Broadband- A tool for civic
engagement and sustainability?
March 24, 2009 Webinar
Paul Treadwell
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Distance Learning Consultant

What is Broadband
• High speed data transmission
• Always on connection
• Encompasses a variety of technologies:
▫ DSL
▫ Cable modem
▫ WiFi
▫ Broadband satellite

Why Broadband Matters
• High speed internet access can:
▫ Improve government efficiency and
communication
▫ Provide access to educational opportunities
▫ Engage citizens
▫ Facilitate better medical care
▫ Narrow the digital divide
▫ Expand employment opportunities
▫ Foster Innovation

Broadband and rural communities
• 38% rural homes have broadband
• 57% urban
• 60% suburban
• Other factors affecting access:
▫ Income
▫ Ease/prevalence of public access
▫ Digital literacy

The Digital Divide
• the gap between people with effective access to
digital and information technology and those
with very limited or no access at all.
• Is a kind of capability deprivation
▫ As the “world” moves online, those who aren’t are
excluded.
 Access to the benefits of an online world are
removed /denied

Why now
• Renewed interest and funding:
▫ National
 Presidents broadband stimulus funding
 $7+ Billion for broadband development
▫ New York State

The internet

The Civic Net

More than bandwidth or access
• The fuss about broadband, then, extends beyond
access to information to active participation in
the online commons
▫ Broadband: What’s All the Fuss About? Pew Internet and American Life Project

Marketplace and/or Commons
• 2 ways of viewing the internet
▫ Marketplace
 Access to goods
 Buying and selling
▫ Commons
 Access to ideas
 Interaction and exchange

How do you see broadband?
• What role can it play?

Broadband Enabled Services
• E-government
▫ Providing access to government information
▫ Providing space for engagement
• E-commerce
▫ Access to the global marketplace
• Technology training / digital literacy/ civic
literacy

Case study – Ontario county
• Ontario County e-government
▫ http://www.co.ontario.ny.us/
▫ Access to governmental information
▫ Online survey for community input

Case study – Blue Smoke
• E-Commerce
▫ Blue Smoke Salsa
 https://www.bluesmokesalsa.com/
 Case Study (pdf)

Case Study – Engaged Youth
• Civic learning
▫ Engaged Youth
 http://www.engagedyouth.org/

Case Study – Squeaky Wheel
• Digital/Media Literacy
▫ Squeaky Wheel
 http://www.squeaky.org/

Barriers to adoption
• Availability
• Cost
• Exclusion
▫ Literacy
• Security

Sustainable communities
• Broadband should be a component of a platform
for sustainability
▫ Connecting rural communities to the world
 Tele-work
 E-Commerce
 Flow of ideas
▫ Sustaining locality
 Online interactions focused on local issues
 Local government access

Civic participation
• Bringing it back home
▫ Tools for online engagement
 National Coalition for Dialog and Deliberation
 http://www.thataway.org/
 my.barackobama.com
 http://my.barackobama.com/
▫ National project connecting local participants

Education
• Broadband opens up a channel to media rich
educational opportunities
▫ MIT OpenCourseware
 http://ocw.mit.edu
▫ ScienceVideos
 http://sciencehack.com/
▫ Youtube
 Teachertube
 http://www.teachertube.com/

Opportunities
• Resurgence of funding opportunities creates a
space for innovative programming
• Current Extension programming
▫ National e-Commerce Extension Initiative
 http://srdc.msstate.edu/ecommerce/
▫ Connecting rural communities
▫ Others?

Innovating
• Digital literacy
 For community
 For educators
 Skills for an online world
• Community brainstorming
▫ Games to spark planning around technology
 Useful Games
 http://www.usefulgames.co.uk/

Appropriate Technology
• Defining “appropriate” relative to ICT
▫ Impacts on community
 The introduction of new technology and tools is a
debatable topic.
 How do we deliberate about technology?
 Mostly, we don’t
 Technology “happens”
 Is this the best approach?

The value of open networks
• “Strangely enough, digital technologies are
forcing us to recognize the power of the
collective and social” - David Bollier
▫ The Commons as a New Sector of Value-Creation
 http://www.onthecommons.org/content.php?id=18
13
• Open standards-Open source-Open networks

Resources
• Documents, sites and case studies referenced in
this presentation are available online at:
▫ http://ccedigitaldivide.pbwiki.com/March24Webi
nar

Contact
• Paul Treadwell
▫ Distance Learning Consultant
▫ Cornell Cooperative Extension
▫ 356 Roberts Hall
▫ Cornell University
▫ Ithaca, NY 14853
▫ pt36@cornell.edu
▫ http://treadwell.cce.cornell.edu/elearn