Broadband and
Economic Development
Leveraging Broadband in Rural and
Remote Communities
March 2014
Anne Neville
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
www.ntia.doc.gov
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Alaska Resources – The State of Play
 “Regional Applications for a Digital Economy” SWAMC, Dec 2012
– www.swamc.org/files/RegionalApplicatonsDigitalEconomy_FINAL.pdf
– Discusses broadband availability, adoption and prices in southwest Alaska
 Alaska Broadband Task Force Draft Plan: “A Blueprint for Alaska’s Future, A Report from
the Statewide Broadband Task Force,” Aug 2013
– http://www.alaska.edu/files/oit/bbtaskforce/2013-08-AK-Broadband-Task-Force-Report|ABlueprint-for-Alaska%27s-Broadband-Future.pdf
– Discusses statewide need, current assets, recommendations, cost of implementation, great
examples of current uses of IT and broadband in communities throughout the state
 Toward Universal Broadband in Rural Alaska: An Analysis of Internet Use in Southwest
Alaska, Dr. Heather Hudson, ISER, Nov 2012
– http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/Publications/2012_11-TERRA.pdf
– Studies internet use in SW AK, particularly those served through Terra SW
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
SWAMC Report Findings and Recommendations
Report makes three key findings… (direct quotes, page iii)
 The region has wide variation in levels of available connectivity; significant portions are likely to be
dependent on satellite-delivered broadband in the foreseeable future.
 The region’s technologists, especially in schools and health care facilities, are pushing the highest possible
levels of applications across their networks, constrained by available bandwidth.
 Most organizations are focused on solving their own connectivity issues by themselves or within their
economic sector rather than at the community level.
And makes four recommendations… (direct quotes, page iii)
 Raise the level of interest and concern about broadband.
 Form and support a regional technology council to develop collaborative broadband access and adoption
strategies.
 Provide local businesses with e-business training and consulting they need to succeed in the digital
marketplace.
 Encourage use and development of broadband applications.
 Support at least one community location where residents have access to high-speed internet connection of
at least 20 Mbps.
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Sample of BB Task Force Draft Plan Recommendations
 Adopt an objective of symmetrical 100 Mbps service to home and businesses.
 Establish an Office of Broadband Policy
 Encourage each community to implement its own last-mile solution and incentivize 24
hour internet access at community centers/meeting places
 Establish public-private partnerships with industry innovators and entrepreneurs
 Public-private partnership models for technology training, production, and adoption in
communities in (i.e., rural, low-income, immigrant, senior populations).
 Streamline state e-government systems and foster improved user access, ease of use,
application development, and deployment through MyAlaska.
 Create training programs for knowledge workers, technicians, and web-based industries
 Establish and fund the Alaska Center for e-learning and e-commerce (AkCee)
 Create an incentive for organizations to provide digital literacy programs that facilitate
broadband adoption.
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
ISER Report: Econ Dev Related Conclusions (direct quotes, pg 32)
 IT Employment: Concerns among both residents and organizations serving
villages about needs for digital literacy training and technical support indicate
there will be a need for more technical support workers, particularly in
villages.
 Productivity: Commercial businesses and nonprofit organizations all stated
that broadband would be very beneficial in improving their productivity.
 Funding and Jobs: Regional nonprofit organizations and Tribal councils said
that broadband would help them to access funding and training
opportunities…
 Seasonal Employment: Seafood processors and tourist lodges are major
employers of seasonal workers who would use broadband to stay in touch
with family and friends, and for entertainment.
 Note: Pages 26-29 explore use by Businesses and Organizations
 Note: Internet and cell phone use is widespread in remote communities with
access
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Econ Dev in NTIA-funded Alaskan Broadband Projects
 Bridging the eSkills Gap Alaska, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
(Sustainable Broadband Adoption, BTOP Award, NTIA):
– http://www2.ntia.doc.gov/grantee/university-of-alaska-fairbanks
 Online with Libraries (OWL), Alaska Department of Education & Early
Development (Public Computing Center, BTOP Award, NTIA)
– http://library.alaska.gov/dev/owl.html
– https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alaska-OWL-Project/286626654693376
– http://www2.ntia.doc.gov/grantee/alaska-department-of-education-earlydevelopment
 Connect Alaska (State Broadband Initiative Award, NTIA)
– www.connectak.org
– http://www2.ntia.doc.gov/grantee/connected-nation-alaska
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Online with Libraries (OWL) Project
• 97 libraries across the state now have video conferencing
• 67 libraries now have increased bandwidth and new computers in
order to support video conferencing
• Min broadband speeds defined at 1.5 Mbps symmetrical
• See a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4kyFhZe2so#
Economic Development and Workforce Development
• OWL has used their videoconferencing systems so that food
handlers can take their boards and become/retain certification.
Can’t travel to get your certification? No job.
Take the certification over video conference = Job Opp + No Travel.
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Online with Libraries (OWL)
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Online with Libraries (OWL) Project
“Based in public libraries, but accessible to
people who are not in public libraries”
Contact Information:
Sue Sherif
sue.sherif@alaska.gov
907-269-6569
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Bridging the eSkills Gap Alaska – University of Alaska, Fairbanks
 “Part of BESG’s interest was to explore digital activity growth that might be related to
expanding bandwidth opportunities in rural areas of Alaska.” (pg 13)
 BESG had a “mobile video capture kits” program, which trained BESG partners to easily
capture and upload educational material and events to a publicly available server. “(pg
12)
 “The BESG grant supported many of its member organizations in the creation and
delivery of training and educational programs that helped Alaskans develop important
workplace skills”
 Contact Information: Dr. John Monahan, jdmonahan@alaska.edu, 907.590.0376
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Bridging the eSkills Gap Alaska – University of Alaska, Fairbanks (cont’d)
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
 Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s (ANTHC) Telehealth Coordinator
Certificate (TCC): To meet the growing need for trained telehealth personnel, ANTHC
partnered with the University of Alaska to design and deliver the Telehealth Director’s
Certificate. (18)
 AK State Hospital and Nursing Home Assoc (ASHNHA): Using the mediasite
equipment BESG provided ASHNHA was able to offer training seminars in topics related
to health management. For example, in the spring of 2013 ASHNA offered a workshop on
improving collaboration between the financial and clinical staff at hospitals. (25)
LOCAL TECH SUPPORT
 Alaska Vocational Technical Education Center’s Village Internet Agent Program:
The program trained students to install and maintain computer and broadband network
technologies in rural Alaska. Graduates work for broadband providers or support are
prepared local or regional organizations that use broadband. Students receive a
certificate stating that “qualified for employment as Rural Internet Technicians”
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Rural Internet Technician Locator: http://www.avtec.edu/RITLocator.htm
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Bridging the eSkills Gap Alaska – University of Alaska, Fairbanks (cont’d)
The Power of Partnerships
 “ Without BESG’s partnership structure, neither the accomplishments of its
individual members, nor the accomplishment of BESG as an entity, would have
been possible. A major benefit and strength of this partnership structure was the
diversification of BESG’s partners and the collaborations that transpired across
career market sectors (education, health and medical, for-profit and not-for-profit
businesses, and media networks).
 Each of the partners had a select, focused group of end users that would not
typically be accessible by another agency. For example, schools did not normally
work with the same end users as the Native Corporations or Regional Hospitals. This
grant gave them the opportunity to do so.” (34)
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Local Planning Works, Builds Partnerships
Nevada: In Genoa, NV the town hosts an annual arts and crafts fair called the, “The Candy Dance.” 40,000
people visit for the event, providing a huge amount of the annual revenue for the town and local residents. The
community faced a public safety and economic challenge because there were so many people that the already
moderate cell/mobile broadband coverage was overloaded. Officials couldn’t reach appropriate personnel if
an emergency arose. Members of the community attended a local broadband meeting planning and began
discussing the lack of mobile coverage at the event. As a result, the community champion was able to then
secure a Cell on Wheels (COW) for the event. This allowed greater capacity for everyone who attended and
the vendors were able to accept payments using the Square or other credit-card enabled devices.
Utah: Big Water, (pop: a tourist town near Lake Powell, joined a regional planning team to advocate for the
better broadband in the town. The area is difficult to reach because of the concentration of federal land in
the area. The UT project team spoke with the Utah Education Network and determined that a local school
would be receiving wireless access through an E-Rate funded connection. The project team then contacted
the provider that is connecting the school ,and as a result, the provider is now working with the community
and developing a plan to deploy a residential wireless offering.
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The Power of Local Planning
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Lots of resources are available
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel
Opportunity to informally or formally work with your neighbors to share information and strategize about ways
to increase access or adoption, or to use technology in new ways
Local Solutions, Local Victories: “The credit completely goes to these local leaders [on the broadband
teams] that actually gauged their local needs and found various sources of support to help them
achieve their broadband goals. “ – State Broadband Initiative leader
Examples:
• A full toolkit: http://bit.ly/Connecting_Communities_Guide (Southern Rural Development Center)
• A tourist town in the north woods of Wisconsin works together to increase broadband access:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QOVnG-l_wY&list=PLjPUBxi_Dgvtz5BarDQjZJN1lCKBzN8Fv&index=9
• Community fair
• Econ dev plan
• Local businesses create websites to market goods during off-season
• University of Wisconsin- Ext community guide: http://broadband.uwex.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/CANGuide-FINAL.pdf
• Rural Telecommunications Congress Wiki: http://innovativecommunities.pbworks.com
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Local Broadband Planning (Framework Example)
http://broadband.uwex.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/CAN-Guide-FINAL.pdf
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Planning Teams can focus on WHATEVER
the LOCAL COMMUNITY wants to TACKLE
While these economic development stories from
Broadband Task Force Draft Plan did not originate from
local planning teams, they easily could have.
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
“In Chevak, a community of approximately 900 people located near the Western Alaska
coast, Native artisans are renowned for their work in basketry and doll making. Now efforts
are underway to preserve traditional art skills though enabling the younger generation
to use their technology skills to create websites that highlight the older generations’
artwork and make them available to the world for purchase. The result: village ecommerce and an income stream for Native artisans. The creative process had Elders
bringing their artwork to the public school, where Internet designers used mobile phone/tablet
cameras and mobile apps to take pictures of the artwork.” (pg 14)
“In other parts of Alaska, representatives from the website Etsy, headquartered in New
York, visited five Alaska communities to research the opportunities and challenges of
setting up Etsy online shops. The Alaska Native Arts Foundation hosted three community
events to introduce and inform artists about Etsy in Anchorage, Savoonga, and Nome where
more than 20 artists attended. The Etsy team assisted nine Alaska Native artists in Savoonga,
Nome, Anchorage, Wasilla, and Sutton to establish online shops. Etsy’s video on Inupiat
artist Sylvester Ayek helped him realize 10,830 views and earn a profit on the sale of his
work. To date, artists including Ayek have sold 16 pieces, proving that Etsy is an e-commerce
option for Alaska Native artists to market their work.” (Pg 14)
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Or A Community Might Consider a Project like this , from
Connect Alaska & the Association of Alaska School Boards
Webraising in Metlakatla, AK
Leveraging the Entrepreneurial Spirit
Artwork & Crafts
Adventure and Cultural Tourism
http://vimeo.com/69070326
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
And additional broadband-focused econ development examples
 Kansas: The State of Kansas Department of Commerce used their broadband map and its data to promote
economic development by working with a customer service company to identify communities with the broadband
necessary to support home-based workers. As a result, the customer service company hired about 200 workers in
the state, providing much-needed jobs in small towns that may have otherwise been overlooked for this work.
 South Dakota: The State of South Dakota’s Bureau of Information and Telecommunications (BIT) facilitated the
planning teams composed of state IT personnel to provide network assessments across South Dakota. The team
assessed community organizations including, schools and local government institutions, and helped them to
pinpoint specific opportunities for infrastructure improvements that would improve broadband speeds, usage, and
adoption. In many cases, they fixed or provided support to equipment onsite.
 Arkansas: Connect Arkansas is working with 17 counties in the state to help them start an engaging,
transactional, and informational website to increase the efficiency of local governments and access to citizen
services. For example, Sharp County is home to a number of tourist attractions and festivals, as well as Cherokee
Village, a resort-retirement community with retirees from Arkansas and across the country. Since the launch of the
property tax feature on its new e-government website on March 1, 2012, Sharp County has collected $360,000
dollars in property taxes online. As a result of the website, County Collector Charlotte Ratliff estimates that her
staff has saved nearly a full week in time as well as postage and stationery fees.
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Open) Data, the Sharing Economy and Economic Development
 Alaska: GearSpoke, Anchorage, is a website offering a forum for people in Anchorage to rent
outdoor gear from neighbors on the cheap (peer-to-peer rentals). Listings include tents, outdoor
grills, kayaks, fishing equipment, and skis. Financial transactions are completely secure through
PayPal. (AK Broadband Task Force Report)
 Alaska: Tenant Watch, Anchorage and Fairbanks, is a Consumer Reporting Agency that has been
providing fraud prevention and risk reduction tools for property managers since 1994. Tenant Watch
provides a service to screen potential renters, helping landlords with only a few units to multi-property
management companies. The growing service inspects credit reports, eviction history, and other
court documents including sex offender lists. The resulting report has a typical turnaround time of
within 15 to 30 minutes of receiving a renter’s application. (AK Broadband Task Force Report)
 Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Broadband Institute launched a website aimed at helping
veterans and their families access services, information, and opportunities available to them. The
site, www.MassVetsAdvisor.org, allows veterans to review more than 360 benefits programs based
on their service branch and other criteria to list only the benefits and services that each veteran is
qualified for, including an "action plan" to apply for the benefits.
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Open) Data, the Sharing Economy and Economic Development
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Maker Spaces, Fab Labs and 3D Printers
Tim Miller, Branch Manager of the Simla Library,
CO shares his experiences establishing a new
media lab in a small town with a population of
1,000. http://bit.ly/1lAm1Sp
ALASKA
 With the help of the OWL project, teens in
Craig, AK built a 3D printer from scratch.
 Anchorage Public Library is getting a 3D
printer and building an innovation lab
 Fab lab in in Fairbanks
State Broadband Initiative HIFLD Working Group Presentation
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009