OBI Home | Articles | Video | Web Resources
Economic Growth
As more communities recognize the link between affordable high-performance Internet access and economic growth prospects, the demand for more local action is expected to increase proportionately. A growing number of studies point to a positive correlation between local investment in broadband infrastructure and growth in knowledge industries. Communities that lack advanced broadband infrastructure for the foreseeable future may find it increasingly difficult to remain on a competitive footing to attract high-value jobs. Educational programs will also suffer in failing to take advantage of the growing array of distance learning content and tools. The quality of health care and public safety in a post 9/11 world will also depend on reliable access to true broadband communications.
OBI 2002
During 2002, CIS and LCT have been increasingly active in advising several municipalities in the Puget Sound region of Washington State on the technical, business, and regulatory aspects of building public-private broadband networks. In April of 2002, CIS was awarded a grant by five municipalities in Kitsap County, Washington for the purpose of helping local officials to develop a county wide last mile broadband solution. In July of 2002, CIS convened a policy workshop " Connecting Kitsap to the Knowledge Economy: Where Do We Go From Here ", that brought together key local and state leadership from governmental and business communities.
OBI 2003
In 2003, CIS was contracted by Kitsap Public Utility District to produce a report on the viability of telework for West Sound commuters who currently spend upwards of four hours daily traversing Puget Sound to reach the main employment centers in and around Seattle. Boeing joined the study because of its interest in establishing whether telework sites in Kitsap county would benefit its several hundred employees who live in that county. The report is authored by Paul Sommers, regional economist at the UW Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, Michael Bookey of Pachena Light, a specialist on public fiber networks, and CIS director Chris Coward.
Full report -- Kitsap Telework Analysis: Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Telework for Kitsap Commuters, Puget Sound Employers, and the Public
(Acrobat, 1.5MB)
Read articles about the study that have appeared in the region's newspapers.
To INET and Beyond!
CIS has also been active in taking the "Wired Washington" story to the nation's capital. In the summer of 2002, Nelson and Hughes presented at two major Internet policy meetings, IEEE-USA Workshop on Accelerating Broadband Deployment and the Internet Society's annual international conference, INET2002 . These fora provided important venues for early open broadband cases to be scrutinized by leading Internet thinkers and policy makers. At both meetings, senior leadership from Capitol Hill and industry nationwide learned of the early successes in Grant, Chelan, Benton, and Mason counties in Washington State. The most successful example of the Washington State's unique strategy is Grant County's ZippNet which has brought gigabit fiber infrastructure to thousand of rural homes and businesses at an astonishing take rate of around 40%.
Boosting US Competitiveness
The OBI emphasis on the term "open" stresses the need for future networks to be content and technology neutral and to offer a safe and reliable supply of IP packets on demand for any service anytime, anywhere. Still without a national broadband policy, the US trailing many countries in broadband access, the justification for local action is clear, especially in communities that are desperate for new economic growth options. Universal broadband also holds the potential over time to re-define both lifestyle and commuting habits as teleworking becomes a more viable option for more workers and industries. Communities that act early may indeed position themselves as attractive knowledge hubs for the industries and workers at the vanguard of the global E-conomy.
|
