There are 114 resources.
Broadband: Public, private sectors both have roles
An editorial in the Battle Creek Enquirer by Rep. Mike Nofs - Due to some inaccurate statements made in a recent Battle Creek Enquirer article ("Bill would pull wireless plug," June 18), I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight and provide some additional insight on a topic that has generated much discussion across the state.
The article stated that I am contemplating legislation that could "halt wireless Internet access expansion across the state." This is absolutely false. I would like nothing better than for all citizens of Michigan to have access to high speed broadband Internet service, be it via cable, DSL, satellite, wireless, electrical power line or whatever new technology may be on the horizon. The question is, "Who should provide this service?"
Subjects: Technology, Policy
Type: News Item, Policy/Regulation, Legislation
State(s): Michigan
ResearchChannel Call for Partners in Open Source Development of iHDTVT software suite
ResearchChannel announced today that its iHDTVT suite of software
will be available as open source in first quarter 2006. iHDTVT consists of software modules that capture, packetize and transport high-definition video in various formats over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, with the goal of providing wider access to HD content.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology, Education & Research
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
1st-Mile New Mexico
New Mexico 'open' broadband initiative.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Healthcare, Individual State, Entertainment, Technology, Policy, Education & Research, Advocacy, Business, Government, Economic Development, General Public, Rates, History
Type: Network/Service Provider, Publication, News Item, Organization, Policy/Regulation, Application, Mailing List, Presentations, Quote, Legislation
State(s): New Mexico
21.8 mln broadband US households use cable, 14.7 mln - DSL
According to Pike & Fischer report, there are 21.8 mln broadband cable lines and 14.7 mln DSL lines in the US. Cable companies' share of the US broadband pie has dipped below 60% for the first time.
Subjects: Technology, General Public
Type: Blog/Wiki
State(s): NONE
A High-Tech Hot Spot in Oregon's High Desert
Fast, free broadband wireless access to the Internet might seem an unlikely amenity for this part of the country. But in a roughly 700-square-mile area stretching across five counties in eastern Oregon and Washington state, unimpeded wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, access is being given a unique trial run by individuals, police departments, shippers and even onion brokers.
The reason this wireless hot spot — believed to the largest in the nation — was set up in the first place was not for those potential users, however. It was built as an emergency communications system in the event of a leak at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, where nearly 4,000 tons of sarin, mustard and other Cold War-era nerve gases are stored in concrete igloos.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Individual State, Technology, Business, Government, Economic Development, General Public
Type: Network/Service Provider
State(s): Oregon
AbsoCom Corporation
AbsoCom Corporation is a Mississippi based, Technology Service Provider (TSP), specializing in the design, financing, implementation and management of broadband internet access networks in remote and sparsely populated rural geographies.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Business
Type: Network/Service Provider
State(s): Mississippi
Baller's Barriers to Entry Resource Guide
Jim Baller is the founder of the Baller Herbst Law Group, a national law firm based in Washington, DC, and Minneapolis, MN. The Firm specializes in representing local governments and public power utilities in matters involving telecommunications, cable television, high-speed data communications, Internet access, wireless communications, right-of-way management, pole and conduit attachments, barriers to the public-sector entry into communications, and bankruptcy. The Fiber to the Home Council recently recognized him as "the nation's most experienced and knowledgeable attorney on public broadband matters."
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Individual State, Technology, Advocacy, Government, General Public
Type: Organization, Policy/Regulation
State(s): NONE
BBC Two to go Broadband Soon
BBC Two will become the first big terrestrial channel to be available over broadband early next year, according to its controller.
Roly Keating, the channel's bigwig since June 2004, has said that he envisions the service offering a mixture of simulcast programming (simultaneous airings of the channel over two mediums, such as TV and internet) and catch-up offerings, such as the content due to be available soon on its iMP.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology
Type: Application, Video
State(s): NONE
BitTorrent Goes Legal in Warner Film Deal
San Francisco's BitTorrent Inc., the file-sharing site that became popular for offering free, illegal downloads of pirated movies and television shows, said Tuesday that it has struck a deal with Warner Bros. to make some of those same films and shows legally available online.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology, General Public
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
BPL Set to Power Up in Dallas
Source: Multichannel News. By Steve Donohue 12/19/2005 4:46:00 PM
Charter Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. will face new competition in the Dallas/Fort Worth market next year from companies selling video, high-speed-Internet access and telephone service via power lines.
TXU Electric Delivery announced an agreement with Current Communications Services LLC Monday to build a broadband-over-power-line (BPL) service that will pass 2 million homes and businesses in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and other Texas communities.
Current’s investors include Google Inc., Hearst Corp. and an affiliate of John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp.
TXU said it will spend $150 million over 10 years to turn its power-distribution network into the “nation’s first broadband-enabled smart grid.”
Current said it will build and operate the BPL network that covers the majority of TXU’s electricity-service area, and it will begin offering high-speed-Internet service over the network sometime in 2006. Customers will be able to access the service through small adapters placed in electricity outlets.
Current said it would also use the BPL network to provide customers with triple-play packages of video, voice and high-speed-Internet access.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Business
Type: News Item
State(s): Texas
Broadband a bright spot in lagging telcom market
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., June 22, 2005 - Consumer service revenues for telecom providers in the US are expected to deteriorate over the next several years, falling to $106.7 billion in 2009 as decreasing revenues for voice services and dial-up outweigh revenue increases for both cable TV and broadband services, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). Broadband, however, will be a significant revenue growth generator, with market penetration growing from 28.6 percent of the population in 2004 to nearly 50 percent by the end of 2009, the high-tech market research firm says.
Subjects: Technology, Business
Type: Network/Service Provider, News Item
State(s): NONE
Broadband could be health boon for seniors
Accelerating Internet broadband deployment in the United States could deliver better health services to elderly Americans and individuals with disabilities and slash overall health care costs, according to a new report released yesterday.
The report, which was written by economist Robert Litan, estimates Internet broadband usage would lower medical and institutionalized living costs and increase labor force participation of more senior citizens and individuals with disabilities through telecommuting.
“Considered together, these three benefits are estimated to accumulate to at least $927 billion in cost savings and output gains in 2005 dollars … over the 25 year period, 2005 to 2030,” Litan wrote in the report, which was authorized by the New Millennium Research Council, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
The estimated savings is equal to half of what the nation spends annually – $1.8 trillion – for medical care for all citizens, he wrote.
Litan is assuming development of all types of broadband technologies, including wireless, broadband via power lines, cable and telephone-based digital subscriber lines, to any type of device, whether it’s a PC, cell phone or personal digital assistant.
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology
Type: Publication, News Item
State(s): NONE
Broadband Deployment Key to Opportunity for Children
The Childrens Partnership (TCP) released an analysis of how the deployment of high-speed Internet (or broadband) affects 73 million U.S. children, nearly 10 million of whom live in California.
Helping Our Children Succeed: Whats Broadband Got to Do With It? reviews concrete ways in which broadband serves as the conduit for delivering valuable opportunities to youthservices that increase educational achievement, improve childrens health, prepare young people for the jobs of today and tomorrow, and enable young people to get involved in their local communities.
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology, Education & Research, General Public
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
Broadband lag could hurt the U.S
CNN/Money article. Thomas Bleha believes the United States stands to lose big if it keeps slipping behind other countries in the percentage of citizens with high-speed Internet access.
Bleha, who's writing a book about the global fight for Internet leadership, argues that broadband access has implications far beyond the speed of Web browsers. Full-scale adoption of the high-speed connections in Asian and European nations has fueled economic growth, technological innovation and improved quality of life, he said.
Subjects: Technology, Government, Other Countries
Type: Publication, News Item
State(s): NONE
Broadband Reality Check -- The FCC ignores America's Digital Divide
On July 7, 2005, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin published an op-ed
in the Wall Street Journal titled “The United States of Broadband.” Martin highlighted two key findings from a new FCC report on broadband access and penetration: the
United States “leads the world in total number of broadband connections” and “broadband
platforms are engaged in fierce competition.”
Martin’s conclusion is either wildly optimistic or intentionally misleading. Contrary to the
chairman’s upbeat commentary, the United States is falling dramatically behind the rest of the industrialized world in broadband deployment. The digital divide seriously burdens economic growth and educational opportunity. Universal, affordable broadband remains a distant prospect
in the United States, largely because of policies that stifle competition in the name of deregulation. The elimination of open access requirements for cable modem and DSL services by the FCC will only worsen this situation.
Subjects: Technology, Policy, General Public, Other Countries
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
Buchanan, Michigan to Build Broadband
Berrien County, the city of Buchanan and Express-1, a Buchanan-based express shipping company, completed a deal Thursday that will lay the foundation for the county's first broadband infrastructure project as well as bring a call center training program to Buchanan.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Government, General Public
Type: News Item
State(s): Maryland
California City Among First to Use New High-frequency Wireless
Source: FCW.com
BY Dibya Sarkar
Published on Dec. 21, 2005
A California city is one of the first municipalities in the country to adopt millimeter-wave wireless, a technology that uses high radio frequencies to send data over longer distances than current wireless systems allow.
When Manteca, about 75 miles east of San Francisco, finishes installing the technology this week, it will replace a wireless infrastructure that’s been in use for years, said Tim Dyke, the city’s information technology manager.
To implement the technology, the city chose GigaBeam’s WiFiber links. John Krzywicki, the company’s vice president of marketing, strategy and business development, said the point-to-point technology uses spectrum in the 71 to 76 GHz and 81 to 86 GHz ranges. The Federal Communications Commission licensed the spectrum in 2004 and qualified GigaBeam’s technology earlier this year.
“We’ve been able to get radios that push 1 gigabit of data using high frequencies,” he said. “It pushes a gigabit up to a mile or better at very high degrees of reliability.”
That speed is the equivalent of 1,000 Digital Subscriber Lines, according to GigaBeam.
The technology will be installed in a hub-and-spoke arrangement with one tower feeding eight links, according to company officials.
John Eaton, president of Eaton and Associates and a principal at Xtech, which is installing the technology in Manteca, said the system will allow the city to link high-resolution surveillance cameras among government buildings and other city facilities, such as water pumping stations. Call centers, hospitals and courts can use various voice, video and data applications to transmit private records and communications securely, he added.
Subjects: Technology, Government
Type: News Item
State(s): California
Canadian WiMAX Network Launched
Broadband choice has become more of a reality for some Canadians, as Inukshuk Wireless, a joint venture between Bell Canada and Rogers Communications has opened for business. According to Bell Canada, the first phase of the network covers over 5 million households and is available in selected areas from coast to coast.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Other Countries
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
Citizens
Citizens has provided quality telephone service to rural communities in Southwest Virginia for over 90 years. During this time, they have branched beyond telephone service. They now offer the latest in voice, video and data services.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Individual State, Technology
Type: Network/Service Provider
State(s): Virginia
Colorado to reimburse providers for telemedicine
Colorado Medicaid patients could have much broader access to telemedicine in the future under the terms of a bill recently signed into law by Gov. Bill Owens that will reimburse health providers for such services beginning July 1.
The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Cory Gardner and Sen. Bob Hagedorn, is based on studies that show providers can save as much as $1 million in costs from a $150,000 initial outlay for telemedicine systems at rural practices, Gardner said.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Healthcare, Individual State, Technology, Government, General Public
Type: News Item, Policy/Regulation, Application
State(s): Colorado
Connected Tennessee
Connected Tennessee, Inc., an independent non-profit organization, works with a wide array of Tennessee entities to make the cost of technology expansion go down and the ease of doing business go up. Connected Tennessee will accelerate the availability and use of technology towards creating a better business environment, more effective community and economic development, improved healthcare, enhanced education, and more efficient government.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Healthcare, Individual State, Technology, Education & Research, Advocacy, Business, Economic Development, General Public
Type: Organization
State(s): Tennessee
County shows off new broadband-ready site
This article in the Poughkeepsie Journal states "Thursday's party showed off the site to brokers and highlighted the "Digital Dutchess" initiative — the longtime Dutchess County Economic Development Corp. project to speed the spread of broadband Internet and phone access. Now, said Peter Winne of the agency's staff, the goal is to bring it down to the building level and certify that the site is ready for a tenant to quickly hook up to a broadband provider."
Subjects: Technology
Type: News Item
State(s): New York
CUWiN: Wirelessing the Revolution with Open Source Mesh Wireless Technologies
Founded by coalition of wireless developers and community volunteers committed to providing low-cost, do-it-yourself, community-controlled alternatives to contemporary broadband models, CUWiN (the Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network) has been developing free, open-source wireless mesh software since the turn of the millennium. Today, CUWiN is on the brink of revolutionizing broadband service provision and telecommunications infrastructure worldwide by creating extremely low-cost, easy-to-install broadband technologies that can cover everything from a single apartment building to an entire metropolitan region.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Education & Research, Government, Economic Development, General Public
Type: News Item
State(s): Illinois
Demand for broadband hookups swamps utility
BY DAVID McGEE
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Dec 13, 12:15 AM EST
Bristol, VA Utilities FTTH service "has received more requests
for broadband service than it can currently meet . . . During the
first four months of fiscal 2005-06, more than 1,000 individuals
and businesses requested service through the Optinet division.
Utility officials had projected 1,600 new connections for the year.
'It’s a good problem to have . . . We haven’t been able to keep
up with the demand, but we expect to fill those orders soon.' . . .
Originally forecast to lose about $811,000 from July through
October, the Optinet loss was about $417,000."
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Business, General Public
Type: News Item
State(s): Virginia
Digital Hollywood Spring 2004 Telco Presentations
On-demand presentations from the Telco Video Entertainment panel of the Digital Hollywood Spring 2004 conference. The panel looked at the current state of telcos and their deployment of video. The Digital Hollywood conference covers the convergence of technology, entertainment and business.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology, Business
Type: Presentations, Audio
State(s): NONE
Digital-Textbook Pilot Project Begins This Month in 10 College Bookstores
Bookstores at 10 colleges across the country will begin selling access to digital textbooks this month in what promoters say is the first large-scale effort to make electronic textbooks available through campus bookstores.
The 10 bookstores, which will continue to market traditional hard-copy books, are taking part in a pilot program coordinated with five academic publishers and a wholesale distributor of textbooks. If it is successful, the two- to three-week pilot program will be gradually expanded to all college bookstores, beginning in the middle of September.
A student will be able to read a book online after visiting the campus bookstore to buy an electronic card, which in turn is used to download a copy of the book from a Web site. The site is run by MBS Textbook Exchange Inc. of Columbia, Mo., the textbook distributor that is leading the project.
All 10 of the bookstores will sell electronic textbooks for 33 percent less than hard-copy versions, said Jeffrey S. Cohen, the advertising and promotions manager at MBS. A student can print a copy of the e-book, highlight passages, mark the book with notes, search for keywords, and listen to an audio version of the book. (subscription required)
Subjects: Technology, Education & Research
Type: News Item, Application
State(s): NONE
Downloads of flicks get battle testing
Jonathan Sidener, Personal Technology Editor writes about what's coming in on-demand movies. Apple Computer is about to take over Hollywood the way it has dominated the portable digital music arena with its iPod. And you know your boss expects you to write about the terrain-altering news when official word comes out.
So you drag yourself into the office only to find out that the Earth hasn't shattered. Apple is going to sell Disney movies on iTunes. Whoa. Hold the presses.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology, General Public
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
EDUCAUSE Review Article - Dark Fiber: Shining a New Light
Spurred in part by opportunities emerging from the recent downturn in the telecommunications sector, the U.S. research and education (R&E) community is aggressively pursuing a revolutionary new means for delivering advanced networking capabilities. Dark fiber refers to those fiber-optic cables that have already been deployed either in underground conduits or on aerial utility transmission facilities but that have not yet been "lit" -- that is, equipped with the optical electronics needed to transmit information over significant distances. The recent availability of these assets, the evolution of economical long-distance optical transmission technology, and the emergence of leading-edge Grid applications capable of generating multiple Gigabit-per-second (Gbps) flows are driving this community's surge of interest in a domain that was once the exclusive province of the telecommunications carriers.
Subjects: Technology, Education & Research, Economic Development
Type: Publication, News Item
State(s): NONE
Effective Access: Teachers' use of digital resources in STEM teaching
The Effective Access (EA) team conducted a limited, multi-level investigation of high school STEM educators and their use of digital objects. The team attempted to identify teachers' unique needs in the digital library environment, to provide a better understanding of the possible impact of electronic resources on teaching and learning, and to develop a framework for future development of digital resources and technology supports. This report summarizes the Effective Access team's findings and presents recommendations that emerge from this work.
Subjects: Technology, Education & Research
Type: Publication, Organization
State(s): NONE
Emergency response portals ready for hurricane season
Houston residents fleeing Hurricane Rita last year were willing to pay any price for a few gallons from the short supply of gasoline.
NASA employees at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were less desperate, however. NASA Emergency Operations employees used the agencys customizable internal Web portal to create online maps that showed which gas stations recently received fuel deliveries.
Subjects: Technology, Government, General Public
Type: News Item, Application
State(s): NONE
Experts Refute TV Industry Claims on DTV Reception Issue
Last week, on a bipartisan basis, the House Commerce Committee approved an amendment to its digital TV transition bill directing the FCC to complete its proposed rulemaking to open up vacant, unused channels in the TV band spectrum (also known as “white space”) for unlicensed wireless broadband use (Docket 04-186).
Last year, the FCC issued a proposed rulemaking to allow “smart” wireless broadband devices to utilize empty TV channels between Chs. 2 and 51 on a market-by-market basis. Opening wasted TV spectrum for broadband in each market will especially benefit rural areas. The broadcast industry opposes the House amendment and the FCC’s proceeding.
New America's Issue Brief -- authored by three of the nation's most respected spectrum engineers -- demonstrates why the industry’s technical claims are unfounded. "Reclaiming the Vast Wasteland: Why Unlicensed Use of the White Space in the TV Bands Will Not Cause Interference to DTV Viewers," explains why the interference-avoidance mechanisms proposed by the FCC are sufficient to ensure that DTV reception is not harmed by unlicensed devices.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Policy, Government
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
Fiber For Our Future
A Citizen's group originally formed to support the TriCity Broadband referenda in the cities of Batavia, Geneva & St. Charles, Illinois.
The website contains a stockpile of what can be expected from the incumbent providers should a city wish to create its own broadband solution via a municipal offering.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Education & Research, Advocacy, Government
Type: News Item, Organization, Blog/Wiki
State(s): Illinois
FiberCo
Internet2 has established the National Research and Education Fiber Company (FiberCo) to support regional fiber optical networking initiatives dedicated to research and higher education. The concept behind FiberCo™ is to help provide inter-city dark fiber to regional optical networks with the benefit of a national-scale contract and aggregate price levels. The responsibility for lighting this fiber will rest with the regional networks.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Education & Research
Type: Network/Service Provider, Organization
State(s): NONE
File-swap TV comes into focus
For the last several months, Clarke's television and radio stations have been putting content online using a four-month-old peer-to-peer service called the Open Media Network, which gives public broadcasters an affordable way to distribute high-quality versions of their work on the Net.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology
Type: News Item, Application
State(s): NONE
Folsom Looking Beyond Wi-Fi
Source: Government Technology Magazine (www.govtech.net)
by Jim Downing * Feb 21, 2006
Folsom, CA, may become one of the first cities in the nation to provide citywide wireless Internet access using a long-range data transmission technology known as WiMAX.
Folsom could launch a WiMAX network as soon as fall 2007, according to a feasibility study commissioned by the city.
Subjects: Technology, Government
Type: News Item
State(s): California
Fontana Fiber to the Community (FTTC)
The City of Fontana is investigating the benefits, costs and risks associated with activating a fiber optic network. The City of Fontana’s view for this network is a core infrastructure servicing all public entities, including schools, and utilities in the City as well as a fiber to the community (FTTC) infrastructure. This site includes good resources such as the network business plan.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Government, Economic Development, General Public
Type: Publication, Organization, Presentations
State(s): California
Ford Squeezes an Office into a Truck
Ford Motor unveiled a mobile office designed for the new F-Series truck that includes a touch-screen computer, printer, wireless broadband access and Global Positioning System.
Ford, which introduced its mobile office Tuesday at this week's Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas, is targeting general contractors with its latest accessories. The mobile system is designed to let contractors bid on jobs, order parts and materials, and process payments from their trucks.
Subjects: Technology, Business
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget, News Item
State(s): NONE
FTC Staff Report Provides Guidance to Promote Competition in Municipality Wireless Internet Service
Improving consumer access to broadband Internet service is an important goal for federal, state, and local governments. The possibility of competitive risks arising from municipal participation in wireless Internet service, however, calls for a careful analysis by policymakers considering if, and to what extent, a municipality should involve itself in such service, according to a report prepared by Federal Trade Commission staff.
Subjects: Technology, Business, Economic Development, General Public
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
Gadgets Geared to Geriatric Generation
Talking pill bottles that remind you to take your medicine. A wristwatch that can help find a wandering Alzheimer's patient. Smart Band-Aids that check your temperature and heartbeat. Sensors in bedsheets that monitor sleep apnea and snoring. Robots that help disabled people get up from a chair and walk down the hall. They sound like sci-fi, or entries from a Sharper Image catalog circa 2015, but they're technologies being developed today. With America's population rapidly aging, electronic devices geared toward seniors' health and well-being at home are a growing new sector. A few are on the market now; more may hit the U.S. market as soon as next year.
Intel takes the area so seriously that when it reorganized in January, it created a digital health group as one of its five primary business units reporting directly to the chief executive officer.
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget, News Item, Application
State(s): NONE
Gaming Technology and Business IT Begin to Meld
Games are serious business, and business is a serious game. There's always been some crossover between frivolous entertainment and cutthroat commerce, but advances in user interfaces, graphics, interactivity, and visualization technologies, as well as the need to manage the complexities of modern game development, have brought the two worlds together.
Businesspeople and entertainers have a lot to learn from each other. Not only is the industry maturing and adopting the tools and techniques of software development from the business world, he says, but insights from gaming and virtual worlds are changing business.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology, Business
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue's Innovation Strategy Includes Broadband Initiative
Source: SSTI weekly digest
Gov. Sonny Perdue, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 11, 2006
"To lead, we must innovate. That means, we must become a State of Innovation. That means making innovation our competitive advantage in every area of our economy in our existing industries, in our homegrown small businesses and in the growth industries of the future, such as life sciences and nano-manufacturing. ...
"Building an innovation economy requires three main ingredients: people, capital and infrastructure. Georgia is investing in all three areas. We're investing $80 million this year alone...
"... In the area of investment capital, we will budget $5 million to expand our Seed Capital Fund for early stage bioscience entrepreneurs. And $5 million for the Life Sciences Facilities Fund to help provide growing bioscience firms with the facilities they need to continue their growth here in Georgia.
"To strengthen our investment infrastructure, I am recommending investments in nanotechnology, energy and broadband technology. My budget includes $38 million in bonds to complete the construction of a Nanotechnology Research Center at Georgia Tech to establish Georgia as a global leader in this emerging industry. To ensure Georgia's energy future, I am budgeting $2 million to seed research on developing alternative fuels, such as expanding our BioRefinery program at the University of Georgia. ...
"... The third area of investment is broadband. ... The goal of my Broadband Initiative is to ensure that every Georgia community is plugged in to the global economy with the broadband connectivity that individuals and businesses need. I will ask the OneGeorgia Authority to establish a $5 million grant program to support rural broadband access. In addition, I am also proposing a $5 million initiative at the Georgia Technology Authority to partner with at least three Georgia cities to bring wireless broadband 'WiFi' to their areas."
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Individual State, Technology, Policy, Government
Type: News Item
State(s): Georgia
Governor Janet Napolitano, State-of-the-State Address, embraces new communication & information technologies
Source: SSTI
"To expand Arizona's prosperity, we will provide $100 million in smart tax relief that strengthens our economy and invests in new technologies that will create the jobs of the future. ...
"... A thriving economy means an economy that takes advantage of the jobs and technology of the future. If we want Arizona to be the high-tech powerhouse it can be, we need to invest in the research and innovation that will produce it.
"To that end, I ask you to support creation of Innovation Arizona, that will be the public part of a public-private partnership to improve Arizona's science and technology standing in the world. Innovation Arizona has two charges - first, to provide funding that will attract world-class researchers to Arizona; and second, to support research into new products and technologies that can be commercialized and brought to the market. We're going to emphasize the cutting edge in everything we do here - whether it's sustainable systems technology, nano-tech, bio-tech, defense-tech, aerospace tech or new communications and information technology. Together, we will continue to make Arizona a leader in the 21st century economy."
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Policy, Government, Economic Development
Type: News Item, Presentations
State(s): Arizona
Governor Jennifer Granholm and CIO Teresa Takai
According to Center for Digital Government’s 2004 Digital States Survey, Michigan sets the standard for using technology to serve citizens and improve government operations. Governor Jennifer Granholm and CIO Teresa Takai are leading the statewide effort to boost the use of technology. The Freedom to Learn program provides laptops to middle-school students, and is part of a broader pursuit of a computer in every home, as well as broadband access to every home and business.
Granholm and Takai are focused on consolidation of and leveraging of IT.
Subjects: Technology, Policy, Education & Research, Government, General Public
Type: Policy/Regulation
State(s): Michigan
Group to seek bids for huge public wireless network
Silicon Valley leaders have a bold vision of a public wireless network stretching from East Palo Alto to Santa Cruz. What they don't have yet: a detailed plan or a way to pay for it.
Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a coalition of business, education and local government officials, announced Thursday that it would solicit bids to build a network to turn the valley into essentially a giant wireless Internet hotspot.
If the effort succeeds, it could bring affordable Internet access to hundreds of thousands of valley residents across 1,500 square miles of territory.
The announcement adds the cities of Silicon Valley to a growing number of U.S. municipalities -- including San Francisco and Philadelphia -- that are trying to jump ahead of communications companies and offer affordable wireless Internet access.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology
Type: News Item
State(s): California
Gulf Pines Communications
Gulf Pines Communications, LLC, is an Integrated Communications Provider dedicated to the sales and services of communications and data products to businesses and residences with a high level of integrity and with a focus on building long-term client relationships.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, General Public
Type: Network/Service Provider
State(s): Mississippi
Health Information Technology could save $81 Billion a Year
Rand has weighed in on the debate over the costs and benefits of adopting electronic health records nationally, concluding that widespread adoption of health information technology could save more than $81 billion a year and improve the quality of patient care.
A Rand report published Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs says the federal government should do more to accelerate health IT adoption. Follow the above link for the full report.
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology
Type: Publication, News Item
State(s): NONE
High-def TV not ready for Net's prime time
Fans of video upload sites shouldn't expect to enjoy clips of amateur singers, bikini-clad dancing girls or mouse-eating centipedes streamed in high definition anytime soon.
While Hollywood and the consumer electronics industry are gambling on new high-definition video formats and televisions, there may not be enough room in the Net's pipes or in the servers offering video streams to make HD videos, which can require twice as much broadband capacity as traditional videos, a regular part of the Internet viewing experience.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology, Business
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
High-speed Internet Over Power Lines Could Save Millions
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dionne Searcey dionne.searcey@wsj.com and Rebecca Smith] Current Communications Group LLC and TXU Electric Delivery plan to offer high speed Internet access over electric power lines to over two million customers in Texas by the end of 2006. Current's rollout to a wide swath of customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and elsewhere in Texas is a sign that the technology is more than a fad. The service will be offered in TXU's traditional utility territory in North Texas, which has overlap with areas now served by Time Warner and Charter Communications as well as AT&T and Verizon Communications, which are spending billions of dollars to upgrade their networks with fiber. Under the terms of the agreement, TXU, the biggest utility company in Texas, will sign a 10-year contract for $150 million to use Current's technology to get instantaneous alerts about outages and to gather information about its electrical system. The technology eventually could be used to read meters and even to remotely shut off or turn on power, eliminating utility jobs. There are regulatory hurdles since the transmission and distribution systems that form the backbone are regulated assets and utilities must seek approval to use them in this new way. Texas became the first state this year to pass a law permitting utility holding companies to set up separate concerns, funded with shareholder dollars, that would make the investments and reap the rewards, insulating utility customers from a possible costly boondoggle.
But in most states, utilities would be expected to share profits or savings with rate payers, reducing incentive for utilities to pursue a broadband strategy. Top officials at the Federal Communications Commission have expressed support for such power-line services because they could expand the availability of high-speed Internet access to rural communities that the big providers ignore because of the cost of establishing service in areas with low concentrations of users. In suburban Washington, D.C., Current has set up a home to conduct demonstrations of its power-line broadband. Among the 5,000 people who have visited include FCC chairman Kevin Martin, former FCC chairman Michael Powell, Richard Russell, technology adviser at the White House and members of Congress.
Subjects: Technology, Business
Type: News Item
State(s): Texas
High-Speed WiMax Connectivity Demonstrated Along California Rail Line
Caltrain -- a rail line between San Francisco and San Jose -- announced a proof of concept for high-speed broadband access technology that provides continuous high-speed Internet access along a rail line at travel speeds of up to 79 miles per hour. The project, in conjunction with Intel Solution Services and Nomad Digital Ltd., is superior to the slower wireless technologies used on other rail lines, according to the release.
The proof of concept -- conducted along 16 miles of track between the Millbrae and Palo Alto stations -- was deemed a success when multiple people surfed the Internet simultaneously, watched streaming video, answered e-mail and completed a large file download all the while maintaining continuous connectivity at broadband speed.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Business, Economic Development, General Public
Type: Network/Service Provider, News Item
State(s): California
Home Broadband Adoption in Rural America
This PDF report reports that Rural Americans are less likely to log on to the internet at home with high-speed internet connections than people living in other parts of the country. By the end of 2005, 24% of adult rural Americans went online at home with high-speed internet connections compared with 39% of adults in urban and suburban areas.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
House subcommittee pushes through health IT bill
The first significant piece of health information technology legislation to come from Congress moved closer to enactment when the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee on May 24 approved the Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2006 (H.R. 4157).
The Senate passed a similar bill in November last year. The House bill now only needs the consent of the full Ways and Means committee before the House can vote on it. The House is expected pass the bill.
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology, Policy, Government, General Public
Type: News Item, Policy/Regulation
State(s): NONE
Indiana Senate OKs bill changing telecommunication rules
By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener
lstedman@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
INDIANAPOLIS The Indiana Senate gave overwhelming approval yesterday to a bill that removes price controls and most regulation of local phone service.
Senate Bill 245, approved 40-6, now goes to the House for consideration.
The bill would permit companies to raise rates modestly for three years if they make high-speed Internet services available to at least half the customers in a telephone exchange.
But after 2009 phone rates no longer would be capped and companies could charge whatever they want.
Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Wheatfield, said removing regulation will free companies to invest more in Indiana. He said it would encourage them to expand and upgrade their networks so more Hoosiers can receive the benefits of high-speed Internet.
Also, the bill allows companies that want to provide cable or video service to get blanket permission from the state, rather than negotiating one-by-one with individual communities.
Subjects: Technology, Government
Type: Network/Service Provider, News Item, Policy/Regulation
State(s): Indiana
Initiative Announced to Create a Connected Tennessee
The Tennessee Broadband Task Force announced today that national non-profit Connected Nation has begun work toward ensuring the State of Tennessee becomes a leader in the wired world by launching a statewide initiative called Connected Tennessee.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Healthcare, Individual State, Entertainment, Technology, Advocacy, Business
Type: News Item
State(s): Tennessee
IPTV: killer apps and dead horses
Time and time again, industry talk comes back to what the one "killer app" will be for IPTV as a platform. Most assume it will be video-on-demand (VoD), as the historical business case has always rested on the fact that consumers love being able to have video whenever they want it, and it allows full VCR-like functionality over the network, which includes fast-forward (or seek). Fast-forward allows a viewer to skip ads, scan past what theyve seen before and flick through material in a very efficient way. While this does put additional strain on video servers, technology is now emerging to counterbalance this.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology
Type: Application
State(s): NONE
ITU Internet Reports 2005: The Internet of Things
ITU Internet Reports 2005: The Internet of Things is the seventh in the series of "ITU Internet Reports" originally launched in 1997 by the International Telecommunication Union.
Written by a team of analysts from the Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU) of the ITU, the report takes a look at the next step in "always on" communications, in which new technologies like RFID and smart computing promise a world of networked and interconnected devices that provide relevant content and information whatever the location of the user. Everything from tires to toothbrushes will be in communications range, heralding the dawn of a new era, one in which today’s Internet (of data and people) gives way to tomorrow’s Internet of Things.
Subjects: Healthcare, Entertainment, Technology, Education & Research, Business, Economic Development, General Public, Other Countries
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
JFK papers, photos to be put on Internet
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is launching a massive project to post 48 million pages of documents, 400,000 photos and 1,200 hours of video on the Internet.
The late president's papers will be digitized first, and could be available on the Internet in 18 months, said Allan B. Goodrich, the library's chief archivist.
The entire projects, which also includes 7.5 million feet of motion-picture film and 9,000 hours of audio recordings, is expected to take a decade to complete.
Subjects: Technology, Government, History
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
Kitsap Public Utility District Deploys FTTP Network
World Wide Packets, the leading provider of Ethernet Access Networking Solutions, announced today that Kitsap Public Utility District (PUD) has constructed an all-fiber geographic network using World Wide Packets LightningEdge(R) solution interoperating with Cisco equipment in the core. Located approximately 30 minutes west of Seattle, Kitsap's network spans four cities and five unincorporated towns, providing up to 1 Gb/s bandwidth and opening new opportunities for residents and businesses.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Business, Government, Economic Development
Type: Network/Service Provider, Organization
State(s): Washington
Life, At A Gigabit a Second
Imagine what you could do with a gigabit connection to the Internet. That's Larry Smarr's job.
At the new CalIT2 Center at UC San Diego, their mission, according to Smarr, the center's director, is to "live in the future". Smarr addressed the Future in Review 2006 conference this week, and explained exactly what that means.
Subjects: Technology, Education & Research
Type: News Item, Application
State(s): NONE
Mass Digitization: Implications for Information Policy
Report from mScholarship and Libraries in Transition: A Dialogue about the Impacts of Mass Digitization Projects
Symposium held on March 10-11, 2006
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI
Subjects: Technology, Policy, Education & Research, History
Type: Publication, Policy/Regulation
State(s): NONE
Measuring Digital Opportunity for America's Children
Measuring Digital Opportunity for America's Children is a new research report released by The Children's Partnership. It is the first-ever look across four key areas to see whether Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is helping children 1) improve educational achievement, 2) lead healthier lives, 3) increase economic opportunity, and 4) participate in their communities.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Policy, Education & Research, Advocacy, General Public
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Deployment
Does broadband Internet access matter to the U.S. economy? Given how recently broadband has been adopted, little empirical research has investigated its economic impact. The analysis presented in this report represents a first attempt to measure the impact of already-deployed broadband technologies by applying controlled econometric techniques to data on broadband availability and economic performance for the entire U.S. In other words, this study differs from others in its definition of broadband as a here-and-now technology, its use of controlled statistical techniques, and its geographic scope encompassing
the entire U.S. The results support the view that broadband access does enhance economic growth and performance, and that the assumed economic impacts of broadband are real and measurable.
We find that between 1998 and 2002, communities in which mass-market broadband was available by December 1999 experienced more rapid growth in
employment, the number of businesses overall, and businesses in IT-intensive sectors, relative to comparable communities without broadband at that time.
Subjects: Technology, Business, Economic Development
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
MEGAPOP, Mississippi Economic Growth Alliance and Point of Presence
MEGAPOP, or Mississippi Economic Growth Alliance and Point of Presence, is an alliance of interested parties created to facilitate improved broadband access and education. It is a non-profit corporation that will reinvest all resources into education and last mile' rural access. The partnership includes business leaders, university presidents, economic developers, government officials and others concerned with the region's future. By enabling the establishment of this broadband network, MEGAPOP will improve North Mississippi 's long-term economic health.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology
Type: Network/Service Provider
State(s): Mississippi
Michigan Lift for BPL
A Michigan state agency has helped to obtain funding for a private company aiming to deliver broadband service over local power lines to two small communities west of the state capital in Lansing.
The Michigan Broadband Development Authority, an agency of the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth, helped to obtain a $520,000 loan for Shpigler Group Inc., a New York firm that will do business as Lighthouse Broadband and will be the first BPL (broadband-over-power-line) provider in the state, according to the MBDA.
Subjects: Technology, Business, Government
Type: News Item, Organization
State(s): Michigan
Mississippi Technology Alliance
MTA is a non-profit organization with the mission to champion innovation and technology-based economic development for the State of Mississippi.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Economic Development, General Public
Type: Organization
State(s): Mississippi
Most Unwired Cities Survey
Intel's 3rd Annual "Most Unwired Cities" survey ranks the top 100 U.S. cities and regions for the greatest wireless Internet accessibility. This year's survey reveals a growing number of diverse locations - both indoors and outdoors - where people can log on and connect to the Internet without wires.+ Today, wireless hotspots can be found at coffee shops, colleges and hotels, but they're also popping up at skate parks, pipe shops, gas stations, bowling alleys and golf courses.
Subjects: Technology, Policy, Business, Economic Development
Type: Publication, News Item
State(s): NONE
New Analysis Demonstrates Availability of TV Band Spectrum for Wireless Broadband
Revealing the extensive underutilization of frequencies that could make ubiquitous and affordable wireless broadband Internet service a reality, the New America Foundation and Free Press released a new analysis of vacant TV band spectrum in 22 major media markets represented by members of the Senate Commerce Committee. In every one of the nation's 210 media markets, unassigned TV channels, also known as "white spaces," sit dormant and unused which could be used for unlicensed wireless networks.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Policy
Type: News Item, Organization
State(s): NONE
Nine Questions for Communities
A heavily revised version of a 1999 paper that looks at the issues communities have to deal with, using the lens of broadband and economic development. The paper looks at the global Knowledge Economy, explores the notion of a "community information utility" as a permanent institution in the community, and considers how to make communities more prosperous in the face of global competition.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
Open Media Network
OMN is a free public service designed to help you enjoy a broad selection of movies, public TV and radio, video blogs and podcasts while protecting producer's copyrights.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology
Type: Video
State(s): NONE
Order Instituting Rulemaking Concerning Broadband Over Power Line Deployment by Electric Utilities in California
The Commission initiates this proceeding to encourage the deployment of Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) in California. The Broadband Deployment in California report (Broadband Report) recently adopted by the Commission in D.05-05-013 recommended that "California should encourage deployment of BPL by its electric utilities by providing regulatory certainty" (Broadband Report, p. 82). The report identifies significant potential for BPL development and recognizes that BPL could increase the competitiveness of the broadband market. BPL technology can also be used to provide a range of benefits to electric customers by improving electric service and reliability through functions such as remote meter reading, detailed identification of equipment failures, diagnostic monitoring and other applications.
Subjects: Technology, Policy, General Public
Type: Publication
State(s): California
Oregon seeks $26.5M from feds for health IT
Source: Government Health IT/FCW
BY Bob Brewin
Published on June 2, 2006
The state of Oregon plans to seek $26.5 million in federal funding to pay for the installation of electronic health record (EHR) systems at more than 4,000 doctors offices in the state, Governor Ted Kulongoski announced.
Kulongoski also announced the appointment of Dr. Jody Pettit to serve as the state Health Information Technology Coordinator to help create a statewide health information network.
Pettit chaired the Electronic Health Records and Healthcare Connectivity Subcommittee of Oregon Health Policy Commission in 2005, which supported the development of a statewide health information system.
The commission endorsed the subcommittees recommendation to promote the use of EHRs and promote interconnectivity of health information data statewide.
To deploy such a system, Kulongoski said the state needs an infusion of federal funds.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Healthcare, Individual State, Technology, Government, General Public
Type: News Item, Application
State(s): Oregon
Philadelphia OKs Wireless Internet Project
The City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a plan to blanket the city's 135 square miles with a high-speed wireless Relevant Products/Services from HP Internet connection, a measure the mayor is expected to sign soon.
If the system is fully deployed by the third quarter of 2007 as planned, Philadelphia would be the first large city to have its own wireless Internet network. EarthLink Inc. will build, operate and maintain the network under a 10-year contract.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Economic Development, General Public
Type: Network/Service Provider, News Item
State(s): Pennsylvania
Plan aims to boost Maine's economic clout
OLD TOWN - James W. Sewall Co. has been making maps for 126 years and employs 120 workers at its Maine headquarters. But as customers increasingly expect Internet access to detailed aerial photography and maps that Sewall used to send by mail, the company needs broadband computer wiring to thrive.
"Existing businesses are really going to find it difficult if improvements aren't made," said James Page, president of Sewall. "If you're looking for a technology-based industry to come to this section of the state, you are not going to get them unless they have this."
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Business, Government, Economic Development, General Public
Type: News Item
State(s): Maine
Platform of Future Software Development is the Network
Charles Cooper, Executive editor of CNET News.com writes about how the future of computing and software engineering will move towards a mobile devices on a network as opposed to a desktop machine due to the availbility of broadband.
Subjects: Technology
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget
State(s): NONE
Prescription for Improvement
As Hurricane Katrina swept across the Gulf Coast region and obliterated vital services for millions of people, 400,000 military veterans living in the region didn't have to worry about losing their medical records or access to care.
Thanks to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and its electronic medical records (EMRs) system, all veterans' medical records remained intact.
By linking data across all its medical facilities and departments, the VA guarantees both access and high-quality care to veterans when they need it -- no matter their location.
The VA has embarked on a sweeping effort to use IT throughout its health care system. The federal agency's response during Katrina is but one striking example of what happens when IT is integrated with a mission-critical business need of a government agency.
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology
Type: Policy/Regulation
State(s): NONE
Principles for an Open Broadband Future
The deployment of broadband telecommunications services could have as great an impact on society as the appearance of the printing press in the 15th century and television and radio in the 20th. Broadband technologies have the potential to bring about unprecedented benefits to consumers and to our national economy. If the U.S. adopts the right policy framework, emphasizing competition and limited regulation, the growth of broadband technologies will significantly strengthen our democracy and every individual’s economic empowerment.
Subjects: Technology, Policy, Government
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
Project Inkwell
Inkwell intends to be the standards body for computing platforms for pre-K through 12 education.
Project Inkwell's goal is to greatly increase the size and effectiveness of the pre-K through 12 education technology market by managing the synthesis of functional specifications for a ubiquitous computing platform to be employed when and where students and educators engage in learning, teaching, and professional tasks. This specification is meant to describe minimal functionality while encouraging innovation and differentiation of the Inkwell certified devices.
Subjects: Technology, Education & Research
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget
State(s): NONE
Rural Living, But With Access to High-speed Internet Service
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katie Zezima] Gov. John E. Baldacci is leading an initiative to bring wireless Internet service to 90 percent of Maine communities that meet a population threshold (five people per square mile) by 2010. Gov Baldacci, who announced the initiative, Connect Maine, last January, is also pledging universal cellphone coverage by 2008. Part of Mr. Baldacci's inspiration for the project came from his own experience driving around the state and losing cellphone coverage, said Kurt Adams, counsel to Gov Baldacci. Details are still being worked out. The state has nearly completed a program mapping out cellphone and broadband dead zones, and a task force of telecommunications company representatives, business owners and others will deliver recommendations to Gov Baldacci by the end of the month. While the price of outfitting Maine with broadband service is still being determined, it will cost roughly $55 million to build enough cell towers to cover the state, Mr. Adams said. Phone and cable companies have not expanded broadband service outside the state's large towns because they see no profit from such an investment; large areas still lack cable television service altogether. The same is true with cellular towers; coverage has been difficult because the state's 1.2 million residents are widely dispersed, and DSL, the phone companies' broadband technology, requires users to be within about three miles of a central office. Rather than underwrite the entire effort, the state will most likely use a combination of measures that could include tax incentives, direct subsidies to companies and grants to municipalities, those involved with state technology efforts said. The state is also exploring use of the federal government's Universal Service Fund to help pay for the effort.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Individual State, Technology, Business, Government
Type: News Item
State(s): Maine
Sailors Can Dock at the Internet for Free
Annapolis has gone wireless. On Saturday, Annapolis Wireless Internet launched free public wireless Internet access in the downtown historic district. Sailors, tourists and residents can access the service as long as they are within range of Annapolis Wireless's new WiFi HotSpot, which is most accessible near Ego Ally
Subjects: Technology, General Public
Type: News Item
State(s): Maryland
SDG&E to Test Broadband on Power Lines
San Diego Gas & Electric said yesterday (July 21, 2005) that it will launch a small, pilot project in September to provide broadband access over its power lines, marking the first California trial of a technology that could someday make every electrical outlet a portal to the Internet.
Subjects: Technology
Type: News Item
State(s): California
Seven-step Program for Community Information Strategies
While some neighborhoods in American cities are resurgent, many others remain stubbornly entrenched in a cycle of underinvestment. A contributing factor is thatdespite thriving immigrant populations, high volumes of cash transactions, and relatively stable housing marketsthese neighborhoods are victims of an urban information gap which undervalues their commercial potential. The importance of good information for private and public investments is widely acknowledged, but fragmented funding, lack of standards, and spotty data has impeded either effective or universal use of these tools. This paper sets forth seven steps for practitioners and investors to follow in investing in local community information initiatives and, in turn, close the urban information gap and accelerate investment in these markets.
Subjects: Technology, Advocacy, Economic Development, General Public
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
Sign of the Times: Deaf-education departments find new uses for online videoconferencing
In a computer laboratory here one recent afternoon, four high-school students are deep in excited, one-on-one conversations with tutors.
They are students at the Delaware School for the Deaf, and their conversations with their tutors, deaf-education students at Valdosta State University, in Georgia, are conducted in sign language, transmitted by Internet videoconferencing.
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology, Education & Research, General Public
Type: News Item, Application
State(s): NONE
Smart Home Vendors Must Focus on Products that Provide Functional Value
The premise behind the smart home is to use networking technology to integrate appliances, devices and services within the home in an effort to control and monitor the entire living space from a remote location as well as within the home.
However there has yet to be widespread consumer demand for products found in a smart home. This is because consumers have high expectations for both performance and ease of use. Several factors such as pervasive Internet access, home network growth and the acceleration of broadband access to many homes are driving consumer awareness of smart homes and smart home products.
Subjects: Technology, Business, General Public
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget, News Item
State(s): NONE
SmartWear Technologies Prepares to Launch Innovative Product Line
SmartWear Technologies, Inc. an emerging company in the research and production of wireless applications for consumer purposes, is developing new ways to bring wireless technologies into everyday use, and directly addresses Anti-Abduction and Rescue Applications.
SmartWear bases its innovative wireless applications on Technology that is proven and functional in industries from retail to air transportation. SmartWear leverages wireless technology to create early-detection systems, and envisions incorporating its patented technology into practical consumer products designed to monitor the whereabouts of children or locate missing persons.
The company's first products, incorporate RFID tags embedded in clothing of children, which allows parents to monitor the child's whereabouts and trigger an alarm if the child leaves a designated area or crosses a boundary.
Outside the home, SmartWear can help Law Enforcement or Search and Rescue locate children or missing persons who have been abducted or are missing. In the future, SmartWear will be adapted to a variety of monitoring and locating systems and interface with law enforcement and AMBER alerts.
Source: http://freshnews.com/news/telecom-wireless/article_25389.html
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology, Business, General Public
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget, News Item, Application
State(s): NONE
Sony Adds Web Browser to PSP
Sony Corp. is adding Internet access to its Play Station Portable in a bid to increase the mobile gaming device's appeal as a handheld entertainment center, the company said on Wednesday, August 24, 2005.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget, News Item
State(s): NONE
Sony DataTiles
Definitely watch the video! The DataTiles system integrates the benefits of two major interaction paradigms: graphical and physical user interfaces. Tagged transparent tiles are used as modular construction units. These tiles are augmented by dynamic graphical information when they are placed on a sensor-enhanced flat panel display. They can be used independently or can be combined into more complex configurations, similar to the way language can express complex concepts through a sequence of simple words.
Subjects: Technology
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget, Video
State(s): NONE
Sony's Instant Video Everywhere
IVE (pronounced "ivy") is Instant Video Everywhere. Sony's IVE Service, powered by GlowPoint, is a user friendly video communication solution that makes placing a video call as easy and spontaneous as using the telephone – with the power of face to face communications.
Subjects: Technology, Business, General Public
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget, Application, Software
State(s): NONE
State Networks
Currently the state has at least 4 major networks; a WAN formerly known as GOVnet, interconnects state government local networks and provides internet access and some internet access for K-12; primarily leased, backbone consists of 10Mbps Ethernet links upgradeable to 100 Mbps; a voice telecommunications network; plus a public safety voice and data network (digital microwave and fiber) with a core OC-3, with T-1 spurs; and a wireless network both operated by the Dept. of Public Safety.
Subjects: Technology, Education & Research, Government
Type: Network/Service Provider
State(s): Vermont
Statewide Wireless Tribal Broadband Network
Statewide Wireless Tribal Broadband Network is a testbed developed by the Albuquerque HPC Center of the UNM, the Pueblo Tribal National of NM, and the Bands of Mission Indians in CA.
Subjects: Technology, Education & Research, General Public
Type: Network/Service Provider
State(s): New Mexico
Study of File Formats Traversing the Peer-to-Peer Networks
This presentation given by CacheLogic presents a market study of file formats traversing the Peer-to-Peer Networks that identifies the formats of choice for audio and video files among file traders. This first-ever, truly definitive study is based not on estimates, but on actual packet data and traffic levels analyzed at Tier-One ISPs (Internet Service Providers) worldwide.
Subjects: Technology
Type: Publication, News Item, Presentations
State(s): NONE
Study: World's digital divide is narrowing
The digital divide is narrowing as citizens in emerging markets get online via computers and mobile phones, with some regions now on a par with developed nations, a ranking of Web-savvy countries showed Wednesday.
"Encouraging is the apparent narrowing of the digital divide," said the annual "e-readiness" study published by IBM and the intelligence unit of British magazine The Economist.
rankings
"This is particularly evident in basic connectivity: Emerging markets are providing the vast majority of the world's new phone and Internet connections," the study found.
Subjects: Technology, General Public, Other Countries
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
Telemedicine slashes hospital stays
A British telemedicine project has halved the time patients spend in the hospital by enabling doctors to monitor their condition remotely. Using the system to manage chronic respiratory diseases, doctors in Carlisle have managed to reduce hospital stays for some patients from 10 days to 5.5 days.
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology, General Public, Other Countries
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
Telepak Networks
Telepak Networks, Inc. is a full service provider of Internet, Telecommunications and Network services. Telepak Networks, via fiber optic and other broadband facilities, specializes in offering cost-efficient bandwidth necessary for data networking and telecommunication services to other carriers, ISPs, universities, governmental agencies, hospitals and businesses. Telepak Networks also provides Internet services, such as dedicated access, dialup, DSL, e-commerce, web development and hosting solutions, as well as local and long distance service on a single bill for homes and businesses.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, General Public
Type: Network/Service Provider
State(s): Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee
The Children's Partnership Report -- Measuring Digital Opportunity for America's Children
The Children's Partnership has released a report titled Measuring Digital Opportunity for America's Children: Where We Stand and Where We Go From Here. The report showed that
Information and Communications technology positively impacts the lives of youth, particularly around four critical areas of their lives health, education, workforce development, and civic participation. It also identified a troubling digital gap, showing that many youth miss out on these opportunities.
Subjects: Healthcare, Technology, Education & Research
Type: Publication
State(s): NONE
The City of Seattle Broadband Initiative RFI
(PDF document) The City of Seattle is issuing this RFI to gather comments, conceptual frameworks, and indications of interest and to identify partnership teams from private parties interested in and capable of partnering with the Cith of Seattle to create a competitive fiber to the premises broadband (FTTP) network serving the City, its citizens, businesses and institutions.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, General Public
Type: Publication
State(s): Washington
U.S. Optical Fiber Communities in 2005
398 communities in 43 states
with customers served today via fiber to the home
Subjects: Technology, Advocacy
Type: News Item, Organization
State(s): NONE
USDA funds available for expansion of rural telcom technologies
Agriculture Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner has announced the approval of $34.6 million in USDA Rural Development funds to support the development and expansion of rural telecommunication technologies in targeted rural areas in the states of Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire and Virginia. Conner made the announcement at the Indiana State Fair, prior to holding the eighth in a series of USDA Farm Bill Forums that are currently being held around the country by Agriculture Secretary, Mike Johanns, Conner and other USDA officials. The funding will bring first-time telephone service to remote areas of Michigan, and for the first time, USDA will finance broadband infrastructure using electric power lines.
Source: NECA
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Government
Type: News Item, Funding Source
State(s): Alabama, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Virginia
VERIZON BILL LIVES IN TEXAS
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has signed a proclamation that called the 79th
session of the legislature back into session, specifically to consider
legislation related to further competition in the telecommunications
market, another proposal to provide broadband over power lines and a
proposal for state authority over cable and video services. A broad-based
telecommunications-reform bill, including proposed state authority over
franchising, failed during the regular session when time ran out for its
passage.
[SOURCE: Benton's Communication/Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
Subjects: Technology, Business, Government
Type: Legislation
State(s): Texas
Verizon To Offer Cable In Maryland
[SOURCE: Benton Communications/Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dina ElBoghdady]
Verizon Communications broke into Maryland's cable television market as the Howard County Council voted unanimously last night to grant the company a franchise, giving the telecommunications giant another victory in its effort to expand its array of services nationwide. Under the agreement, Verizon could start rolling out cable television service in parts of the county in early March, though it has yet to announce pricing. The New York company would have three years to build a fiber-optic network in the eastern, most populated part of the county and a total of seven years to reach the more rural areas. Verizon has won similar agreements in six other
states, including Virginia, which has approved franchises in Fairfax
County, Fairfax city, the town of Herndon and the Marine base in Quantico.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Business, General Public
Type: Network/Service Provider, News Item
State(s): Maryland
Virginia Will Expand Access to High-Speed Networks
Virginia's K-12 schools, museums and libraries will be among the first in the nation to connect to both the National LambdaRail and Internet2 -- providing better access to educational and research resources worldwide. Through a new program co-sponsored by a group of Virginia research universities -- including the University of Virginia -- and the Virginia Community College System, schools, museums and libraries connected to NetworkVirginia will be able to connect to either NLR or Internet2 or both at no additional cost.
Subjects: Technology, Education & Research, General Public
Type: Network/Service Provider, News Item
State(s): Virginia
Warner Bros. to use File Sharing Network to Sell Films and TV Shows in Europe
Warner Bros. said Monday it would soon begin selling movies and television shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland using a peer-to-peer network, embracing the very technology that has rattled the entertainment industry.
Starting in March, the new service called In2Movies will allow paying consumers to download a limited selection of Warner Bros. films and TV programs, including "Batman Begins" and "The O.C.," from central servers and from other users who have the desired files.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology, Other Countries
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
Warp Speed for Wireless Networks
BusinessWeek Online article which does a good job of defining the various wireless technology options on the horizon. Our favorite part is the chart at the end.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology
Type: Publication, News Item
State(s): NONE
When Pigs Wi-Fi
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: August 7, 2005
HERMISTON, Ore.
This is cowboy country.
But Hermiston is actually a global leader of our Internet future. Today, this chunk of arid farm country appears to be the largest Wi-Fi hot spot in the world, with wireless high-speed Internet access available free for some 600 square miles. Most of that is in eastern Oregon, with some just across the border in southern Washington.
Driving along the road here, I used my laptop to get e-mail and download video - and you can do that while cruising at 70 miles per hour, mile after mile after mile, at a transmission speed several times as fast as a T-1 line.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Individual State, Technology, General Public
Type: Network/Service Provider, News Item
State(s): Oregon
Where is the Market Demand for Broadband?
A commentary by Andy Oram
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Policy, Business, Economic Development
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
Who owns the Internet?
This map shows the North American Internet, or more specifically a map of just about every router on the North American backbone, (there are 134,855 of them for those who are counting). The colors represent who each router is registered to.
Subjects: Technology
Type: Blog/Wiki
State(s): NONE
Wi-Fi the Highway
An integral stretch of highway that runs north and south through the US is wireless in Arizona.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Government
Type: News Item
State(s): Arizona
Wi-Fi to ride N.M. commuter rail
New Mexico plans to offer Wi-Fi service to passengers on its new commuter rail service, which will connect Belen to Santa Fe, said Roy Soto, the states chief information officer.
Soto said that although the state has not finalized details for the Wi-Fi service, he thinks it will be free. Albuquerque already offers free Wi-Fi service at the Sunport International Airport and on 12 Rapid Ride buses that serve the downtown area and the University of New Mexico.
Subjects: Individual State, Technology, Government, General Public
Type: News Item
State(s): New Mexico
Will Broadband Connectivity Be a Key Illinois Campaign Issue?
Carlini's Comments, ePrairie's oldest column, runs every Wednesday. This spunky article addresses the question "Should the next governor of Illinois be able to tell the difference between a gigabit and a Cheese Tidbit cracker?"
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Policy, Economic Development
Type: News Item
State(s): Illinois
Will Pod People Rule Wisteria Lane?
It's going to be fascinating to see just how much the ongoing shift in viewing habits, and people's growing willingness to pay to watch what they really want to see, will influence future network license fee negotiations. Some folks say the new technology and all the new portable devices may be even a bigger boon to shows on the bubble or that have a small but fervid fan base. Skewing young is especially important because it's the teenyboppers who are the natural target audience for these emerging technologies.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology, General Public
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
WiMAX: The Rebel Broadband
This presentation by Eric M. Mantion explores the market and possibilities for the deployment of WiMAX equipment by both telcos as well as new entrants. The presentation is best viewed with IE 5.0 or later, Netscape 7.0 or later or IE 5.2.2 or later on a Mac.
Subjects: Technology, Business, General Public
Type: Presentations, Audio
State(s): NONE
Wireless Anarchy
Wireless Anarchy is a site which is all about showcasing the tools and information necessary for you to create your own long range wireless infrastructure, without having to pay anyone or jump through government hoops. Cheaply and easily, using off the shelf equipment, and a little ingenuity, folks can create their own wireless networks.
Subjects: Technology, General Public
Type: Appliance/Device/Gadget, Mailing List
State(s): NONE
Wireless in the Enterprise - Eweek.com Special Report
The demand is explosive: They want it on trains, and they want it with their lattes at Starbucks. That's why we're tuned in to bringing you breaking news on the latest and hottest gadgets, how to rig your wireless architecture, how governmental regulation impacts Wi-Fi in the enterprise, and more.
Subjects: Technology, Business
Type: Network/Service Provider, Appliance/Device/Gadget, Publication, News Item
State(s): NONE
Wireless Plan to Bring 1 Gbps to Homes
Wi-Fi activist and gadfly Dewayne Hendricks, CEO of The Dandin Group Inc., a San Francisco Bay area WISP and consulting/systems integration firm, says the telecom world is "on the cusp of a revolution." It just doesn't know it yet.
The sudden explosion of municipal Wi-Fi is one harbinger of the changes to come, but Hendricks is more excited about the emergence of countywide Wi-Fi. His company is deeply involved in one of several projects around the country, this one in Sandoval County in New Mexico, where the government has launched a $9-million, five-year program to deliver up to 1 gigabit per second to every citizenwirelessly.
Subjects: Rural/Hard to Reach Areas, Technology, Economic Development
Type: Network/Service Provider, News Item
State(s): New Mexico
World’s First International Real-time Streaming of 4K Digital Cinema over Gigabit IP Optical Fiber Networks
In a demonstration that could foretell the future of videoconferencing, scientific visualization and digital cinema deployment, scientists from around the world meeting at iGrid 2005 in San Diego were treated to the world’s first real-time, international transmission of super high-definition (SHD) 4K digital video. 4K images have roughly 4,000 horizontal pixels – offering approximately four times the resolution of the most widely-used HD television format, and 24 times that of a standard broadcast TV signal.
Subjects: Entertainment, Technology
Type: News Item
State(s): NONE
ZigBee Alliance
The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global standard.
Subjects: Technology
Type: Organization
State(s): NONE