Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Tech CEO and 'Teachers of the Year' Among Six Classroom Connections Judges

March 9, 2010

By CNNMoney.com

Application, Video Deadline Approaching for Windstream Charitable Program

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.,-- Windstream Corp. (Nasdaq:WIN) has chosen a technology non-profit executive and two state Teachers of the Year as judges for its Classroom Connections program, which will provide public schools in Windstream's service area the opportunity to receive up to $100,000 for technology-related upgrades.

All public and public charter schools in Windstream's 16-state residential service area are encouraged to apply for Classroom Connections. Applications and videos must be submitted online at www.windstream.com/classroom by March 19, 2010. Four $25,000 donations will be made in May. Ten $5,000 Spirit Awards will be made in September.

The six judges are:

Brian Mefford is chairman and chief executive officer of Connected Nation, Inc., a Washington D.C.-based non-profit that maps the availability of broadband services and improves broadband deployment and adoption throughout the United States.

Paul Kuhlman, the 2009 South Dakota Teacher of the Year, teaches high school science and math at Avon High School in Avon, S. D.

Lori Neurohr, the 2009 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year, is a second-grade teacher at Kohler Elementary School in Kohler, Wis.

David Avery is director of corporate communications for Windstream.

Susan Bradley is Windstream's senior vice president of human resources.

Ric Crane is executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Windstream.

A complete overview of the Classroom Connections program, instructions for applying and submitting videos, a listing of eligible service areas and the winning videos from 2009, can be found online at www.windstream.com/classroom. The deadline to apply is March 19.

Link to article here.

Labels: Brian Mefford, Windstream

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Statewide broadband gets a boost

February 25, 2010

By Stephen Rickerl
The Southern

CARBONDALE - A new website launched Wednesday by Connect Illinois offers users new tools that they hope will narrow the digital divide.

Connect Illinois, a public and private partnership led by the Office of the Governor and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, is partnered with Connect SI, Connected Nation and Man-Tra-Con Corporation. The goal of Connect Illinois is to bring broadband access to un-served and underserved regions throughout Illinois.

BroadbandStat was launched via a webinar and utilizes Geographic Information System (GIS) technology that will allow users to access data related to current broadband availability, population and education demographics and scenarios for broadband expansion.

BroadbandStat offers a picture of broadband data and makes the information accessible to the public. Connect Illinois hopes that BroadbandStat will help consumers, technology providers and policy makers formulate a plan to expand and adopt broadband.

Rex Duncan of Connect SI said the new website will help analyze the broadband situation in Southern Illinois in terms of understanding broadband connectivity.

"We have not seen data like this before," Duncan said. "This will provide data on what kind of access is available and what providers are available." Duncan said the map will help users visualize un-served areas that could lead to individuals or businesses considering capital investment opportunities.

Currently, the Connect Illinois mapping project covers 93 percent of all Illinois households or 4.28 million households. Duncan said this is the most in-depth mapping program to date, but said there will be more mapping yet to come.

stephen.rickerl@thesouthern.com

Link to article here.

Labels: BroadbandStat, Connect Illinois

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

ESRI Broadband Mapping Debuts on Capitol Hill

February 23, 2010

By GISCafe.com

ESRI's BroadbandStat, a new application for mapping, analyzing, and validating data about high-speed Internet availability, debuted on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in January. ESRI demonstrated the application to policy makers, industry executives, and government agency representatives at two venues, the Technology Policy Exhibition and State of the Net Conference. The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, a private-sector organization that educates policy makers on Internet-related issues, sponsored both events.

BroadbandStat was developed in conjunction with Connected Nation, a nonprofit corporation and leader in promoting broadband expansion. The application gives states the ability to build and evaluate broadband expansion scenarios that take into account demographics, current broadband availability, and adoption barriers such as public access to computers. States can use the results to pinpoint where the expansion of new broadband services will help support local economic development. States can also post interactive maps of broadband coverage on the Internet to share the information with the public and receive feedback.

Jon Gant, a professor at the University of Illinois, Champaign, who attended the exhibition, was impressed by the BroadbandStat user-friendly interface. "Look at how smoothly the graphics transition from query to query," said Gant, who teaches GIS classes and has used GIS data for more than 20 years.

BroadbandStat results are also useful to broadband service providers.

"BroadbandStat is a very important tool," said Bob Mayfield, managing partner of Electronic Communications Systems, a small broadband provider in Tennessee. "For providers to be able to look at the market as we are developing our business plans—to see where broadband exists and where the demand is—this is the best thing that's come out in a while," Mayfield added.

The State of Tennessee is using BroadbandStat to post maps of statewide coverage on its Connected Tennessee Web site at www.connectedtn.org.

Eleven other states and the territory of Puerto Rico are currently ramping up to use BroadbandStat. The State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program recently granted more than $20 million to support mapping projects that use the application in these states and Puerto Rico. The funds were made available through the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

For more information on BroadbandStat, visit www.esri.com/bbstat.

Link to article here.

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