New York State Universal Broadband Council Makes Resolution to Adopt Statewide Digital Literacy Standards

ALBANY, NY (10/15/2008)(readMedia)--

The New York State Universal Broadband Council, chaired by Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart held its quarterly meeting on September 16, 2008 with council members focusing on initiatives to provide affordable universal access for all New Yorkers.

The Digital Literacy Action Team, chaired by Michael Borges, presented a resolution to adopt a Digital Literacy Standard. The action team also recommended the State step up activities to provide more consumer education for low-income households in urban and rural areas. The motions were carried to accept the proposed Digital Literacy Standard that includes a conceptual skill-set framework to measure digital literacy. The Council will be requesting Governor David A. Paterson consider adopting the proposed NYS Digital Literacy Standards and explore ways to implement and provide for an annual review of the standards. To help develop strategies to increase broadband usage, the Council also approved a resolution for the Chief Information Officer/Office For Technology (CIO/OFT) to develop a business case and implementation plan for a statewide consumer education plan.

"We are hopeful that the Digital Literacy Standards will be widely adopted and used throughout the State so New Yorkers of all ages will be better prepared to learn, communicate and work in the digital age" said Michael Borges, Chair of the Digital Literacy Action Team.

The Government Initiatives Action Team, chaired by Edward Reinfurt, provided a set of future broadband policy recommendations to accelerate the build-out of broadband across the State.

"We are exploring how existing state assets can be deployed to expand broadband service to our communities. We are also examining the current broadband cyber infrastructure investment policies of departments, agencies and authorities to see if current best practices can be extended to others." said Edward Reinfurt, Chair of the Government Initiatives Action Team.

The Council will be making recommendations to Governor David A. Paterson regarding support for key initiatives in the coming weeks.

Further discussions included the announcement of a letter issued in August 2008, by the CIO/OFT to broadband providers. The letter requested that providers assist the State to map the current areas of internet service throughout New York. The collection and analysis of this information is vital to the goals of the Universal Broadband initiative to develop strategies to ensure every New Yorker has access to affordable, high-speed internet service.

At the quarterly meeting, council members heard presentations from two Round 1 Broadband Grant winners - Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development (Northern Allegany County) and Clarity Connect, Inc (Town of Dryden/Tompkins County). The presentations focused on community based public/private programs to provide affordable broadband services and training on business applications and internet use for Allegany County and four school districts in Tompkins County.

"The award provided by the Universal Broadband Grant program will allow the citizens and businesses of northern Allegany County to utilize the infrastructure and resources that opens the door not only with respect to education and healthcare, but also allows for an enhanced quality of life." said Richard Zink, Assistant Director for Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development.

"Working in conjunction with the Town of Dryden/Tompkins County, we are very fortunate to have been notified that we are a recipient of the first round of New York State broadband grants," said Chuck Bartosh, CEO of Clarity Connect. "Public-private partnerships offer the opportunity to introduce fresh and innovative approaches to the way services are delivered services to the people of New York State. This project simply would not have, and could not have, happened without New York's support and the support of the CIO/OFT."

Lastly, the Council discussed the CIO/OFT's plans to participate in a New York State Congressional Delegation briefing on NYS Broadband Strategy in Washington, DC. The meeting, which took place on September 18, 2008 addressed issues regarding funding support and national policy development to assist New York State with reaching its digital literacy and broadband access goals.

"Leading states are implementing strategies to establish digital literacy standards and ensure universal broadband internet services are accessible and affordable for citizens and businesses, in the absence of a federal broadband strategy. We have been urging the Federal government to put forth a national broadband policy and national digital literacy standards to ensure our global competitive position does not degrade any further," said Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart. "Once completed, the strategy for moving forward will provide a vision and roadmap for the states to work together to address these challenges and recapture our global competitive advantage."

Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, Chief Information Officer and Director of the Office For Technology chairs the council. Strategic oversight for the New York State Broadband program is performed by the NYS Council for Universal Broadband. The 28 members represent state and local government, libraries, municipal associations, economic development, as well as secondary and higher education institutions who come together out of a shared interest in improving the economic vitality of New York's communities.

The Broadband Council's next meeting is scheduled for December 16, 2008.

For additional details on New York State Broadband Council initiatives, visit http://www.oft.state.ny.us/oft/UniversalBroadband/overview.htm

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About CIO/OFT

The State Chief Information Officer and Office for Technology (CIO/OFT) provides statewide IT strategic direction and centralized IT services to the state and its governmental entities. CIO/OFT provides a number of IT services to support the missions of 27 state agencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, over 90,000 telecom users, more than 50 statewide applications, a secure network of over 1,600 miles of owned and leased fibers, including mainframe operations, telecommunications, internet and intranet provisions, email, IT training, networking, and data storage and processing. In addition, the agency has a world renowned project management practice, assists with application development, and sets technology strategy and policies for the state enterprise.