues include the need for investment for reducing rural and urban disparities, the need for investment in big broadband networks, and the need for support for critical digital services such as health, education, agriculture and essential public services. The context for all of these issues is the increasing evidence that big broadband and economic development are closely connected. What are the right steps for Minnesota? Leaders of key legislative committees with responsibilities for broadband policy will share their thoughts.

Registration is $10.00 at the door.
Checks payable to University of Minnesota.
* * * * * * * * * *
The idea behind this forum is simple and essential: purposeful exchange on key issues with engaged stakeholders to create a better information future.
* * * * * * * * *
This event is co-sponsored by the League of Minnesota Cities, the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association, the Association of Minnesota Counties, and the University of Minnesota

MCN is Looking for Good Use of Technology in Nonprofits

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I would love to see a lot of nominations from rural communities; Minnesota Council for Nonprofits is looking for good uses of technology in the nonprofit sector…

Are you pioneering new approaches in communications? Please consider nominating an organization for a 2013 Dot.Org Award, which will be presented at this year’s Nonprofit Technology and Communications Conference. This year’s awards will recognize nonprofits that are using technology and communications in inspiring, effective and creative ways. Nominate your organization, or another nonprofit doing outstanding work, in the categories of:

  • Connecting Communities
  • Website Redesign
  • Program Delivery
  • Creative Campaign

MCN encourages nominees from any Minnesota-based nonprofit organization doing innovative and creative work with technology. The nominated project must have been launched in the last 18 months. A project may be entered in more than one category, but separate entries are required for each additional nomination. Award winners from the previous year are ineligible the following year. Please do not resubmit entries from previous years. Nominate now!

Should employees have to turn over their social media passwords?

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Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) has just sponsored legislation that would prevent employees from having to provide their social media passwords to employers as a condition of employment. The folks at the Starting Line interviewed Franson about the legislation…

There currently aren’t any laws in Minnesota prohibiting employers for asking for passwords. Franson noted this and watched what was happening in other states. It’s been a topic of interest. At last year’s State Fair, 93 percent of survey takers indicated that they thought employers should not have to supply this information. The bill has already received bipartisan support. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Franzon points out that the bill is meant to safeguard youth and recognize that we are often more than our social media foot print.

Minnesota has more tech jobs than workers

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Community and business leaders met with legislators earlier this week to “think big” about how to prepare the best workforce available. MinnPost reported on a couple of big topics – to start we need to start earlier to prepare kids for kindergarten. The Blandin Foundation’s Kathy Annette did a nice job of making that point…

No one was more passionate about that subject than Kathy Annette, president of the Blandin Foundation.

The door “closes” on kids by the age of 5, she said, if they haven’t been exposed to pre-K programs. Those programs are in their infancy – and even in Gov. Mark Dayton’s pro-kid, pro-education budget, there’s not a huge kick start.

“What are you waiting for?” Annette asked the legislators. “What are we all waiting for?”

Another highlight was the need to hit on tech training to prepare more people for open tech positions…

“Top tech talent is hard to find in Minnesota,” said Rick King, chief operating officer of  the Technology division of Thomson Reuters, which once upon a time was West Publishing. “You could say that in the technology area, we have full employment in the Twin Cities.”

But Rick went on to point out that the hands of academia and politics move slowly…

But training more people for ever-changing tech jobs is not a simple matter.  Our institutions — be they political or educational — don’t move as rapidly as changes in technology.

Almost to make (or hopefully break) the point on the same day in the legislature, Daphne Koller, co-founder of Coursera, a leading provider of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), was scheduled to testify before the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee, on the opportunities presented by Coursera, which offers high education courses (not for credit) from prominent universities such as Harvard. In 2012, Minnesota received some unwanted attention for not supporting Coursera in the state.

Also legislation has been introduced in the Senate that would remove barriers to online course work such as Coursera…

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 136A.653, is amended by adding a 1.7subdivision to read:
Subd. 5.Free educational courses. A school providing exclusively free training or instructional programs or courses where no tuition, fees, or any other charges are required for a student to participate is exempt from sections 136A.61 to 136A.71. EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Google to offer two years of events in Minneapolis

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I know this is a drive for many readers – but fun news. According to the Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal…

Google and the CoCo co-working space in downtown Minneapolis are partnering to host a two-year series of events for tech entrepreneurs.

The tech giant and CoCo announced the partnership at a Google for Entrepreneurs Day conference in Minneapolis on Wednesday. The first event in the series, a Google Developer Group meetup, will be held Wednesday night.

The organizations are still finalizing a full schedule for 2013. Events already in the works include Startup Weekend Twin Cities — a program that gives tech entrepreneurs a weekend to develop a business concept and pitch it to a panel of judges — as well as online educational sessions for entrepreneurs and networking events.

Get inspired by the B4RN Story

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I have written about B4RN before– they are the farmers in Lancashire England who have built their own fiber network. BBC News reports…

After deciding that they were never likely to get a fast broadband connection from one of the major suppliers, a group of local people across this sparsely populated area decided that sitting around moaning about it was not an option. Instead they began a DIY effort, digging channels across the fields and laying fibre optic cables.

It’s an inspirational stone soup sort of story…

They have exploited all sorts of local expertise – from the Lancaster University professor who is an expert in computer networks to the farmer’s wife who has just retired from a career in IT support. The cooperation of local landowners has been vital – free access to fields has made it much cheaper to roll out the network. BT and other companies which have to dig up the country roads to lay fibre networks reckon it can cost as much as £10,000 to hook up one rural home – the people at B4RN reckon they can bring that down to around £1,000.

Well some of the houses are now hooked up and they’re now starting to market the service…

The hope is that many will sign up to the £30 per month service, but that some will also buy shares in B4RN. Another £1.5m is needed if the full 265KM network is to be rolled out. That sounds ambitious – but having spent 24 hours watching the volunteers digging trenches, blowing fibre and learning a process called fusion splicing I can see they are a very determined bunch.

Minnesota Broadband Task Force meeting February 19, 2013 – Full Notes

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Yesterday I attended the Minnesota Broadband Task Force. As always, the video has taken a while for met to upload – but here are my notes.

I thought the most interesting part of the meeting today came from the guys from MNIT. Bernadine Joselyn had asked how the Task Force could best support the work of the department. He said marketing.

It was an interesting perspective. His point being that to be most useful local residents must have access to the broadband they need to take part in online health initiatives. But when you talk about that aspect of telemedicine people seemed to get bogged down in technical details – such as DSL vs cable. But really the issue is we need enough broadband to support innovation.

From his perspective we need enough broadband to support innovation to keep people in their homes longer to save money and make them more comfortable. But he realized that broadband was capable of so much more. Broadband also facilitates education and business. But as he pointed out, education and business each resided in their own silo.

The Task Force is in a unique position to rise above silos and point out that what many segments of government and industries in the provide sector need is broadband to support innovation.

It was inspiring. And I hope it pushes the task force to really think about whether they are creating an environment for innovation or making policy recommendations to support the status quo.

Continue reading →

Measuring Broadband America Report Feb 2013

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The latest Measuring Broadband America Report came out late last week. It is a study of residential broadband access and speed. According to the FCC, they noticed a few improvements in access.

First, most broadband providers continue to closely meet or exceed the speeds they advertise. In the time period measured for the August 2011 report, the average broadband provider delivered 87 percent of advertised download speed during times when bandwidth demand was at its peak. During the time period measured for the July 2012 report, that number rose to 96 percent. In this year’s report, ISPs maintained their performance levels, delivering 97 percent of advertised speeds during peak periods.

Second, consumers of broadband providers covered by the report are continuing to migrate to faster speed tiers and receiving faster speeds than ever before. The FCC found that the average speed tier subscribed to by consumers increased from 14.3 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 15.6 Mbps. Nearly half of consumers who subscribed to speeds of less than 1 Mbps six months ago have adopted higher speeds, and nearly a quarter of the users who subscribed to speeds between 1 Mbps and 3 Mbps have upgraded to faster speed tiers.

Third, significant improvements have been made to satellite broadband technology service quality. For the first time, the report includes results on satellite technology based on test results from ViaSat, a major satellite services provider. Although satellite technology has the highest overall latency, test results indicate that during peak periods, 90 percent of satellite consumers received 140 percent or better of the advertised speed of 12 Mbps. In addition, there was very little difference between peak and non-peak performance.

Also they announced that they will be looking at mobile access in the future too.

Open Data Day Hackathon: February 23, 2013 from 10AM to 6PM at Free Geek

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I know this is quite a distance for most readers, but just in case you happen to be in the Cities or maybe this will spur a local event…

Open Data Day Hackathon: February 23, 2013 from 10AM to 6PM at Free Geek

On February 23rd, Open Twin Cities and Free Geek Twin Cities will hold a hackathon to promote open data as part of International Open Data Day and Code for Americas Code Across America.  All are welcome; come by anytime throughout the day.

International Open Data Day and Code Across America are gatherings of citizens in cities around the world to write applications, liberate data, create visualizations and publish analyses using open public data to show support for and encourage the adoption of open data policies by the world’s local, regional and national governments.

Free Geek

Located near Memory Lanes at 2537 25th Ave S in Minneapolis, Free Geek Twin Cities is a computer education and recycling center that helps volunteers understand, use, and recycle computers.

From 12PM to 5PM, Free Geek Twin Cities will also be open to take your old electronics and answer any questions you may have about their program.

RSVP: Those who plan on coming to the hackathon can help us plan by RSVPing on Meetup:

If you are interested in helping plan the event, join the discussion.

Open Twin Cities, Free Geek Twin Cities, International Open Data Day, Code Across America.

Verizon Home Wireless Access: Good for Some

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Verizon Home FusionI’ve heard a lot of discussions in the past few months about wireless versus wired. There are a couple of issues that come up.

  1. From an infrastructure perspective some folks seem to think we can leapfrog from wired service to wireless because it’s cheaper. Wireless is cheaper but it’s a last mile technology – at some point the wireless connection that connects to your phone goes wired to connect to the rest of the Internet. Wireless is a nice companion – but not a replacement.
  2. Another issue is the end user connection – the idea that wireless is for devices. Studies have shown that there are more mobile-only broadband users in lower income demographic segments. Think about trying to do research or complete a job application in your phone – or even your ipad for a view of why device-only access is not practical for many business-focused applications.
  3. Finally is the issue of data caps. Wireless providers charge by usage – at least on a tiered level.

Verizon has a new product that addresses at least one issue – Verizon HomeFusion Broadband. According to their marketing it provides connectivity for up to 20 Wi-Fi enabled devices  and 4 wired devices at 4G LTE speeds. So the assumption seems to be that the connection will be used by computers as well as any handheld devices. But the data cap is still there – service starts at $60/month for 10GB; $90 for 20GB and $120 for 30GB. I found stats for average data use for T-mobile customers is 7GB/month (from Aug 2012), which is apparently higher than average. With five people in my family, that 30GB is looking at little tight. (Also I bump up against my 12GB plan on my MiFi most months.)

But it seems like it could be a great service for areas without access to wired services. I happened to look into this service while I was training in Grand Marais. I noted that while I qualify for the service in St Paul; the address where I was training in Grand Marais did not qualify, which is unfortunate. I had one student in the class on dialup and a couple others on satellite. I think they would love to take advantage of the HomeFusion if it were available to them.

What social media works with small businesses?

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SM UseThis month I am on the road doing training with small businesses on how to build websites and use social media. So I was delighted when a friend in Lake of the Woods sent a recent article from the Wall Street Journal on the topic (Small Firms Say LinkedIn Works, Twitter Doesn’t ).

It was interesting to hear some stories of success…

Three years ago, the 47-year-old Mr. DeMann began using Facebook and Twitter to market his service and, in 2011, he designated one of his 78 workers to spend 20 hours a week on social-media efforts, generating health discussions on Facebook and highlighting health tips and articles on Twitter.

In 2012, Mr. DeMann says, Facebook was the sixth-largest driver of online traffic to his website. Online scrapbook Pinterest, which the firm started using just four months ago, was 59th. Twitter ranked 117th. “On Twitter, you can’t engage in a meaningful way,” he says.

…

Josh Weiss, 27, of Woodbury, N.Y., says he spends 10 hours a week using social media to lure customers to his 10-employee business, Bluegala.com, which sells evening dresses and prom gowns. He tweets on behalf of the company, and has done so since 2009.

But he never got the traction he wanted because “on Twitter, people have short attention spans,” he says. “They want quick news bits and move on. They’re not on Twitter to shop.”

Mr. Weiss says he now uses Twitter as a surveillance tool, to keep tabs on fashion trends and competitors. He says he noticed complaints from rivals’ customers about shipping charges, so he began advertising free shipping on his site to give his firm an edge.

…

Anthony Saladino, 30, founder of KitchenCabinetKings.com, an online cabinet distributor in New York, says one drawback to Twitter is that it can’t support images as effectively as other outlets like Pinterest and Facebook, which makes it a hard sell for firms that rely on visuals to attract customers. His company markets itself with high-quality images of its renovated kitchens and bathrooms.

Between 12,000 and 14,000 unique visitors arrive on the company’s site each month through Pinterest, he says, while roughly 1,000 come through Facebook and fewer than 100 arrive via Twitter. “Images are more powerful than word-of-mouth,” says Mr. Saladino. “Clients want to see the finished product.”

It is worth noting that businesses say that they have had greater success with LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube than Twitter. I think some of it comes down to goals and strategy. I think comments from the business in the first example hits a point – when he says that you can’t engage people on Twitter. That may be true – but as the final example demonstrates, there may be other uses of Twitter – tracking trends, making some networking connections and I’d say mobilizing clients quickly and easily without supporting a community. One example we ran across in class was a motel owner who wanted to offer last minute specials to fill rooms, but didn’t want to announce last minute specials to a wider audience upon fear that it might train folks to not book in advance. While everyone might be able to see a Tweet – the shelf life is such that on a practical basis the news will expire quickly.