FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Calls Closing the Digital Divide “One of the Most Important Civil Rights Issues Of Our Time.”

By Chris McGovern, Manager, Research Development, Connected Nation

Last week, the Minority Media and Telecom Council (MMTC) hosted its 2011 Broadband and Social Justice Summit. Among the many high-profile speakers at this conference, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called closing the Digital Divide for every socioeconomic group “one of the most important civil rights issues of our time,” affecting individuals’ ability to apply for jobs and access healthcare. Connected Nation research shows that there are adoption gaps among every socioeconomic and demographic group, but these gaps are broader among particular racial/ethnic lines. For example, Connected Nation research shows that in the states/territories that CN serves, 28.3 million adults do not have home broadband service. This includes approximately 3.2 million African Americans, 6.2 million Hispanics, and 400,000 Native Americans. Altogether, minorities make up a much larger share of non-adopters than adopters.


The factor that remains consistent across all of these racial/ethnic groups is that the top barriers to broadband adoption are the lack of a home computer and the belief that they do not need home broadband service. This belief that home broadband is just an unnecessary luxury highlights the need for locally-driven digital literacy programs that help families see the importance of having home broadband service because, as Chairman Genachowski pointed out, “the costs of digital exclusion are rising.”

Chairman Genachowski’s comments can be found here: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-304191A1.pdf.

To increase home broadband adoption in Ohio, Connect Ohio recently launched the Every Citizen Online program that showcases the many educational, healthcare, economic, and communication benefits of home broadband adoption.

Greenup County Schools in Kentucky Launch Unique Program to Help Students, Local Families

Computer recipient Mary Alfrey learns more about her new machine from Greenup County Schools Chief Information Officer Tony Carr. Greenup County High School students are refurbishing older computers from the school system, which will be donated to deserving families.

Greenup County students are getting a unique chance to give back to their community while learning valuable IT job skills. On Tuesday, January 25, ConnectKentucky’s Computers 4 Kids program announced that 150 refurbished computers will be donated to Greenup County families as part of a computer refurbishing program underway at Greenup County High School.

The Greenup County program is unique. The Greenup County Public School system will take older computers from throughout the school system and upgrade them through a computer refurbishment program for teens at Greenup County High School.

High school students will be trained on how to refurbish the computers, which otherwise would have been headed to a local landfill. The students, who are seeking A+ certification in information technology, will reformat the hard drives, install new memory, and make other upgrades to the machines.

The computers will then be distributed to disadvantaged families as identified through the Family Resource and Youth Service Centers in Greenup County. Along with the computers, recipients will receive a printer donated by Lexmark International.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we profile students from the classes and talk with families receiving their “new” computers.

Related Links:

In the News: Rebuilding Computers for Others Without One (WSAZ-TV, 01/25/11)
Press Release: ConnectKentucky’s Computers 4 Kids Program Facilitates Computer Refurbishment, Donation in Greenup County

Broadband Platforms Vary Greatly By State

By Phillip Brown, Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy, Connected Nation

At Connected Nation, we spend a great deal of time analyzing the large amount of data we collect on a daily basis. The importance of data collection and research as the foundation for effective programs to drive broadband deployment and adoption just can’t be overstated. Last week we described how broadband speed availability can differ greatly from state to state. This demonstrates that examining broadband progress of the country as a whole can only tell part of our broadband story. To get the full tale, one simply has to dig deeper, which is what we do at Connected Nation.

In the next chapter of the story, we look at how broadband deployment varies by platform at the state level (we also examine these data at a county level, which provides our state partners a wealth of knowledge about what’s going on inside their borders). Connected Nation did in-depth research in ten states, covering more than 1,400 broadband providers. The results found all states have broadband available via multiple broadband platforms. But, some states vary greatly in the degree of penetration by some platforms. For example, in Nevada there is high penetration of cable, DSL, and fixed wireless platforms but fiber to the home is very scarce. By contrast, almost 9% of households in Iowa and just more than 6% in Tennessee have fiber-to-the-home.

Mobile broadband service is fairly ubiquitous across most states, in many cases with penetration to more than 97% of households. This 3G footprint is the foundation of the next generation 4G mobile platform and implies that, in most states, mobile providers are well positioned to rollout rapidly their 4G networks.

Click to enlarge image

Related Links:
Download ‘The State of the Broadband Market’ (pdf)

Blog: Broadband Mapping Key to Informing the USF Debate

Blog: Broadband Infrastructure Varies Greatly By State

Blog: Connected Nation at 2011 State of the Net Conference: Day 1

Connected Nation Joins Lineup at the Super WiFi Summit

Connected Nation will join the nation’s leading wireless companies and trade associations at the Super WiFi Summit, taking place February 2-4, 2011.

The Super WiFi Summit represents the next evolution in the wireless experience. The opening of white space for Super WiFi will create new business opportunities and greater mobility for consumers and enterprises. The Super WiFi Summit will discuss what this opportunity will mean for service providers, local TV operators, municipalities, enterprises, and consumers.

Connected Nation Director of Engineering & Technical Services Chip Spann will be presenting with wireless visionaries including WISPA Executive Director Rick Harnish; Brough Turner, founder of netBlazr.com; Barlow Keener, attorney, Keener Law Group; Rick Whitt, Washington telecom and media counsel for Google; and others.

For agenda and the full speaker line up visit here. Connected Nation followers can register here and use priority code CSP to save 15% off current registration rates. All Super WiFI Summit registrants get access to all 4GWE session and M2M session as well.

Significance of Broadband is Examined at the 2011 MMTC Broadband and Social Justice Summit

By Wil Payton, Communications Specialist, Connected Nation

Washington, DC - A diverse group of technology experts, policymakers, educators, providers, community activists, and interested consumers came together Thursday to attend the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council’s annual Broadband and Social Justice Summit in Washington, D.C. The purpose for the summit was to stimulate an open and honest discussion about the critical social justice issues surrounding broadband access, adoption, and affordability.

This year, the discussion themes included:
• Implementing the National Broadband Plan
• The Obama Administration’s Broadband Policy Priorities
• Universal Broadband Adoption: A Civil Rights Imperative
• The Road Map to Universal Access, Adoption and Affordability

In the Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Clifford Stearns (R-FL) chairs the Oversight Subcommittee. In discussing technology issues, Stearns gave the following opinions:

Broadband’s proliferation- Broadband is exploding while traditional media is facing significant reductions in reader/viewership. From 2005 – 2010, newspaper readership decreased by 26 percent while Internet usage increased by 150 percent.

Net Neutrality- Regulating the Internet will create uncertainty in the market. Congress can resolve the issue and still let the Internet flourish.

Stimulus program- The program had a chance to be very successful but did not reach its potential because money was given out for broadband when we didn’t really know which areas were unserved.

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), considered a leading legislative champion of minority telecommunications entrepreneurship, believes that minority businesses are falling behind their white counterparts and there needs to be more effective promotion of broadband adoption in the black community. “Broadband is good for our students, good for business, and good for the economy,” said Rush. “We need to employ courageous and audacious approaches.”

Anna Gomez is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Secretary Gomez expressed the position that broadband deployment is important, but broadband adoption is also important.

“There is no one-size fits all solution to closing the digital divide,” said Gomez. She believes that a combination of approaches makes sense including targeted outreach to minority and rural populations emphasizing the benefits of broadband.

Gomez announced the NTIA’s commissioning of a multi-use study to access the impact of grant awards on broadband availability and adoption in the communities that they serve. “The results of this rigorous evaluation will help inform government on the return of our investment as well as identify factors that can inform future private and/or public sector investments.”

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski joined the discussion and gave some insight on the aftermath of the release of the National Broadband Plan.

“Released March 16, 2010, it put out a bold vision for using broadband for achieving first class digital citizenship. Unfortunately, for the last nine months after the plan was put out there, all of the air was sucked out of the policy room by Net Neutrality,” Genachowski said. “Nearly every conversation at the Commission shifted away from implementing the National Broadband Plan and toward attempting to shape the Net Neutrality rules.”
He went on to state that, “If 2010 was the year of broadband regulation, 2011 will be the year of broadband adoption.”

Founded in 1986, the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council promotes equal opportunity and civil rights in the mass media and telecommunications industries.

State Broadband Inventories and FCC Estimates

By Sarah Graham, Communications Specialist, Connected Nation

With the national broadband map on its way for release next month, a wealth of never-before gathered information on the state of broadband in America will be open for discussion. Speed data, we believe, will be particularly important to examine.

The FCC estimates that 95% of national households have access to – or will soon have – broadband at the national target speeds of 4 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. At Connected Nation, our advertised speed data for 10 states and Puerto Rico show a different picture, varying greatly from state to state.

Click on image to enlarge

For example, in Alaska, approximately 76 percent of Alaska households have access to 3 Mbps download speeds and approximately 73 percent have access to 6 Mbps download speeds. Comparatively, in Ohio, nearly 98 percent of households report 3 Mbps download speeds and just under 95 percent have access to 6 Mbps download speeds.

Because of the differences, states and the federal government can use this information to determine how the current Universal Service Funds reforms under consideration by the Federal Communications Commission will affect individual states.

Related Links:

Download ‘The State of the Broadband Market’ (pdf)

Blog: Broadband Mapping Key to Informing the USF Debate

Blog: Broadband Infrastructure Varies Greatly By State

Blog: Connected Nation at 2011 State of the Net Conference: Day 1

Broadband Mapping Key to Informing the USF Debate

By Raquel Noriega, Director Public Policy, Connected Nation

Legislating Broadband Policy panel at the 2011 State of Net Conference featuring John Branscome, Senate Transportation & Commerce Committee; Roger Sherman, House Committee on Energy & Commerce; Brian Hendricks, Senate Transportation , Science & Commerce Committee; Neil Fried, Energy & Commerce Committee; and Kim Hart, Politico Reporter and Moderator.

This week, broadband stakeholders gathered in Washington, D.C., to discuss the country’s communications policy agenda at the 2011 State of the Net Conference. During a panel titled, “Legislating Broadband Policy,” key Capitol Hill staffers from both parties discussed the top communications policy priorities in the new Congress.

Both majority and minority professional staffers for the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the Senate Transportation, Science and Commerce Committee agreed that, where communications policy is concerned, there are a number of bi-partisan goals of the new Congress. The top areas where bipartisan opportunities for action exist include a review of spectrum policy in order to meet the National Broadband Plan’s objective of releasing 500 MHz of spectrum for private use (which should encourage innovation and broadband deployment as well as ensuring that the nation is well prepared to meet the challenges of public safety in the twenty-first century), as well as the Universal Service Fund reform and Intercarrier Compensation rules currently under review at the Federal Communications Commission.

Key areas of debate within the USF reform discussions include the types of services that should be subsidized within the USF program and which areas and communities should be eligible for subsidies. Should it be unserved areas where no service is currently offered, underserved areas, or areas where service may be available but at low speeds, or all of them? Either way, the key to effectively implement such programs will be based on data soon to be released by the Department of Commerce providing an inventory of broadband infrastructure.

Connected Nation is working with the Department of Commerce across 12 states and Puerto Rico to produce and update the national broadband map scheduled for release no later than February 17 of this year. This national broadband map will be a first of its kind. The rich data collected from broadband providers across the country will offer local, state, and federal policy makers an objective, reliable assessment of the current state of broadband inventory in every community across the country. This data will be essential to understanding the extent of the Universal Service challenge and to ably administer the new, reformed programs.

Connected Nation offers here some insights from broadband inventory data across the states we have mapped. The key lesson learned is that no state and no community is alike when it comes to the broadband landscape. For example, these data show many states (like Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, and South Carolina) have robust service at basic speeds, but are not in a position to meet the high-speed 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps levels of service anytime soon. Whereas other states (such as Texas, Minnesota, and Kansas) have relatively mature high capacity networks with more than 40% of households having access today to broadband of at least 50 Mbps download speeds.

Click on image to enlarge

Staffers from both sides of the aisle agree that this broadband mapping data will be essential to the implementation of a reformed USF program and the proposed Mobility Fund. Connected Nation looks forward to continuing to work with the federal government, state policy makers, and private stakeholders to update and continue validating these broadband inventory maps and placing this first-of-its-kind, rich dataset at the service of policy makers and broadband stakeholders.

Related Links:

Download ‘The State of the Broadband Market’ (pdf)
Blog: Broadband Infrastructure Varies Greatly By State
Blog: Connected Nation at 2011 State of the Net Conference: Day 1

Broadband Infrastructure Varies Greatly By State

By: Jeremy Thacker, Communications Specialist, Connected Nation

The state of the nation’s broadband infrastructure is taking center stage this week in Washington, D.C., where the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee is holding its 2011 State of the Net Conference. Participants are getting a first-hand look at new research results from Connected Nation, and one of the revelations from the nonprofit organization is just how greatly the current national broadband infrastructure varies by state.

Connected Nation did in-depth research in ten states, covering more than 1,400 broadband providers. The good news is that results found all states except for Alaska have broadband available to more than 90% of households at the NTIA’s basic download speed of 768 Kbps. But, when you look at higher speeds that compare to the minimum target set by the National Broadband Plan (NBP), the numbers are much less uniform. For example, 73% of Alaska households have broadband available at download speeds of 6 Mbps - that’s compared to 93% of households that have that speed available in Ohio, Nevada, and Texas.

The findings are even more revealing when future NBP goal speeds are considered. The research shows many states like Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, and South Carolina have robust service at basic speeds, but are not in a position to meet the high-speed 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps levels of service anytime soon.

Look for more groundbreaking research to be unveiled throughout the week as the 2011 State of the Net Conference continues.

Click on image to enlarge

Related links:

Download ‘The State of the Broadband Market’ (pdf)

Blog: Connected Nation at 2011 State of the Net Conference: Day 1

Connected Nation at 2011 State of the Net Conference: Day 1

Connected Nation is at the 2011 State of the Net Conference, sponsored by the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, which runs January 18 and 19 in Washington, D.C.

The 2011 State of the Net Conference features in-depth discussions with leading Internet policy experts and panel tracks focusing on privacy/security, telecommunications regulation, intellectual property, and innovation.

Here’s what we have seen already today:

This morning, Cameron Kerry, General Counsel, U.S. Department of Commerce, spoke as part of the conference’s opening address. Kerry pointed out some interesting facts about the impact of the Internet on employment:

• From 1998 –2008, IT employment grew by 26%
• Projected IT employment growth by 2018 – 28%

In addition, the Commerce Department has been developing a paper to examine key Internet development issues using input from key stakeholders. The synopsis is that the time has come to strengthen privacy on the Internet by:

• Developing a Privacy Bill of Rights
• Establishing enforceable codes of conduct developed by stakeholders
• Commerce department will initiate this process with new convenings
• Robust engagement with the international Internet community
• Developing policies without restrictive rules that hamper innovation

Also, during the opening keynote, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), noted:

“Both Republicans and Democrats acting on the tech policy issue have really focused on technology, the delivery systems as the be-all, end-all of tech policy without giving sufficient thought to what is driving that technology and what is responsible for its development.”

Congresswoman Blackburn advocated three provisions for technology policy:

• Creative Economy- The Incentive Economic Sector
• Intellectual Property Enforcement
• Internet is the primary marketplace

Stay tuned to our twitter feed and blog for more about the 2011 State of the Net Conference.

Rural Broadband Lag Shows Need for Special Solutions

By Phillip Brown, Director, Government Affairs & Advocacy, Connected Nation

On Thursday, January 13, 2011, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association released a study based on survey results from its member companies, which include “over 570 small and rural telephone cooperatives and commercial companies.” In its study, NTCA reports that 100% of its respondents reported offering broadband services, but that only 55% of customers have adopted broadband (which is an increase from a reported 38% adoption rate in a similar study by NTCA last year).

This study helps confirms research done by us here at Connected Nation. Our most recent consumer survey (conducted in 12 states and Puerto Rico with a sample size of 15,647 adults) of U.S. households shows a broadband adoption rate in rural America of only 54%, which is 11 percentage points below average. Further, according to Connected Nation research, computer ownership in rural America is six percentage points lower than average.

All of these data confirm that, as the public and private sectors partner together at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure all Americans have access to and are using affordable broadband services, rural America faces unique challenges (such as distance and low household density, in addition to socio-economic factors that impact all disadvantaged demographic groups) that require specialized attention and solutions.

Training Seniors for the Digital Revolution, one Facebook profile at a time

By Sarah Graham, Communications Specialist, Connected Nation

Here at Connected Nation, we are always on the lookout for cool and telling stories of the digital revolution. In an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, we found one.

The article, Teens Take Elders to Tech Boot Camp, outlined some unique programs training seniors in the ways of the Internet, technology, and social media.

Take for example Pace University’s service-learning program that sends students to retirement communities to teach residents online skills.

Not only do the students show the seniors how to use e-mail and Facebook, but the program gives the Millennials — defined as those aged 18 to 33 — the ability to experience what it means to function in a world foreign to technology.

According to the article, “students practice using computers wearing Vaseline-smeared sunglasses and cotton balls in their ears, with two of their fingers taped together.” This is a form of sensitivity training, said Jean Coppola, an associate professor who runs the Pace program.

Also, with the article, is an ever-true video of Virginia Clarkson, 83, and her senior-friendly cell phone. Check it out here. She’s funny.



At Connected Nation and our state-based initiatives, we have long been working to encourage seniors’ entrance to the digital world. We have written about it on our blog, Project GOAL Aims at Getting Grandparents Online (CN blog, April 2010) and have seen statistical examples of the significant lag that still exists.

For example, in Kansas, our Connect Kansas Residential Technology Assessment survey found that only 58 percent of the survey participants over 65 used the Internet. Comparatively, 97 percent of 18 to 34 year olds surveyed did.

More importantly, we have seen the power new technology and digital literacy plays in our family’s and friends’ lives.

My own mother went from using dial-up Internet to an Iphone in just six short months, mostly due to the needs of her teenaged and 20-something children. Now, she texts more than me!

Jay Houston, a project manager for Connected Nation, uses Skype to speak and (maybe more amusingly) “see” her father who spends his winters in Florida. Houston said her father always has the funniest faces when he “calls” on Skype.

“He doesn’t realize that I can take a snapshot and send it to my friends,” she said. However, she said, he would certainly get a kick out of the fact that she does this. “I come by it honestly,” she said. “He would probably do it to me, if he knew how.”

Related links:

Do you have a story for us? Is there a tech savvy senior out there thanks to you? Let us know!

Project GOAL Aims at Getting Grandparents Online (CN blog, April 2010)

Broadband at Schools and Libraries: Insights from the FCC’s E-Rate Evaluation

by Tom Koutsky, Chief Policy Counsel, Connected Nation

A report by the Federal Communications Commission released this week highlights the challenges that our nation’s schools and libraries continue to face in delivering and utilizing advanced broadband services and technologies. The FCC surveyed 5,000 school and library recipients of its “E-Rate” funding, which annually provides over $2 billion in support, to analyze broadband adoption and utilization among E-Rate recipients.

Congress created the E-Rate program in 1996, with the express stated goal that that fund be utilized “to enhance . . . advanced telecommunications and information services for all public and nonprofit elementary and secondary school classrooms, health care providers, and libraries.”

More recently, the National Broadband Plan set goals of high-speed, gigabit connectivity for these and other community anchor institutions, so that they can fully integrate broadband-enabled applications and services into education curricula and programs.

So where are we in relation to these goals? Well, the report shows we have some work to do.
While the FCC report shows that most E-Rate recipients – 95%—have broadband connectivity to the Internet, they do so at relatively low levels of speed. For example, only 12% of schools reported average download speeds of greater than 10 Mbps, the level noted by the FCC as being needed to support high-quality TeleLearning. Indeed, 55% of the FCC survey respondents believe that the speed of their connection is too slow to meet their needs. This broadband gap is notable because the FCC survey also reveals that 61% of E-Rate funding goes to support traditional, dial-tone services—and not broadband.

At the same time, the survey shows some positive trends. For example, 56% of responding schools state that they expect to implement or expand the use of digital textbooks in the next two to three years, and 45% expect to implement or expand the use of handheld devices such as iPads for educational purposes.

More work and research is needed to truly understand and close these gaps in school and library connectivity, and Connected Nation programs are doing just that. As part of the NTIA State Broadband Data Development program, Connected Nation affiliates in ten states and Puerto Rico are working in partnership with state and local agencies, school districts, hospitals, and librarians to collect the first-ever comprehensive, address-level database of community anchor institution broadband connectivity. This information is being incorporated into our online broadband maps.

We are also collecting information on the technology used to connect these institutions to support the development of state broadband plans. For instance, our recent Iowa Broadband Planning Report observes that 23% of community anchor institution sites in the state are connected to a fiber optic network, a figure commensurate with the 21% of schools and 13% of libraries nationwide that responded to the FCC’s E-Rate survey.

Over time the community anchor institution information collected by Connected Nation will be able to track directly progress in meeting the goals of the National Broadband Plan and ensuring that all of these anchor institutions have full access to and fully use these transformative technologies like distance learning and electronic textbooks. With particular regard to the E-Rate community of schools and libraries, that information will show where outmoded licensing and reimbursement rules are stalling the use and diffusion of broadband technology.

Connected Nation Presenting at the Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute’s Summit

Phillip Brown, Connected Nation’s Director of Government Affairs & Advocacy, is in New York City sharing Connected Nation’s experience and best practices to an audience filled with people invested in expanding and promoting broadband. Other participants include representatives of the FCC, the public utility or public service commissions of several U.S. states, broadband providers, and other non-profit organizations working to improve broadband in the U.S.

On Wednesday, January 5, Brown participated in a panel called, “New Rules of the Road: What the FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules Mean for Policymakers, Service Providers, and Consumers,” as part of the Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute’s ADVANCEDCOMM SUMMIT 2011.

The panel covered how these new rules could impact service providers, state policymakers, and consumers.

On Thursday, January 6, Brown spoke as part of a panel on the “Broadband Adoption Status Report: State & Federal Issues,” where panelists, who included Blair Levin of the Aspen Institute, a key architect of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, as well as representatives of One Economy, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and Older Adults Technology Services, discussed the progress on broadband adoption efforts throughout the United States. In addition, the discussion covered initiatives to sustain those efforts.

The Summit continues through Friday, January 7.

To learn more about how Connected Nation is participating in broadband adoption efforts, please visit our state programs webpage, http://www.connectednation.org/state_programs/. Here you will find links to all of our state-based broadband mapping and planning programs and you can explore what we are doing on this front and what we have planned for the future

Connected Nation at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

The International Consumer Electronics Show officially kicks off today.

Tens of thousands of tech enthusiasts are descending on Las Vegas for the world’s largest tech trade show. Connected Nation is sending two of its geeks to report live from the conference.

Stay tuned for more updates and be sure to follow us: www.twitter.com/connectednation.

Event:
International 2011 CES, January 6-9, 2011, Las Vegas, Nevada www.cesweb.org

News:
Five Nuggets Before Start of CES, Mark Milian & John Sutter, CNN

CES 2011: Tablets from Apple competitors will take center stage at electronics show, Cecilia Kang, Washington Post

Postcards From Geekopolis, Daisuke Wakabayashi & Don Clark, Wall Street Journal

And if you’re here:
CES Tips for 2011

Connect Ohio’s Every Citizen Online Classes Launched

The first Every Citizen Online course (left) at Pioneer Career and Technology Center in Richland County, Ohio kicked off on January 3.

Connect Ohio’s Every Citizen Online classes have officially launched.

Every Citizen Online provides free computer training sessions at public libraries and community colleges throughout Ohio and will introduce new users how to access the Internet and how to best utilize all the Internet has to offer.

The goal of the project is to showcase the many educational, healthcare, economic, and communication benefits of broadband use, and to encourage adoption by residents statewide.

This week, six local libraries and/or community centers in Ohio began the training sessions. In addition, Connect Ohio has been running public service announcements on television and radio stations thorough out the state. You can view the PSA’s here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C5EA400DC26CE4C4

Here are some recent articles about the program:

Zanesville Times Recorder - Free Computer Classes at Perry County District Library

Toledo Blade - Sandusky County library offers computer classes

This Week (Columbus) - Columbus nonprofit looks to get 'Every Citizen Online'