Connected Nation helps Ohio Develop priorities for broadband funds

Connect Ohio is facilitating countywide meetings across the state of Ohio with broadband stakeholders to identify needs and priorities for broadband stimulus funding. The meetings bring together representatives from schools, libraries, government, law enforcement, health care, tourism, community groups, and Internet service providers.

One such meeting took place recently in rural Ashtabula County. Connect Ohio convened the gathering to establish benchmarks for each sector in the state's bid for broadband funding. Representatives of the Ashtabula County District Library, Geneva Area City Schools Geneva Area City Schools, Ashtabula County Medical Center, and Cleveland's One Community, and many others, attended

"Between now and the next week to ten days, I'll summarize their feedback," Connect Ohio's northeast regional field director David Davidson said. "I'm going to take all the information, compile it and start to look at what some of the key broadband projects could be in the county."

Ashtabula County is located in the northeastern corner of the state and has a population of just over 100,000. Funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are slated to bring broadband access to underserved and unserved areas across the country.

Ashtabula County fits the bill. Ashtabula County's rural nature and its pockets without broadband service make it a candidate for that money. Only 49 percent of homes in the county subscribe to broadband.

David Jacobs, the Director of Information Technology for the Ashtabula County Medical Center, agrees that something needs to be done. Developing broadband-based systems to deliver electronic patient records, x-rays, and other medical data is the "challenge of the hospital, and it's the challenge of the community," Jacobs said.

Libraries are seeing increased use of their computers as the economy sinks and people sign up for jobless benefits and conduct job searches online. Bill Tokarczyk, director of the Ashtabula County District Library, says the T-1 line used by the county's nine libraries can't handle the volume being forced through it.

Geneva Area City Schools would like to open its computer labs to after-school public use to fulfill its mission as a community learning center, according to Brett Horvath, assistant superintendent.

Connect Ohio (Connect Ohio)

Ashtabula County, Ohio has begun to make its bid (Ashtabula Star Beacon)