IllinoisWiFi App to be Discussed at Digital Advocacy Webinar
Nathan Woodside
Published: July 3, 2013
SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, July 3, 2013 -Details on a new Broadband Illinois mobile application that will help users locate public Wi-Fi hotspots in Illinois will be divulged for the first time during a webinar Tuesday.
The IllinoisWiFi app, currently in the final development stages, will be discussed by Broadband Illinois Executive Director Drew Clark at the first installment of the Digital Advocacy Webinar Series, Rural Connectivity in the Digital Age.
Hosted by RuralXChange, the webinar is set for Tuesday, July 9, at 1 p.m. CST. It is open to the public and can be accessed by registering at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/331492848.
Broadband Illinois received an award from the Rural Policy Action Partnership, with funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to develop the app. When the app goes live, it will tell the user the nearest locations to access free public internet service.
“We’re excited to offer a sneak peak of IllinoisWiFi during Tuesday’s webinar,” Clark said. “Broadband Illinois is about helping every citizen get connected, and this new application will certainly advance those efforts.”
On Tuesday, Clark will be joined by Wally Bowen, Executive Director of the Mountain Area Information Network. Based in North Carolina, MAIN operates as a full-service ISP that provides free or reduced-cost web hosting services to businesses and non-profit organizations throughout its service area.
Marty Newell, Chief Operating Officer at the Center for Rural Strategies, will moderate the webinar and conduct a discussion with Clark and Bowen on the importance of broadband access in rural America as well as ongoing adoption strategies. The program also will address the importance of broadband mapping.
Tuesday’s webinar will be the first in a series of three on rural digital advocacy. A program titled Digital Campaigns: Advocacy in a Wired World is set for July 17. The webinar A Connected Center: Bringing Communities Online will follow on July 31.
More information on the series can be found at http://www.ruralxchange.net/2013/06/digital-advocacy-webinars-announced.
The Rural Digital Advocacy Grants Program, a collaboration of rural advocates and public policy institutions including the Center for Rural Strategies, Network Impact and the Institute for Emerging Issues, awarded the Rural Digital Advocacy Grants. RPAP received support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to carry out a strategic and integrated policy initiative on behalf of vulnerable children and their families and communities in rural America. For more information, visit www.emergingissues.org.