Below you will find the vision of the Go Gig proposal for broadband stimulus funding. While we currently await the Notice of Funds Available (expected on June 30, 2009), WiscNet and UW Sytem representatives are are touring the state to get the word out across Wisconsin communities about the broadband stimulus package and how communities can get ready to take advantage of this epic opportunity. For more information on our “tour” please visit our Go Gig/Broadband Stimulus page.
April 10, 2009
On behalf of the WiscNet membership, it is my privilege to present this vision and offer these criteria for the use of stimulus funding in Wisconsin’s public and private sector to achieve the goals set forth by President Obama and the NTIA – Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. We call our vision Go-GIG to emphasize how critical it is that we think big in terms of the bandwidth our community requires.
WiscNet – Wisconsin’s Research, Education, and Public Service Network – is a membership cooperative with 430 statewide members from Wisconsin’s higher education and research communities, K-12 schools, libraries, health care institutions, and public sector agencies. We are Wisconsin’s community anchor institutions.
Go-GIG is a statewide collaborative that expresses the collected ideas of numerous people who provided insight into this vision. I ask you to take special note of the authors of this vision to understand the diversity of the group that is behind this direction, and more critically, realize that the entities they work for will be key players to move this forward quickly and efficiently once funding becomes available to us.
Our hope is that this vision will be the framework for how Wisconsin uses public funding to advance the broadband network needs of both the public and private sector and provide the rapid economic stimulus necessary to push Wisconsin forward now and long into the future.
Sincerely,
David J. Lois, Executive Director; WiscNet
WiscNet Board Members and Lead Authors of the Go-GIG Vision
Robert Bocher – Library Technology Consultant; Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Malcolm Brett – Director Of Broadcasting; University of Wisconsin-Extension
Robert Cramer – Assistant Vice Chancellor; University of Wisconsin-Platteville
David Crass – Director of Network and Operations; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ron Kraemer – Chief Information Office and Vice Provost; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Kathy Lang – Chief Information Officer; Marquette University
Thomas Lange – Director of Technology Services; Rice Lake School District
David Lois – Executive Director, WiscNet
Bruce Mathew – Director of Computer and Telecommunication; Western Technical College
Ed Meachen – Associate Vice President; University of Wisconsin-System Administration
Stef Morrill – Associate Director; South Central Library System
Kathy Pletcher – Chief Information Officer; University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Gene Purcell – Executive Director; Wisconsin Education Communication Board
Carol Sabbar –Director of Computer Services; Carthage College
Ross Wilson – Director of Educational Technology; Cooperative Education Service Agency 10
WiscNet Comments to the NTIA: Go-GIG!
The University of Wisconsin—in concert with WiscNet and the BadgerNet Converged Network (BCN) community—proposes an approach to collaboration to best serve our state both in the short term and in the long term. The stimulus money should be focused on building the information super highways that will connect our Wisconsin communities together and position them for the digital future.
Our goal for advanced broadband connectivity is to get fiber optic cabling to all homes, schools, higher education and healthcare facilities, libraries, and businesses throughout Wisconsin. Like most states, we need more infrastructure to make that happen. The cost to accomplish this is estimated at about $2 billion. While our goal is big—it is important in order to ensure Wisconsin’s economy flourishes as we evolve from manufacturing to a high-technology workforce in the coming years.
The broadband stimulus funding allocated to the NTIA and RUS will be critical to providing the initial momentum to get Wisconsin moving in the right direction. Therefore, we submit the criteria below for your grants. These criteria will accomplish the goals set forth by President Obama and will aid Wisconsin’s Go-GIG Broadband strategy. Funding will allow Wisconsin to move forward with Go-GIG.
1. All money should be spent on fiber optic cable, fiber cable installation, support equipment, and ITFS-Frequency leveraging wireless components. This is the base technology that we will use now and build upon going forward. This infrastructure should be available for both the private and public sector use, whenever feasible, with identified allocations for both sectors.
2. Construction projects that use the new infrastructure should be used to interconnect the Community Anchor Institutions as defined in the ARRA bill. Community Anchor Institutions should be defined very broadly and include Universities, Technical Colleges, Schools, Libraries, Museums, Health Care Facilities, etc. Important criteria such as the ability of these institutions to aggregate regional entities, be geographically dispersed throughout the state, and have some ability to be accessed by the public community in general should be required.
3. A crucial piece of the stimulus funding is to get broadband technologies out within the community, so clearly a local connectivity methodology needs to be part of the criteria. We advocate that local infrastructure fan-out from the Community Anchor Institution via Community Areas Networks (CANs). CANs are local and regional networks that surround the Community Anchor Institutions. CANs consist of local entities such as schools, libraries, local governments, health care facilities, museums, etc. Due to the limited funding, we would suggest the ARRA funding allow for coordination and support efforts to start the CAN building process.
4. It’s valuable that any funded projects continue to stimulate the economy after the initial funding is invested. Therefore, we advocate that successfully funded projects be able to prove their ability to sustain the network and components once the project is complete.
In conclusion, we can start Going-GIG with a combination of 1.) shared public/private fiber and high performance wireless infrastructure connecting Community Anchor Institutions statewide, 2.) fanning the high performance services out from those institutions to a wider population via Community Area Networks, and 3.) having a solid and sustainable business model to continue to grow upon the ARRA investments. This will give Wisconsin a great start to achieving the broad goals of economic stimulus and start positioning Wisconsin for the future.
Update: WiscNet is putting together regional meetings throughout communities in Wisconsin during June 2009 to discuss Go-GIG and Community Area Network efforts. See this page for further details.
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