Difference between revisions of "New York State Council for Universal Broadband"

Revision as of 17:52, 10 March 2008

Announcement

Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced the formation on Dec. 6 2007 of a state panel to develop strategies to allow all New Yorkers to get access to high-speed Internet service. The panel, the New York State Council for Universal Broadband, will recommend ways to extend high-speed access beyond traditional methods and to extend broadband connections to under-served rural and urban areas, the governor said.

• In his speech, Spitzer set targets: affordable universal access @ 20Mbps statewide, with 100Mbps in metro areas, by 2015.
• One of the Council's first actions will be to distribute $5 million in grants.
• The panel will be led by the state's chief information officer, Melodie Mayberry-Stewart.
• The Universal Broadband initiative is a key component of the First Lady's I Live New York initiative aimed at attracting and retaining New York's next generation.

• Press Release
• Transcription / video of the announcement (Ffwd to 12:33)

Goals

New York State divides roughly into two regions: the Digital Corridor that includes the greater New York City region and areas near the Thruway; and the rest of the state, in general more sparsely populated and, more importantly, distant from the main fiber right of way.

• By the year 2010, the goal is to achieve an average network connectivity speed of at least 1 megabit per second in each direction.
• In the Digital Corridor, the goal by 2010 is to be at least 20 megabits per second in each direction.
• By 2015 the goal is to achieve an average network connectivity speed of at least 20 megabits per second in each direction, and 100 megabits per second in each direction within the Digital Corridor.
• For some parts of New York, e.g. the Adirondack Park, environmental considerations will likely make wireless a necessary component of achieving 20 megabit per second speeds.

Structure

1. The NYS Council for Universal Broadband will be created as an advisory group of key state agency departments, legislative representatives, academia, public and private partners to develop and deploy innovative approaches to increase broadband penetration and digital literacy in underserved and unserved rural communities. This group will provide strategic guidance for successfully implementing the broadband strategy. In addition, this group will effectively assess and provide recommendations from the various action teams to accomplish the broadband access strategic goals.
2. Action Teams under the direction of the Council, will be created that consist of public and private stakeholders and subject matter experts, who will work collaboratively to develop innovative strategies to deploy broadband, and increase the level of digital literacy throughout the state. The action teams will be accountable to the Council. Each action team will have a chair and at least one co-chair and will be no less than 8 members and no more than 20.
3. The Council will launch the NYS Discussion Series for broadband providers and other broadband experts to assist the state in mobilizing private, academic and public resources to design and deploy innovative solutions to achieve the goals of the broadband strategy. The discussion series will be undertaken to foster an open dialogue with broadband providers on how to successfully implement the statewide broadband strategy. The broadband discussions will be held as needed to provide feedback and advice to the Council.
4. The Universal Broadband Program Management Office (PMO) will be established within NYS CIO/OFT to provide technical programming, program management, project management, grant administration and governance support. The PMO will be tasked with developing and implementing the overall project plan, action plans and results-oriented timelines agreed to by the NYS Council for Universal Broadband for soliciting public/private partnerships via broadband grant RFPs, reviewing grant award recommendations to the Council, and evaluating and measuring the impact of the awards on local communities.

Action Teams

• Broadband Network Infrastructure Access Action Team

One focus of this action team is to identify and map the State to baseline areas with and without broadband access infrastructures. This mapping effort will focus on unserved and underserved rural and urban communities. The mapping will include existing and planned state-owned networks. Also, this action team will mobilize private, public and academic expertise to implement innovative technologies for delivering cost-effective and reliable broadband Internet services. Finally, this team will develop recommendations and a plan to leverage current networks and infrastructures to accelerate statewide coverage.

Chair: Tim Lance, President, NYSERNet

Vice Chair: Sharon Cates-Williams, Commissioner, Suffolk County

Vice-Chair: John Kolb, Chief Information Officer, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Support: Dan Corcoran, Acting Director of Computing Network Services CIO/OFT

• Personal Computing, Community Outreach, Communications, Consumer Education, Technology Procurement Action Team

This action team will focus on programs to address affordability, computer ownership and adoption, digital literacy, and consumer education. It will focus on proficiency training and exploring computer procurement incentives for those trapped in the digital divide. Also, the action team will focus on raising awareness and educating citizens about the benefits of universal broadband use to improve their quality of life.

Chair: Michael Borges, Director, NY Library Association

Vice-Chair: Joe Bowman, Regent, NYS Board of Regents

Vice-Chair: Gale Brewer, Member, New York City Council

Support: Dan Healy, Deputy CIO for Customer Development, CIO/OFT

• E-Government Applications for Low-Income Households

This action team will focus on improving and increasing access to government services offered online. The team will promote the development of open, simple and secure online applications with measurable outcomes. An initial group of “early adopters” of government services have been identified to integrate into digital learning programs.

Chair: Dan Chan, Chief Information Officer, NYS OTDA

Vice-Chair: Ed Hemminger, President, NYS Local Government IT Directors Association

Vice-Chair: Patrick Hooker, Commissioner, NYS Agriculture and Markets

Support: Ellen Kattleman, Director of Application Delivery Services, CIO/OFT

• Economic Development and IT Workforce Development

This action team will focus on building stronger economies, promote the economic growth of New York State by focusing on increasing business activity, identifying and implementing public/private partnerships, and strategies to create and maintain a skilled and professional workforce by leveraging broadband to accelerate job creation in unserved and underserved communities.

Chair: Bob McNary, Director of Community Dev., Empire State Development Corp

Vice-Chair: Mario Musolino, Deputy Commissioner, NYS Department of Labor

Vice Chair: Howard Lowe, Director of Technical Assistance, SUNY Plattsburgh

Support: Julie Leeper-Evans, Director of IT Governance Support Services, CIO/OFT

• Governmental Initiatives

This action team will focus on optimizing existing public assets and locally-based initiatives to increase broadband penetration and use through current or planned assets, and infrastructures. Additionally, this team will be charged with monitoring federal, state and local government initiatives and making policy recommendations relevant to advancing the broadband strategy and goals. This group will focus on recommendations for future policy, legislation, or other regulatory advocacy objectives which are aligned with the broadband strategy.

Chair: Ed Reinfurt, Executive Director, NYSTAR

Vice-Chair: Stephen Acquario, Executive Director, NYS Association of Counties

Vice-Chair: Peter Baynes, Executive Director, NY Conference of Mayors

Support: Marc Hiller, Associate Attorney, CIO/OFT

Timetable

The Council will produce an interim report due July 2008 and an annual report for the Executive and Legislative Leadership no later than the end of February each year beginning 2009.

Next meeting: Mar 18 2008.

• October, 2007 - Conduct RFI Discussion Session with Vendor Community to Validate Strategy
• December, 2007 - Announce NYS Council for Universal Broadband
• December, 2007 - Finalize NYS Universal Broadband Strategy Document
• December, 2007 - Issue Broadband Access Grant RFP to solicit grant applications from local communities to encourage public/private partnerships.
• December, 2007 - Convene NYS Council for Universal Broadband
• January, 2008 - Convene NYS Council for Universal Broadband Action Teams
• January, 2008 - Establish Universal Broadband Access Program Management Office (PMO) in the state Office for Technology
• January, 2008 - Initiate process to inventory and document actual Internet penetration in rural and low-income areas and begin asset inventory of fiber and other assets required for broadband expansion, including determining last mile needs across the state and map on NYS GIS system. This may include working with providers to complete inventory and mapping activity.
• January, 2008 - Tentative deadline to apply for grant is January 31. Awards are expected to begin being made February 29, 2008
• January, 2008 through 2010 - Begin Conducting Meetings of the Council and the 5 Action Teams
• September 2008 - Evaluate Award Program for Effectiveness and Results Using Measures of Impact

Documents

• 10/16/07 Summary Comments from CIO/OFT Broadband Roundtable - A good round-up of the issues.
• 12/07/07 New York State Universal Broadband Grant Program RFP - deadline Jan 31
• 12/12/07 New York State Council for Universal Broadband Fact Sheet more info
• 12/14/07 New York State Universal Broadband Strategy (draft) overview
• 12/17/07 New York State Universal Broadband Grant Summary more info on grants
• 12/19/07 Announcement of First Universal Broadband Council Meeting (December 18, 2007) - establishment of Action Groups.
• 1/18/08 New York State Universal Broadband Questions & Answers about grant proposals

Links

• NYS CIO/OFT Overview