Category Archives: Client Updates

Stirring the Pot – July 2012

Client Updates

As first in Blandin Foundation eNews…

As we talk with communities about the Blandin Community Broadband Program,http://tinyurl.com/8d78g5g I am impressed with the level and diversity of interest across the state.

Many communities have expressed their intention to apply to become a Blandin Broadband Community. They seem to understand the level of cross-sector commitment that will be required to successfully participate in the program. Yet, this expectation seems to fuel greater enthusiasm and desire to participate in the program.

Other communities, especially our existing MIRC demo communities, have specific technology projects that they want to implement. Champions in health care, education and small business have ideas that will help their organization and their community deliver services in new and exciting ways. Many of the most promising projects have cross-sector partnerships that put them a step above.

If you have questions about Blandin Broadband Communities or any of the four programmatic grants, be sure to ask!

Stirring the Pot – June 2012

Client Updates

As first published by Blandin Foundation eNews…

It is June and  that means graduation season!  I am happy to report that I just returned  home from my son’s college graduation from Westminster College in Salt Lake  City.  It was a fun and gratifying weekend of events that brought back  many memories of dropping him off at college, seemingly just a moment ago.   Just as four years ago, the new graduates have been receiving plenty of  advice on this new phase of their lives – from parents, professors, career  counselors, friends and now, commencement speakers.  I know that I have given  my son more than my fair share of advice as most conversations seem to come  back to “what’s next?”

I also advise  rural communities as they work to increase the economic vitality of their  communities, using broadband and Internet technologies as primary tools.   Luckily for my consulting business, rural leaders seem to listen more  intently than it appears my son does  😉 .  In fact, it can be a bit  scary when you see either progeny or community leaders following through on the  advice I give them!

Bruce Bastian,  co-founder of Word Perfect, gave the commencement address to my son’s class.   I agree with his words on taking advice – to listen and consider, but to  make your own decisions, to follow your own passions.  As each new  graduate is unique, so is each community.  As there is no single path for  individuals, the same is true for communities.  Each community needs to  assess its own situation, then determine which community strategies will move  it forward into a more positive future.  Some will focus on  infrastructure, some on digital inclusion, others on economic development.   All are valid; all can be very productive for a community.

I saw this  clearly last week in Alexandria at a joint Blandin Foundation – University of Minnesota  Extension event with our MIRC communities.  All communities started with a  similar assessment and planning process, but each has followed their own path  with their own unique set of activities and partnerships.  It was fun to  hear of the success and the plans for continued action around broadband,  e-commerce enhancements, digital inclusion and online community.  It is  also very exciting to hear Blandin Foundation’s announcement of a new two-year  commitment to ongoing support of rural Minnesota broadband.

Just as the past  years have been fun, interesting and productive for our MIRC communities and my  son, I look forward to the future and the paths that are created and followed.

Dakota Future hosts Minnesota Broadband Task Force Monthly Meeting

Client Updates, CTAC Presentations, Events, Tech News

Yesterday Bill Coleman led the hosting team at Dakota County, welcoming the Minnesota Broadband Task Force, who held their monthly meeting in Dakota County. It was an opportunity for CTAC client Dakota Future to showcase much of the work that Dakota County has done in terms of promoting and facilitating better broadband for better business.

Bill Coleman spoke about the Dakota Future Intelligent Community Initiative
[slideshare id=12592110&doc=dakotafuture-120418124742-phpapp02]

You can get the full notes from the session from the Blandin on Broadband blog.

Stirring the Pot: April 2012

Client Updates, Minnesota News, Tech News

As originally posted in Blandin Foundation’s Broadband eNews:

Stirring the Pot

Last week in his MPR Blog, Dave Peters took an interesting look at the ever-evolving fiber vs. wireless question. http://tinyurl.com/7x23wq4 It is a question that I get at every community broadband meeting that I facilitate.

On one hand, you have fiber. You know what you are getting with fiber – high capacity, extremely reliable, triple play services and more, and quite expensive to deploy in the rural countryside.

When people talk about wireless, confusion abounds. People use a combination of marketing and technical terms interchangeably. When bandwidth caps are discussed, people want to know “just how much is 2 Gb?” Wireless technologies may or may not be influenced by weather, trees and/or terrain. Frequencies may or may not be licensed. Accuracy of provider coverage maps is debated.

Peters’ blog also raised this important question – If an area is served first by a wireless broadband provider, will that kill the market for investment in upgraded FTTH or FTTN services? Will rural residents be generally satisfied enough with a lower capacity wireless service that there will not be the groundswell of support and commitment to motivate a significant investment in fiber, thereby causing an area to be underserved long into the future? I tend to think probably so.

Yet we would never argue the opposite case – that a new fiber network would dissuade investment in wireless technologies. Mobile connectivity is now an expectation and people have proven that they are willing to pay for it. The large wireless carriers have announced aggressive plans to extend 3G and 4G coverage areas to more rural areas.

I was quoted in the blog as stating that people need both wired and wireless services. I also think that the bar for fiber advocates continues to rise. More than ever, they need to demonstrate the value of large bandwidth applications, especially those that have been or could be deployed by local institutions like schools and health care providers.

More than ever, communities need to have a technology plan that ensures both fiber-based and wireless services coupled with an application deployment plan. Communities lacking any of the three – wired, wireless and applications – will struggle to compete for talented people and business investment.

November: Stirring the Pot!

Client Updates, Minnesota News, Tech News

First published in Blandin Foundation’s eNews…

As I prepared for our Broadband pre-conference webinar over the past week, I thought quite a bit about market development strategies – digital inclusion, increased user sophistication and advanced applications. The picture here portrays a different strategy!

Connected Nation data shows that affordability, ignorance of benefits and lack of access are the primary deterrents to adoption. The webinar, available for streaming online, provides some best practices for each of these barriers. I encourage you to find an hour to listen to the webinar and share the link with others in your community who might help spur adoption.

Blandin Foundation is accepting applications for the Digital Inclusion Community Partnership. This program supports equipping non-adopters with computers, training and connectivity. Put together a partnership of ISPs, schools, local sources of used computers and social service agencies to overcome affordability barriers. The application deadline is December 1, 2011.

Dakota County Smart21 with help from CTAC

Client Updates, Minnesota News, Tech News

Dakota Future is pleased to announce that For the third year in a row, Dakota County has been named a Smart21 Community by the Intelligent Community Forum. CTAC is led by CTAC founder Bill Coleman. Bill has been working with Dakota County businesses to promote and facilitate better broadband use and deployment to increase economic development and opportunity throughout the county.

The Intelligent Community Forum has set out a framework that encourages economic growth through technology. There are five cornerstones to the foundation:

  1. Broadband
  2. Knowledge Workers
  3. Digital Inclusion
  4. Marketing and Advocacy
  5. Innovation

Bill has been working in Dakota County to highlight existing programs that exemplify those facets and to bolster programs that are interested in strengthening their use of technology. We are excited to see that it is paying off.

Lac qui Parle unveils mobile computer lab

Client Updates, Events

Last week, I was fortunate to participate in the ribbon cutting for the Lac qui Parle’s Computer Commuter mobile computer lab. There was a great crowd to tour the bus and try the new laptops before listening to the presentations, highlighted by Congressman Collin Peterson, chair of the House Agriculture Committee.

EDA Coordinator Pam Lehmann thanked all of the project partners, including Blandin Foundation, which provided financial support in addition to that provided by the TDF Foundation of Washington DC. The project leaders will establish a schedule for the mobile lab with regular stops in at least six communities around the county. Mary Quick, the Computer Community coordinator will provide computer classes and one to one assistance to anyone who wants help in learning how to use the computers.

Coleman’s Corner June

Client Updates, Tech News

Here’s Coleman’s Corner, a monthly article written for the Blandin Foundation Broadband Initiative…

Coleman’s Corner

Last week, I was lucky to attend the Intelligent Community Conference in New York City. http://tinyurl.com/2u6bhly This conference attracted community leaders from Asia, Europe, Canada and the USA. I co-facilitated a session about the challenges facing rural communities in their efforts to revitalize their communities using the Intelligent Community framework. Creating a community, a region and a state that can compete globally is an incredible challenge. It is clear that my new friends around the world are working hard and working smart to align their resources in the best possible ways to create an economic environment with world-class infrastructure, workforce and business support mechanisms. The competition is rocking. We better get going!

Notes from Building the Broadband Economy in NY

Client Updates, CTAC Presentations, Events

Participating in the Intelligent Community Forum’s Building the Broadband Economy has been very interesting and fun. Last night I sat with people from across Canada and learned about the emphasis that their leaders are putting on broadband as an economic development strategy – from the Atlantic Provinces, to Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. They saw the support of their top government leaders as essential to their successful efforts. On behalf of Dakota Future, I was pleased to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that formalizes a culture of collaboration between communities adopting the Intelligent Community approach.

Today I co-facilitated a session entitled “Five Burning Issues in Rural Communities“. Our five issues were demographics, gaps in broadband services and the difficulty in forming effective partnerships with private sector providers, funding for infrastructure, digital inclusion and application development, creating a culture of use and the many barriers to application adoption for problem solving, and leadership. It turns out that the list from the urban group was amazingly similar!

I am awed by the strategic thinking and doing going on around the world as communities and country’s strive to create and maintain competitive economies. In the same way, people from around the world are very interested in the Blandin Foundation’s approach to our MN Intelligent Rural Communities project. I have been asked many detailed questions and have received very positive feedback. I look forward to reporting lots of progress next year!

Blandin awarded ARRA grant

Client Updates, Minnesota News

Yesterday, US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today announced 10 new ARRA broadband stimulus awards. The total investment is more than $63 million in grants. The goal is to increase broadband access and adoption in more than a dozen states, including two that will help boost broadband adoption in Minnesota. One of the grants was awarded to the Blandin Foundation

Minnesota – C.K. Blandin Foundation: $4.9 million sustainable broadband adoption grant with an additional $1.5 million applicant-provided match to launch the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities initiative, a multi-sector, comprehensive approach to sustainable broadband adoption targeting residents, small businesses, local governments, and critical services providers in each of Minnesota’s 80 rural counties. The project anticipates training as many as 2,500 individuals in computer literacy, online education, and workforce development, and plans to distribute 1,000 affordable refurbished computers. Funding will also support the development of institutional broadband applications for schools and healthcare facilities to help increase broadband adoption. (Learn more)

It has been exciting to be a part of the process of developing the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) initiative and I am looking forward to helping to deployment the plan. Specifically, as Blandin reports, we will be focusing on the following…

The BTOP grant will be used to leverage resources of coalition partners to extend small business technical assistance and training, expand hours for access to workforce centers, distribute refurbished computers, train individuals and business, create courses for knowledge workers, bring to Minnesota an online network of care for mental health workers, etc.

Eleven communities throughout rural Minnesota also will receive up to $100,000 each to develop and demonstrate broadband projects through the grant. These “demonstration communities” are Benton County, Cook County, Grand Rapids/Itasca County, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Stevens County, Upper Minnesota Valley region, Thief River Falls, Willmar/Kandiyohi County, Winona, Windom and Worthington.