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Planning for the Broadband Future in Wisconsin. Progress Report. Connecting Southwest Wisconsin Broadband Conference April 22, 2010 Belmont WI By Bill Gillis, LinkAMERICA Alliance /LinkWisconsin. The Price of US Broadband Access Gaps. LinkWISCONSIN Mapping and Planning Process.
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Planning for the Broadband Future in Wisconsin Progress Report Connecting Southwest Wisconsin Broadband Conference April 22, 2010 Belmont WI By Bill Gillis, LinkAMERICA Alliance /LinkWisconsin
What we are asking? How we are asking
What we are learning:General observations Wisconsin takes pride in its leadership in almost everything and the belief in: • Encouraging collaboration to solve problems. • Empowering local government. • Preserving natural resources for public use. • Promoting quality education as the foundation for any positive change.
What we are learning:Health care Wisconsin and the nation face the challenge of making sure adequate health care is available and affordable. • Broadband can reduce the cost and improve the sharing & the management of patient data. • People can utilize specialized devices to monitor health conditions communicate with doctors from home. • Physicians and clinicians can access critical training and up-to-date information from anywhere.
What we are learning:Education Today’s economy demands an educated workforce. With expanded access to broadband: • Courses for workforce & economic development can be accessed anywhere. • People can avoid expensive and sometimes risky travel necessary to reach 2 year and university campuses. • Costs can be reduced with integration of on-line tools into school administration & classrooms.
What we are learning:Government & Citizens With more widely available broadband: • Government can reduce costs and improve service with better assembly, sharing and use of state agency data. • Citizens can more effectively connect to others with common public issues interests. • Technologies such as GIS and GPS can be used to better manage land and water resources.
What we are learning:Public Safety and Security Broadband improves the effectiveness of public safety and homeland security in many ways. • Sharing of data, video & voice among all emergency response & security agencies is enhanced. • IP registered devices can alert first responders, pinpointing emergency response locations. • Real-time data devices can provide access to critical patient medical records remotely in the field.
What we are learning:Energy & environment Wisconsin is a leader both in advancing clean energy solutions and protection of environmental assets. Broadband is a new important tool that can help. • Smart-grids reduce costs and maximize efficiency in the generation, distribution & consumption of electrical energy. • IP devices can monitor electrical use, peaks & cost-per-hour for energy resulting in reduced energy bills. • GIS & GPS can be used to manage environmentally sensitive public resources and tribal lands.
What we are learning:Economic opportunity Broadband has become essential component of economic opportunity. • Just-in-time delivery improves production & streamline inventory control. • Origin tracking distinguishes products & companies in the marketplace. • New-knowledge industries & enterprises can be grown, especially in rural areas.
What we are learning:Quality of Life Broadband can improve quality of life in Wisconsin in many ways. Among many examples: • People can use remote IP connections to home for many purposes. Even to let the dog out from work rather than take time to drive home over the lunch hour. • Grandparents can stay in touch with their grandkids. • Families can gain flexibility to manage busy lives through opportunities to work at home. • Isolation in rural communities can be reduced.
Next Steps • Develop short videos to promote awareness of Wisconsin broadband opportunities. • Coordinate with existing regional initiatives to: • Conduct regional broadband planning workshops. • Form regional broadband planning teams. • Develop regional broadband “business plans” with defined actions that are • Doable – realistic and possible • Effective – address meaningful needs of region • Fundable – tied to national priorities • Measurable – specific benchmarks & assigned accountability
For more information,Bill GillisTelephone: 509-432-4243Email: bill@visionTech360.com Please visit our web site:http://www.linkamericaalliance.com