For those naysayer’s out there always boo-hooing the U.S. when it comes to broadband, be sure to check out Olga Kharif’s article today on the U.S. closing the “Mobile Innovation Gap.”  According to Kharif the competitive balance is shifting as the “focus of the wireless world moves toward Internet communications.” 

According to Nielsen Mobile’s survey of 70,000 U.S. wireless subscribers, Americans buying smartphones, capable of Web access and application downloads, is up to 16% in 2008, up from just 6% a year ago.  That is a sizeable jump!!

This isn’t the only good news we’ve gotten lately on the state of wireless broadband in the U.S.  When it comes to our economy, which is something we’re always thinking about, regardless of the political season, wireless broadband technologies are really moving the needle.  A report by CTIA projects that wireless broadband will add $860 billion to U.S. GDP over the next 10 years, with the market for mobile voice and Internet services exceeding $427 billion by 2016.

The explosion of wireless broadband technologies shows that U.S. high-speed Internet services continue to flourish under pro-investment policies that expand the universe of choices and innovation for American consumers and companies. From growing businesses to improving the delivery of specialty health care services, broadband is advancing the U.S. economic recovery and Americans’ quality of life. Mobile is just one exciting new chapter in this remarkable story.

 Loading ...

California Must Catch Up On Health Information Technology
The Desert Sun
September 6, 2008

Click here to read the full article.

 Loading ...

Today NextGenWeb attended an event sponsored by Thinkfinity and Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG).  While there we had the chance to speak with Patrick Gaston, President of the Verizon Foundation. He told me about some of the things the Foundation is focused on, particularly education and the Thinkfinity site.  The Verizon Foundation has donated $34 million to develop Thinkfinity, which is the cornerstone of Verizon Foundation’s literacy, education and technology initiatives.

Both Peter Davidson, Verizon Senior Vice President for Federal Government Relations and Congressman Buck McKeon (R-CA) talked about global competition and the importance of creating an environment that will allow America’s children to compete with employees from places like China and India.  Thinkfinity is an online resource vital to this kind of education.  That’s right – an online resource.  The Internet is eliminating the “zip code barrier” which means kids from anywhere can access the world’s best educational resources over the Internet – regardless of where they live.  Yet another reason to make sure broadband becomes more and more ubiquitous – something Verizon is keenly aware of and working on along with America’s other 1,400 broadband service providers who together are investing $60 billion this year alone to improve America’s communications infrastructure. 

 Loading ...

This is the time of year when Mother Nature imposes her will the most – at least you feel that way if you’re on the Gulf Coast this week.  With a hurricane like Gustav comes a refocus of priorities.  I was prepared to spend the better part of the week blogging and on twitter and our NextGenWeb social networking sites from the RNC.  But with Hurricane Gustav making landfall I’m now thinking about something else.  The convention is limiting itself only to official business as of right now – and rightly so.  For everyone here and across the country our time and prayers are now devoted entirely to New Orleans and all who are in Gustav’s path.

I am always amazed with the knowledge and on-the-ground updates I can get on the Internet when I’m somewhere far away from where events are occurring.  Here I am in Minnesota getting updates on twitter and other news sites that I’m connected to over broadband.  So many times on NextGenWeb we talk about the important role broadband plays in relationship to our economy, health care, education, the environment, and so much more.  But today I’m reminded how broadband offers another avenue of communication for those in harms way, and allows reporters and government leaders to channel information to those in need.  It’s incredible. 

The amount of information coming from the Gulf Coast, and being distributed over the Internet throughout the nation is astonishing to say the least. In a time when we have twitter, email, text messaging, live streaming straight to your laptop, and other new media it’s easy to overlook the foundation of these applications – broadband.  Perhaps there’s no better time than the present to realize broadband’s capabilities. 

Broadband provides a feeling of connectedness that all of us need when disaster strikes. It’s the support it provides to first responders before they even arrive on scene; it’s the instant access to electronic medical records of those in need of attention – do they have allergies?  Have they had surgery this year?  Technology now gives us instant access to that kind of information – which can save a life.  

Again, our thoughts are with those who live in the path of Gustav.  I should also throw in a thought for the East Coast as well as Tropical Storm Hanna continues to brew in the Atlantic; we on NextGenWeb are hoping for a safe and speedy recovery.

 Loading ...

We might not think about how important broadband is to our safety… but, as we recognize National Preparedness Month, it’s a good time to take a look at industry efforts to keep America safe and secure…with Broadband Now.

Whether it’s an earthquake… a hurricane… or other threats, protecting broadband infrastructure is critical to public safety.   From the mechanisms of global finance…to life-saving communications among first responders…broadband is central to our modern, connected lives.

Each September, the Department of Homeland Security sponsors National Preparedness Month, through its Ready Campaign, available online at www.ready.gov.  

Ready.gov offers a wealth of resources for staying one step ahead of emergency situations.  The site allows you to subscribe to an RSS feed for daily safety tips, learn how to make an emergency preparedness kit, and find out how businesses and communities can prepare for emergencies. 

But, it’s during a crisis that broadband’s ability to speed real-time access to vital, life-saving information that can allow police, fire and emergency personnel to coordinate response activities becomes so apparent. 

Massachusetts-based BeSafe Technologies delivers critical data instantly to first responders while en route or on-site at an emergency.  This can include building schematics, live video feeds, locations of hazardous materials and other essential data. These systems are in place in virtually all of the state’s community colleges and nearly 25% of the K-12 public schools.

With 90% of broadband infrastructure in the United States in private hands, public-private collaboration both to prepare for and respond to emergencies is critical.  With every government jurisdiction playing their respective roles, understanding these roles and the partnerships that exist can be a daunting task.  

To make things easier, USTelecom recently developed a Public Safety and National Security Telecom Toolkit, a dynamic resource to help the industry, government officials, first responders and the media, navigate the many federal, state, regional, and private efforts underway. 

The toolkit offers real-time, situational awareness updates, and shares publicly available data on current threats and emergencies from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Homeland Security and other critical entities.  It also explains the roles of these government agencies, the public-private partnerships and private telecom company efforts to advance public safety.

The toolkit is available on the USTelecom website… in our new social newsroom.

That’s all for this edition of Broadband Now.  Until next time, rest assured that USTelecom and its member companies—America’s broadband service providers—are hard at work to help keep you safe, secure and connected.

 Loading ...

As the Democratic National Convention kicks off amid soaring rhetoric and hopeful initiatives for the betterment of our nation, Americans with disabilities are looking for signs that their struggle for equality will be affirmed. At the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), this struggle is not merely a political campaign, but also one that encourages economic opportunity and access to the latest innovations for the more than 50 million Americans living with disabilities.

The AAPD is the largest national nonprofit cross-disability member organization in the United States dedicated to economic self-sufficiency and political empowerment. One of their key goals is to conduct programs to enhance the lives of people with disabilities, including programs to reduce poverty and unemployment, to assure that every disabled person has the right to his or her own living arrangement, and to assure that every child or adult with a disability has access to and funding for assistive technology.

They are also in a coalition with other disability organizations to protect Americans with disabilities from discrimination and to empower them to fully put their skills and talents to work in society. Unfortunately, too many people with disabilities are being left behind in an economy that increasingly demands sophisticated skills and access to all that the high-speed Internet makes possible in our lives—from innovative assistance to expanded economic opportunities.

In 2005, according to Cornell University’s Employment and Disability Institute, the percentage of working-age people with a disability was 12.6 percent in the United States. In other words, 21.5 million of the 170 million working-age Americans reported one or more disabilities. And, unemployment and poverty hits the disabled particularly hard. In 2005, according to Cornell, the poverty rate of working-age people with disabilities was 24.6 percent—nearly three times the rate of the working-age population at large.

With the growing importance of the Web, AAPD is helping people with disabilities find new opportunities to break out of the poverty trap, especially as broadband becomes ubiquitous in urban and rural areas. Distance learning has also been a great boon.  In June 2007, AAPD and Cornell collaborated on a forum that addressed “Harnessing Technology to Expand Employment Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.” One idea presented was to require computer science students to have courses on usability to ensure that new technologies are accessible to all.

Despite the progress AAPD has made, there’s more work to be done.  For example, a United Nations survey of Web accessibility in 20 countries exposed serious shortfalls in many websites’ functionality. “This survey shows that we’re not close to reaching the Internet’s full potential for use by persons with disabilities,” said Thomas Schindlmayr, policy specialist for the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

So, as the convention pageantry and politicking wraps up in Denver, let’s celebrate the progress that disabled Americans have made in society—and recognize the increasingly important role that broadband—and policies that support broadband investment and innovation—are playing in creating new opportunities for all Americans.

 Loading ...

NextGenWeb took a seat at the DNC’s “Winning Health Care Reform in 2009” event sponsored by Families USA and SEIU.  Some may still wonder, how is broadbrand the right medication to cure our nation’s healthcare woes? Well, the stacked panel — U.S. Representative John Dingell, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius, and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell– had some interesting points to share.

In underlining what is really needed to ensure every American has access to affordable, quality healthcare, Governor Rendell described the important contributions technology makes to the health care system and the vast cost savings healthcare technology can deliver. These cost savings are attributed to programs ranging from electronic health records to an enhancement of remote monitoring programs. In Pennsylvania, there is already a program that offers financial incentives to hospitals that increase their use of medical technology.

Broadband makes programs and initiatives like these possible. It allows people living in rural America to get a medical check-up without ever leaving their homes. Americans who are traveling and encounter a medical emergency can have immediate access to their electronic health records. It gives a broader reach to specialized treatment. Broadband offers real solutions to health problems and the networks that make it all possible must be part of the health care debate.

 Loading ...

Ronald Blackburn-Moreno
President and CEO, ASPIRA

At ASPIRA, we’re all about empowering our youth in America’s Puerto Rican and Latino communities.  We do that through education and leadership development.  And increasingly we do that through broadband.

Since ASPIRA’s founding in 1961, we have provided 250,000 young Puerto Ricans and Latinos with the personal resources they need to remain in school and contribute to their communities.  We develop and nurture the leadership, intellectual and cultural potential of these young people so they are able to contribute their knowledge, skills and heartfelt dedication to the Puerto Rican and Latino communities where they live and work.  We call our young protégés Aspirantes, or those who aspire to grow to be our future leaders.

ASPIRA maintains a rich curriculum of online resources for its centers, facilitators and youth.  Our curriculum is rigorous; our facilitators are vigorous.  A large part of our success is making our training available online at broadband speeds so downloads and interactive on-line sessions for Aspirantes take place real time.  Broadband speeds complement the speeds at which their young minds work, grasp concepts and internalize new learnings.  Anything slower would fail to engage them. 

With broadband access, learning is fun, just like playing a video game.  Where youth might be bored by books made of ink on paper, reading a book online is an exciting adventure.  They crave the technology; it’s fun to them.  Online, they barely notice they’re improving their research, reading and writing skills along the way.

Today’s Puerto Rican and Latino youth are a tech-savvy bunch.  Jupiter Research reports that Internet users who are Latino tend to be younger than those who are not.  This predilection for connection serves us well at ASPIRA because we cater our teachings to broadband technologies.  Broadband access makes ASPIRA’s programs more available to more youth in more places in the electronic media where they thrive. 

ASPIRA’s 150 Community Technology Centers are computer labs with broadband access.  At the centers, in addition to our leadership development on-line curriculum, we also help Aspirantes better learn practical applications, such as desktop technologies, desktop publishing, word processing and others, so they can then integrate the technologies into how they live and work.  We want the technologies to become second nature to them.

Like many other education-centered organizations, ASPIRA recognizes that broadband can make geographical and financial barriers to learning disappear.  Whether you call it e-learning or distance learning or online classroom or digital curriculum or something else, the fact is that broadband opens up a wide range of educational opportunities and resources that previously were inaccessible, particularly to minorities.  The Internet captures all human knowledge in one place, where with broadband it’s accessible and free.  Broadband access can be the great equalizer to bridge the gap to the underserved.

Three out of four Americans connect to the Internet via broadband; last year broadband subscriptions among Hispanics grew nearly 20 percent.  Michael Horn with the Innosight Institute in Massachusetts predicts that 50 percent of all high school courses will be taught online by 2013.  That all adds up to the need for deeper broadband access to richer educational content.

Tomorrow’s leaders need a strong foundation in technology starting today if they are going to have the skills to compete successfully and contribute to their community’s economic future.  At ASPIRA we believe that we are helping to make that happen by immersing our Aspirantes in computer technologies.  We complement the content of our leadership development curriculum with on-line delivery via broadband.  That way technological competitiveness and leadership acumen develop side by side, each strengthening the other.

 Loading ...

Against New Regulations
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
August 26, 2008

Click here to read the full article.

 Loading ...

Dr. Robert Atkinson
President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

I had the pleasure of hosting a Center Stage Roundtable Forum on Competitiveness and Innovation at the 2008 Democratic Convention.  The event featured CEOs and leaders from six influential American biopharmaceutical and technology companies, as well as key Democratic Members of Congress.  The forum included conversations on the critical role of government investment in fostering business innovation and the most effective legislative and regulatory means of spurring innovation in the private sector.  Speakers also discussed the need for adequate protections for intellectual property, maintaining a strong and qualified research and development workforce, and spurring innovation, including IT innovation throughout the economy.

This was by no means the only such forum at the convention on technology and innovation.  And the presidential candidates for both parties have laid out technology policy agendas.  (see ITIF web site for a forthcoming side-by-side campaign tech policy comparison.)  What we are seeing and hearing in Denver at the Democratic National Convention is no exception.   We’ll hear many of the same issues debated next month in the Twin Cities when the Republicans gather.   As someone who spends much of his time working on innovation and technology policy issues, I am gratified by the heightened focus on innovation policy issues and particularly broadband policy. Innovation, including the diffusion of information technology throughout the economy, is the key to boosting productivity, which in turn is at the heart of increasing living standards for all Americans

Broadband telecommunications is a key component of our nation’s technology infrastructure.  The principal objective of U.S. broadband policy – which enjoys rare bipartisan support – is that broadband should be universally accessible to all Americans. Achieving this national objective will require policies that encourage diverse, vigorous investment in the nation’s broadband networks, and innovative public-private partnerships and concerted efforts to spur investments in under-served areas.
 
As our nation’s two main political parties meet to debate the challenges we face, it is essential that forward-looking U.S. innovation policies carefully consider the potential positive impact on the growth and innovation that robust broadband investment today is making possible throughout our economy, in education, health care, the environment, public safety and many other areas.  Indeed, as ITIF will document in a forthcoming report on “Digital Quality of Life” IT in general and broadband in particular is now a major driving force in real improvements in people’s lives and society as a whole.

But IT and broadband are also economic engines.  This is because information technology-related sectors, powered by broadband, will remain the fastest-growing areas of our economy during the next decade. The converging broadband sectors of telecom, media and information technology lead U.S. GDP growth, adding nearly $900 billion annually.

Indeed, information technology is now the key technology driving the economy, not just in the IT industry itself – which continues to see high-wage job growth – but also in the use of IT in virtually all sectors to boost productivity, quality, and innovation. In an article published in the Fall 2007 Economic Development Journal titled “Measuring Up,” I pointed to the historic transformation that occurred in the 1990s “when semiconductors, computers, software, and telecommunications became cheap enough, fast enough, and networked enough to become so ubiquitous as to power a surge in productivity growth.”   That’s why virtually of the increase in productivity since 1995 has been attributable to IT and telecommunications.

Today’s economy is driven by innovation – the development and adoption of new products, processes, and business models. Nations, states, regions, firms, and even individuals compete on their ability to accumulate, aggregate, and apply their assets in ways that create value in new ways for increasingly diverse customers all over the world. For example, as R&D is the key fuel of the engine of New Economy growth, it is not surprising that business-funded R&D has almost doubled from 1.19 percent of GDP in 1980 to 2.02 percent in 2002.

Investment in broadband technology is similarly spurred on by private sector investment. More than 90 percent of the U.S. communications infrastructure is maintained via private capital. In 2007, the nation’s 1,360 facilities-based broadband service providers invested approximately $60 billion in modern communications networks. The Yankee Group estimates that through 2011 annual capital spending will be in the high $60 billion to $70 billion range.

Yet, fundamental changes have created an economy where the United States is being forced to compete on the basis of innovation, and more complex, capital, and knowledge-based production. Increasingly, the entire nature of technology research and broadband deployment – are changing dramatically.

A report published last month by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation showed that approximately two-thirds of the award-winning U.S. innovations involve some kind of inter-organizational collaboration – a situation that reflects the more collaborative nature of the innovation process and the greater role in private sector innovation by government agencies, federal laboratories, and research universities. The report, titled “Where Do Innovations Come From? Transformations in the U.S. National Innovation System, 1970-2006”, noted that “for better or worse, the U.S. innovation system today is much more collaborative than it was several decades ago and the federal government is playing a much more supportive and important role in innovation.”

This points to the need for smart public-private partnerships in a whole host of innovation policy related areas, including broadband.  For example, groups like Connected Nation, focus on integrated solutions, ranging from government broadband loans to consumer education efforts to promote more widespread demand and use of this vital resource. The state-based Connect Kentucky public-private partnership has helped raised broadband availability throughout the state from 60 percent to 94 percent – connecting 542,000 households. The number of college graduates who remain in state to pursue careers has nearly doubled and more than 18,400 IT jobs have been created in the state.  These initiatives point to the fact that the U.S. innovation system has become much more collaborative in nature. Federal policy needs to reflect this fact.

America remains today the most competitive nation on earth.  Maintaining robust investment in broadband infrastructure will be a critical factor in our nation’s ability to maintain its leading edge in today’s sophisticated global economy.  To enable ongoing American innovation and growth broadband speed, capacity and innovation must continually improve at a substantial pace.
 
Keeping our nation competitive and connecting all Americans to broadband’s many opportunities requires an innovation policy that recognizes not just the important role of private investment and market based approaches, but also the critical importance of public-private initiatives.

 Loading ...