Broadband Initiatives: Enhancing Lives & Transforming Communities
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
On November 7th the Alliance for Public Technology hosted a Capitol Hill event that marked the completion of two major projects. APT released its 2007 case studies report (PDF) documenting innovative examples of broadband applications and brought its Broadband Changed My Life! Contest to a close with a presentation to the first place winner.
APT's President, Kenneth Peres, Ph.D., led the event. In his welcome and introduction, Peres called attention to the powerful change broadband can make in communities across the county because the technology enables a wide range of benefits. But he cautioned that those benefits should not be kept in "gated digital communities;" rather, they should be universally accessible. Peres pointed out that the purpose of the event is to show many real world examples of why broadband is important, hopefully reminding those in Washington that policies for universal deployment are critical not in and of themselves, but because broadband brings tremendous benefits to communities, particularly those that are underserved.
APT appreciates the generous grant provided by the Communications Workers of America to underwrite the case studies report. It features 14 detailed examples and 35 shorter descriptions, of how broadband is being used across the country to improve community development, disability access, education, health care, labor and economic growth, and public safety.
A panel consisting of representatives from some of the case studies was moderated by Joy Howell, director of APT's Broadband Changed My Life! Campaign. The panel featured: Kevin Celata from the CWA/NETT Academy, an online job training program for union members; Michael Manley from ANGELS, a telehealth program providing advanced neonatal care in rural Arkansas; and Regina Haney, Ed. D. from the National Catholic Educational Association, speaking about a school in an underserved community that has enriched its curriculum with video conferencing.
Celata explained that the CWA/NETT Academy, which is supported by the Communications Workers of America, was the first broad scale provider of online training in Cisco Systems technology. For the past 7 years, the Academy has been helping workers retrain and stay current with the latest technologies over the Internet, providing flexible instruction to meet busy schedules. But he pointed out that because broadband access is limited among their students, they had to limit their programs. With widespread broadband access the Academy could provide richer media learning experiences. As Celeta said, "the better access you have the more tools and resources you can apply."
Manley described the growing importance of telehealth for a state like Arkansas, which has traditionally been medically underserved. Even though many communities in Arkansas are rural and impoverished, Manley said that "where you live should never determine whether you live or die." ANGELS uses broadband to reach rural hospitals and clinics to provide specialist care for pregnant women and newborns. According to Manley, the program has been very successful at providing better health care and reducing medical costs. "The only reason it was successful is because we had the broadband connections," he said.
Haney told the story of St. Lawrence Regional School, a K-8 parochial school located outside of Philadelphia. The school is located in a low-income community, with over half of the students coming from single family homes. Through the leadership of a motivated principal, who in the words of Haney "thought outside the box and got education beyond the classrooms," the technology was acquired for video conferencing over broadband. With this technology the school gained access to global learning resources, interacting with schools from across the world and participating in collaborative scientific research projects. Students are not just learning basic skills, like math; they are applying them and will be better able to contribute to our society.
Sorraine Hot, the winner of APT's "Broadband Changed My Life! Contest," then gave a deeply moving account of the impact broadband has made in her family and in her New Mexico community.
Hot was hired as the sole trainer in a community technology center that opened in February 2007. Sacred Wind Communications Community Connect, a non-profit arm of Sacred Wind Communication, Inc., manages the training center with funding from the USDA-RUS Broadband Community Connect Program. In such an isolated community, where residents often lack electricity and there is only a single telephone, broadband has provided a critical connection to the outside world.
Since February over 3,000 Navajos have signed in to use the computers and 44 have completed a training course, despite having to travel long distances to reach the technology center. Upon completion of the program graduates receive a refurbished computer for their personal use. Hot powerfully described relatives being able to send digital photos and communicate with loved ones serving in Iraq because of broadband. "it is very rewarding and emotional to see people use this type of communication for the first time." Navajos have used the technology center for job training and resume building as well. Hot misses seeing them, but she is pleased that they are now working.
Most importantly Hot saw her own four children, who lived for three years with no telephone or Internet connection, reconnect with their father's family in St. Louis. Her experience working in the technology center has also helped Hot grow, and as she explains "without this broadband I don't think I would have helped a lot of these people."
Peres concluded the event by connecting the impact of broadband in these communities with public policy here in Washington. He pointed out that while all the stories featured at the event "are very inspiring, it's not enough." The digital divide is a reality as significant barriers to broadband access remain, especially for underserved communities. The need for a comprehensive national broadband policy is all the more acute considering that other countries are outpacing us in broadband access and in available broadband speeds.
Peres noted that the examples highlighted at the event all relied significantly on public funding through existing federal programs. He urged continuing support for these programs, as well as incentives for stimulating private sector investment. Several bills are now working their way though Congress that encourage mapping of broadband availability, an important first step, and empower local communities in accessing broadband. Peres is encouraged by these steps, but reminded the audience that "we can do a much, much better job of this. Speed matters."
To read APT's new report, Broadband Initiatives: Enhancing Lives and Transforming Communities, click here.
For more information on APT's Broadband Changed My Life! Campaign, including the other finalists from the contest, click here.
