August 2009

The Federal Communications Commission needs to look at broadband adoption and deployment in other countries as a way to inform, not replace, reasoned judgment, and should avoid the horse race mentality of having to catch up or overtake other countries according to various broadband rankings. That was the advice of Yochai Benkler of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, at an FCC broadband workshop on "International Lessons." The FCC has enlisted the center to review data on worldwide broadband deployment and adoption to "help lay the foundation for enlightened, data-driven decision-making" as the Commission prepares a national broadband plan, due to Congress in February. Benkler cautioned against turning international broadband rankings into something that needs to be overtaken or caught up with. He said that masks their true value, which is that "if something is accepted by this cluster of countries, it is at least not a bad idea," and should be on the agenda for serious consideration. For example, he cited the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's rank of the US as 15th in the world in broadband penetration, or the International Telecommunications Union study that had the US falling from 11th to 17th in the world. But he also cited studies of connectivity and "readiness" that had the US at the top of the list. What the data needed, he said, is careful analysis that trims spurious claims and identifies the strengths and weaknesses.

, a new report from the US Department of Agriculture, finds that rural communities with greater broadband Internet access have greater economic growth than areas with less access. The study compared counties that had broadband access relatively early -- by 2000 -- with similarly situated counties that had little or no broadband access. Employment growth was higher and non-farm private earnings greater in counties with a longer history of broadband availability. By 2007, the study found, most households - 82 percent - with in-home Internet access had a broadband connection. However, there was a marked difference between urban and rural broadband use. Only 70 percent of rural households with in-home Internet access had a broadband connection in 2007, compared with 84 percent of urban households.

The One Maryland Broadband (OMB) Plan, being led by Howard County's IT Director Ira Levy, has submitted its application to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for $100 million of federal stimulus money set-aside for fiber optic projects. The "One Maryland" group consists of all of the central Maryland counties: Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel, Harford, Carroll, Prince George's, Montgomery and Frederick, plus Baltimore City and Annapolis. The One Maryland middle mile project will create a cohesive fiber optic network interconnecting over 800 community anchor institutions across a wide swath of the State of Maryland. The proposed network seeks to address an opportunity to unite rural, urban and suburban communities in one contiguous local government network across the State. The benefits of this interconnection are numerous and substantial, especially as they relate to sharing resources and knowledge among public schools, libraries and public safety entities. The One Maryland application included 28 letters of support and 14 letters of interest from both public and private sector partners who have been working with the OMB developing this plan.

Before a subcommittee last week delivered its recommendations on how electronic health record systems should be certified, National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal made it a point to deliver a reminder to both the work group and the entire Health IT Policy Committee: "This committee does provide advice to the national coordinator, but it does not make policy," Blumenthal said, with a noticeable emphasis on "not." How the federal government proceeds with sweeping plans to spread health IT across the country over the next few years will be determined by Blumenthal and his boss, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. They certainly will listen and sometimes heed the advice of industry experts on two committees working hurriedly to suggest a framework for what will be a massive undertaking on a relatively tight schedule. But ultimately, the decisions will be left to Blumenthal and Sebelius -- mostly Blumenthal. Blumenthal, who got an earful of advice from the policy panel last week and will get another barrage from standards experts this week, hopes to have the foundation for a federal framework ready for public inspection by the end of September.