A Presentation Before the Minnesota Broadband Advisory Task Force

Providing a perspective on the Minnesota broadband initiative

Connected Nation’s Brent Legg and Phillip Brown had the opportunity to educate the newly appointed members about the history and current activities of the Connect Minnesota initiative during the second meeting of the new Minnesota Broadband Advisory Task Force on September 30th.

Their appearance before the Task Force coincided with Connect Minnesota’s recent award of approximately $2.7 million, under the federal government’s State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program (SBDD), to further implement broadband initiatives over the original five-year award period. The new funding will:

- Extend the mapping updates through 2014
- Allow for the hiring of a state broadband coordinator
- Support an annual broadband summit
- Facilitate county level research and business adoption (yrs 2 and 5)
- Expand state level research on residential and business adoption (yrs 3 and 4)
- Foster independent research peer review
- Support the Task Force

A key aspect of the presentation was a discussion of the Connect Minnesota Residential Technology Assessment where 1,207 Minnesota residents were randomly surveyed regarding computer ownership, broadband adoption, awareness of available broadband service, and residential uses for the Internet.

For more information about what Connect Minnesota is doing to accelerate technology in Minnesota’s communities, visit http://www.connectmn.org/.

Related Links:

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2010/09/27/daily16.html?surround=lfn