Walking in the Shoes of Poor Kids Using Broadband

Just before the holidays, a columnist (Gene Marks) for Forbes Magazine wrote a piece “If I Was a Poor Black Kid.” It presents how he would handle life and deal with technology if, instead of being a middle class, middle aged white guy from the suburbs, he were walking in a poor kid’s shoes. The resulting firestorm was swift, intense and largely negative, not as much for the ideas as for Marks’ tone and erroneous assumptions behind those ideas.

Unfortunately, one of the underlying causes for these off-the-mark assumptions is the stereotype that urban poor kids don’t do anything worthwhile on the Internet. So many articles about digital inclusion efforts or broadband adoption among inner city poor folks are followed by incendiary commentary from those who believe poor kids are lazy, only surf porn, aren’t capable of learning and a host of other fallacies.

There’s quite a different reality when you do a little research. There are projects going on that are lifting kids out of poverty and setting them on various tech-related career paths. Here are a couple that should be promoted and replicated in some way by those individuals, government agencies and organizations wanting to close the digital divide.

Community Foundations Boost Broadband and Economic Development

Today’s guest on my Gigabit Nation radio talk show, Sharon Stroh, gives us lots of valuable details on Steuben County, IL’s foundation that has made broadband possible for this rural area in Indiana. Before listening to the show, below is a helpful primer from fellow broadband advocate Larry Baumgart.

Community foundations are tax-exempt public charities serving thousands of people who share a common interest—improving the quality of life in their area. Individuals, families, businesses, and organizations create permanent charitable funds that help their region meet local challenges. (Check out the Council On Foundations)

The community foundation should be formed under the auspices of a Community Development Co-operative and could be used to coordinate grant applications and to issue community bonds for open access broadband networks, community media center, schools, clinics, etc.    This can be readily accomplished by transferring public land, worthy assets, into the community foundation to secure bonds which local residents can invest their money, savings, 401Ks, etc. and can not only get interest, but through a cooperative might reap dividends depending on how the funds are used.

Building a Foundation for Broadband and Economic Development

Listen to Gigabit Nation’s show with Sharon Stroh, Director of Business Development for iMAN. This community foundation is bringing broadband to rural Stueben County. But not only does the foundation make broadband possible, it also provides grants for local economic development projects.

You should consider this strategy for your community.

 

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Funding Broadband by Turning Users Into Investors

Let’s explore a different strategic approach to funding.

In 2009 I came across National Community Development Services, Inc. (NCDS), which specializes in boosting the economic health of communities through a process they term economic development fundraising. The concept is simple, really, and can be applied to broadband projects where one of the main goals is to use the network to improve economic development. Build a financial sustainability strategy based on a campaign to recruit investors for the network.

As I find interesting guests to invite to be on my radio show, Gigabit Nation, I’m finding a theme that keeps recurring in slightly different forms, but with the same bottom line – fund a network by convincing local businesses, not-for-profits and other organizations to underwrite the costs. One variation to that are co-ops, such as the Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN) that I’m highlighting on tomorrow’s show.

We’re not talking investors as a euphemism for “subscribers,” but people who invest more than the price of service in exchange for a piece of the action. This aligns with my position that communities need to treat broadband networks as a business venture.

The Middle Mile/Last Mile Disconnect

Last Thursday Washington, DC announced they’re powering up a 100-gig network, funded in large part by broadband stimulus money. If I’m not mistaken they’re the only urban area to get money for an infrastructure project. That’s kind of a pity since urban areas have some pressing infrastructure needs that get ignored by the media. But more on that in a future post.

This week I tackled another challenging issue represented by the DC deal that gets ignored by much of the media, and probably policymakers as well. What do you do about connecting all of these middle mile projects to last mile (or first mile, as my UK friends regularly remind me) projects? Huh. You say you haven’t heard about a lot of projects connecting consumers and businesses to those stimulus-funded middle mile buildouts? That’s my point.

A [Really Short] Thanksgiving Gift List

The word on the street is that many of you like reading my insights, observations and recommendations on effective broadband strategies and policies. Cool deal! It’s great to be able to contribute valuable input to the national (and many local) discussion. I thank you for your continued readership and support.

I’ve also been getting feedback that some of you aren’t aware of what I do for a living, or how what I do can help your particular broadband project. <sigh> Another case of the cobbler’s kids having no shoes or smartphones or too many lights hidden under bushels or something.

Turkey Day inspired an idea. Though most of us are just becoming occupied with Christmas gift lists, what about Thanksgiving gifts? I know, probably no one’s dropped a subtle hint about what they’d like for T-day other than a Food Coma Recovery Couch. Being mindful of tight budgets and short tempers, here’s my Thanksgiving gift wish list.

Outspent 60:1, Longmont Kicks Comcast’s Assets

Comcast and its allies spent $300,000 to unleash every trick and tactic in the campaign playbook to try to kill a measure that gives Longmont, CO citizens and businesses the right to pick their own best broadband solutions. Measure 2A supporters spent $5,000, if that.

Yea though we walk through the valley in the shadow of Comcast’s desire to annihilate our communities’ right to choose our best broadband solutions, we hold our fear in check and engage the foe because we believe it is possible for the underdog to win.   

I made that up last night as I headed out to prep one of my soccer teams for our biggest game of the season. I was feeling pumped after receiving the news that Longmont, CO’s Measure 2A was on its way to victory. The underdog had stood tall in the face of a huge corporation’s relentless efforts to buy a local election rather than compete in the free market. However, despite being outspent 60 to 1, Measure 2A won with 60% of the vote.

There are some valuable lessons for other communities to learn from Longmont’s duel with a corporate giant hell-bent on leveling all opposition in its path – and win. Some communities that have broadband dreams of their own, particularly those in Colorado, have watched the battle to gauge how things might turn out in their particular towns and counties. These elections are no walk in the park, but as we see, they are winnable.

Longmont, CO vs. The Empire. Latest Flashpoint in the Muni Broadband Battles

Two years ago, Longmont, CO decided it wanted to take back via a referendum its right to determine its own broadband future, only to have Comcast and its allies go ballistic and kill the measure. This year, Longmont is back for round 2. I found this column I wrote for TMCnet in 2009 and it’s still applicable today. Enjoy.

Longmont, CO has the opportunity to launch itself squarely into a digital communications leadership position among U.S. cities. IF its citizens can beat back the latest attack from the Empire, in this case with Comcast in the role of Darth Vader, and the storm troopers crouched in a hastily conceived vehicle called No Blank Check Look Before We Leap.

Today seems like a good day to neuter one of the biggest false arguments from the storm troopers because you’ll hear it every time a city’s on the verge of breaking free of the ills of the Empire. But first, a brief history.

[Cue serene music, pop up panoramic of sleepy bedroom community]. Longmont is a forward-looking community, as typified by being declared an “All-America City” by the National Civic League in 2006, an award for communities whose citizens work together to identify and tackle community-wide challenges and achieve uncommon results.

After the Stimulus: Broadband and Economic Development

One of the big debates that goes on constantly is the one that asks, what’s the real economic development value of broadband. Of special interest to me, of course, is community broadband – networks run in part or in total by local government and/or stakeholders from within the community.

Last year the U.S. broadband stimulus program finished awarding public, private and nonprofit organizations over $7 billion to build new broadband infrastructure, create public computing centers and implement broadband adoption programs. Concurrently, hundreds of millions have come from private and other public sources for broadband. Improving economic development is a driving force behind these investments.

However, what have we accomplished for our investments, particularly in underserved urban and rural communities? It is a little early in the process, though, and only a small portion of the stimulus checks have been issued. Perhaps the more important question is, what economic outcomes can we hope to achieve in the next two or three years?

My national survey of economic development professionals, conducted in partnership with the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) produced results that provide a number of clues. Here’s a sampling of this year’s findings.

What’s Your Broadband Story?

Do you have a “Broadband Drives Economic Development” story to tell? As a supplement to my national survey of economic development professionals I’m writing a progress report on who’s actually accomplishing specific economic outcomes with their broadband networks (wired, wireless, community-owned, public private partnership, whatever you’ve got).

One of the biggest pushbacks broadband champions of all stripes hear is that there’s not a direct link between broadband and economic development. I’m looking for stories from around the country – rural areas, urban cities, a group of farmers broad-banding together, a dozen assisted living buildings linked by a common computing center, pilot projects or done deals.

You don’t have to write your whole story here in the Comments section. I just need the high points such as “We built x-type of network in y-location for some number of subscribers and achieved z-results.

I do need a way to get back with you because I’ll have a few questions about the particulars of your project and your outcomes.” You can e-mail me (craig @cjspeaks. com) if you don’t want your contact info out there for the world to see.

The survey closes today (8/31). I’m starting interviews next week, so you want to hurry up and get your story in the queue for consideration. By the time I release the survey report on September 19, I hope to have all of these interviews completed.

The end product is going to be pretty cool and very informative, which means great exposure for your project. So, whataya got for me?