Initial and Supplemental Proposals awarded to Nebraska Public Service - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Initial and Supplemental Proposals awarded to Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). NTIC, UNL, DED and the AIM Institute are cooperatively leading the broadband planning efforts.

Let's Talk About Broadband - How Can We Leverage Broadband to Increase Growth? 2012 NEDA Fall Conference Presented by Becky Vogt and Charlotte Narjes UNL Center for Applied Innovation

About the Nebraska Broadband Initiative Broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life . broadband.nebraska.gov

Goals of this initiative include:  Increase adoption and utilization of broadband  Develop regional broadband plans  Increase understanding of importance of broadband as a foundation of economic growth

NEDA Broadband Survey  Insight - how membership is using technology  Identify barriers in adopting broadband  Help identify educational opportunities to better utilize  Establish benchmarks

NEDA Broadband Survey  Online survey distributed to 333 members via listserv  76 responses (23% response rate)  Types of organizations responding:  68% - city/county/regional economic development company/organization  33% - service providers

Population of Area Served  7% under 1,000  9% between 1,000 and 2,499  14% between 2,500 and 4,999  18% between 5,000 and 9,999  14% between 10,000 and 19,999  21% between 20,000 and 99,999  18% 100,000 or more

Type of Area Served  38% city, town or village  33% county  14% region  9% state  3% multi-state region  3% other

TECHNOLOGY USE

Items on Website 63 Videos about community or area 38 11 ED programs/incentives 89 14 Available buildings/sites 86 10 Local education institutions 90 Housing information 100 19 Available Internet service providers 81 7 Info for new residents 93 0 20 40 60 80 100 Anticipate Adding Currently Have

Videos on Website by Population Served 10 90 10,000 or more 57 43 2,500 - 9,999 50 50 Under 2,500 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Currently have Anticipate adding

Satisfaction with Website 16 Very dissatisfied 13 Somewhat dissatisfied 7 Neither 30 Somewhat satisfied 32 Very satisfied 3 N/A 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Comments about Website  Needs Improvement (38.2%)  Resources available (20.6%)  Challenge maintaining (16.2%)  Content (14.7%)  Adequate, good (30%)  Weak (70%)  Friendliness of Website (22.1%)  User-friendly (53.3%)  Not user-friendly (46.7%)

Comments about Website It has most of the information. Our pitfall is maintaining the site. Easy to maneuver. Feel it has an attractive look. Good information. Just had it revamped and not up to our standards. Difficult time finding a web developer. No pictures, not user friendly…we are in the process of a complete overhaul 

Social Media Tools Used 1 Not sure 48 LinkedIn 11 Blogs 27 YouTube 27 Twitter 75 Facebook 16 None 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Confidence in Using Social Media Effectively Don't Very know/NA effectively 9% 10% Not at all Somewhat effectively effectively 41% 40%

Satisfaction with Internet Connection Speeds Upload speeds  68% fast enough  22% average, but not quite fast enough  56% of economic developers vs. 83% of service providers indicated fast enough Download speeds  65% fast enough  25% average, but not quite fast enough

PERCEPTIONS OF TECHNOLOGY IN COMMUNITY OR AREA

Economic Development Plan Currently or Will Be Incorporating Broadband  28% of economic development organizations  11% serving population of 2,500 or less  36% serving population between 2,500 and 9,999  25% serving population of 10,000 or more

Perceived Effectiveness of Broadband Utilization in Locale 30 Reducing costs of govt 0 11 operations 19 58 23 Increasing quality of life 22 41 71 Providing educational 33 22 opportunities 53 48 33 Attracting businesses 22 38 0 20 40 60 80 Serve pop. 10,000 or more Serve pop. between 2,500 and 9,999 Serve pop. under 2,500 All members

Belief that Access to High-Speed Internet Services is Accomplishing Various Items  Staying in touch with family/friends (92%)  Accessing financial services (83%)  Reaching higher education levels (76%)  Getting health information (64%)  Community and emergency alerts (61%)  Improving job skills/professional development (60%)  Finding a better job (60%)  Starting a home-based business (51%)  Transitioning to a new industry or profession (45%)

Perceived Adequacy of Internet Services 44 28 Future generations 11 27 41 35 Attracting new residents 11 37 44 39 Businesses in community 11 41 48 33 Households in community 11 52 52 50 Your organization 22 63 0 20 40 60 80 % answering very adequate Serve pop. 10,000 or more Serve pop. Between 2,500 and 9,999 Serve pop. Under 2,500 All members

Familiarity with Internet Service Needs 16 Younger population 40 22 9 40 New employees 17 14 33 Teleworkers 19 21 33 Businesses trying to recruit 24 33 40 Current businesses 34 0 10 20 30 40 % answering very familiar ED Service providers All

Most Economic Benefits to Business in Late Adoption Applications Fast/early adoption Access government Electronic document transfer Accessing collaborative tools Research by staff Website Teleworking Late Adoption Selling goods and services Rich media or service creation Deliver services and context Social networking Source: Strategic Networks Group – sngroup.com/research-library/

Familiarity with Internet Offerings and Services 23 40 Interest in local ED 27 19 53 Support 27 21 60 Types of services available 31 14 53 Price 24 17 53 Bandwidth speed 29 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 % answering very familiar ED Service providers All

Where Can I Find What is Available? broadband.nebraska.gov

What Will Drive Adoption and Utilization?  Adoption (51%) Training – serious shortage of technology  Training (58%) training for business owners  Availability (29%) Local company laid fiber throughout community  55% desire more  Affordability (20%) Rural Nebraska without fiber is being left further behind  Best Practices – - Joint effort with city, chamber and economic development  Collaboration Line of communication between local  Setting Priorities officials and broadband providers

Questions on Survey Results?

Let’s Talk….Your Insights When you think of your community or region what do you believe the greatest opportunities are to utilize high speed Internet to achieve economic growth / sustainability?

Let’s Talk….Your Insights What challenges/barriers do you believe need to be overcome before broadband is widely adopted?

Let’s Talk….Your Insights Any words of advice on how to increase broadband utilization and adoption within our region?

Let’s Talk….Your Insights What are some things you would like to see NEDA do in the area of technology and broadband?

Let’s Talk….Your Insights What goals would like to see included in the broadband plan around economic development?

Let’s Talk….Your Insights Any suggestions for the broadband planning efforts?

Contact Information  Charlotte Narjes cnarjes1@unl.edu  Becky Vogt rvogt2@unl.edu http://broadband.nebraska.gov