New York State Council for Universal Broadband

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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 (NYSCUB), will recommend ways to extend high-speed access beyond traditional methods and to extend broadband connections to underserved 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.

This 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.

Documents


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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.


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.
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