FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NAPERVILLE, Illinois, March 7, 2011 – With broadband investments poised to play a significant role in the economic and social development of Illinois, four innovative projects promoting high-speed internet will gather on Monday to review progress, share best practices, and inform national experts.
Broadband Illinois, formally known as the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, will co-host a summit on Monday, March 7, 2011, on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband investments at the Northern Illinois University in Naperville, Illinois.
Beginning at 2 p.m. ET, or 1 p.m. CT, the event will be webcast live on http://broadbandillinois.org. Viewing the event online is free and open to the public. No registration is necessary to view the webcast.
More than $350 million in federal, state and private-sector money for broadband is flowing into the State of Illinois under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The Monday event is designed to showcase four compelling broadband stimulus investments. Each of these projects is well on its way to demonstrating tangible benefits for the federal, state and private funds invested.
The projects are the Illinois Broadband Opportunity Partnership Northwest, together with a DeKalb County project, together valued at $83 million; the City of Chicago’s “Smart Communities” and public computing centers project, together valued at $22 million; Convergence Technologies’ rural wireless build, valued at more than $12 million; and Connected Living’s elder care sustainable broadband project, valued at $7 million.
“For national observers of technology seeking to understand broadband stimulus on the ground, Monday’s free webcast will provide the best three-hour tutorial on how to drive economic growth and progress,” said Drew Clark, Broadband Illinois Executive.
Broadband Illinois is the non-profit organization, based in Springfield, responsible for the State Broadband Data and Development program in Illinois.
Each of the four projects being highlighted takes a different approach to expanding and enhancing broadband infrastructure.
IBOP Northwest, which anchored by Northern Illinois University, will bring more than 1,000 miles of fiber for “middle-mile” connections throughout the region, which will particularly benefit community broadband centers
“Illinois is on the forefront of implementing a state-wide broadband network to serve the rural area of the state,” said John Lewis, Associate Vice President of NIU and co-host for the meeting.
Charles Wu of Convergence Technologies will discuss how his wireless company, funded under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s stimulus program, will accelerate growth and bring an expanded set of broadband options to underserved markets in the suburbs and surrounding areas south of Chicago along the I-88 corridor.
Matthew Guilford of the City of Chicago will discuss how low-income families, youth, and small business in the city can more effectively use broadband in their daily lives.
Andrew Lowenstein of Connected Living will show how his company’s stimulus grant provides broadband benefits to residents of government-supported housing, and their surrounding neighborhoods.
"Illinois was very fortunate in getting a large number of well-thought out broadband stimulus submissions,” said Don Samuelson, a Broadband Illinois consultant who worked to assemble Monday’s program. "This workshop is intended to share the experiences of four awardees, so that we can promote collaborative efforts to maximize the deployment and uses of broadband and the internet, particularly among Community Anchor Institutions.”
The Illinois-based presentations will be following by reactions from three expert observers able to speak from a national perspective. These presenters include:
- Peter Arena, ASR Analytics
- Joanne Hovis, National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
- Randy Jenkins, USDA’s Rural Utilities Service Broadband Initiatives Program
The event will be webcast live from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM CST via the following link:
http://broadbandillinois.org/events.html
On Tuesday, March 8, Broadband Illinois will also co-host a State-wide meeting of the State’s Broadband Deployment Council in Chicago. The event is being co-hosted by the Illinois Technology Association. Seehttp://broadbandillinois.org for further details.
Photo by Lou Carlozo
CONTACT:
Jeff Eden
Outreach Director, Broadband Illinois
413 West Monroe Street
Springfield, IL 62704
jeff.eden@broadbandillinois.org
217-720-2748