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April 2005 Ely - Ely plans Wiki for community collaboration One of Ely's Get Broadband goals is to reach half of the population in educational efforts (approximately 2000 people). The concept of Wiki; is an activity they have chosen to facilitate and help track that effort. A Wiki is a collaborative web site. Anyone in the community can add or change content. There are administrative controls that can be implemented to manage content, tracking mechanisms to show changes and the ability to track usage by individuals, teams, or projects. A Wiki web site is inherently dynamic and as such the outcome of the site can not be determined ahead of time. The community can self-regulate the content when they feel information is inaccurate or inappropriate. Participants can also modify the style of content or add documents or images. This concept creates a freedom of expression and hopefully a groundswell of interest by the community in using a tool that can facilitate any project they choose. Initially there are people who resist the idea of such freedom of website content. There are fears of people running amok or changing valuable content. However, in practice, Wiki administrators have found that most people are conscientious and the freedom they have with this type of site allows the most valuable collaboration and up-to-date content. The sites tend not to stagnate because everyone has a say in how the site evolves. The Get Broadband team is currently ironing out the details of the implementation of the Wiki, community projects, education, and a static website entry page to the Wiki that discusses broadband and directs people to further information. General information regarding Wikis can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki As one example of Wiki in use, BusinessWeek published an article on March 17, 2005, which says, ";In December, Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig announced on his blog that he would open up the revision of his book, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, to public editing. On Mar. 16, he revealed that startup JotSpot's wiki, an editable Web page, will be the vehicle for people to participate in the revision process, the results of which will be published in print this fall." This article is found at: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2005/tc20050317_8674_tc121.htm And the actual Wiki he just launched is http://codebook.jot.com/WikiHome. Windom - Launches its New Fiber-Powered Community Windom Telecommunications gets ready to unveil the new "Fiber-to-the-Premise" state of the art telecommunications system. The new system will offer high-speed Internet access, advanced cable TV, and telephony. The Launch party is slated for April 16, 2005 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Windom Community Center. Throughout the day, educational demonstrations will be presented by volunteers who were identified and recruited by the Blandin Committee. These short demonstrations will highlight upcoming classes and educational opportunities that will be provided this spring and summer through the Blandin Get Broadband Grant. A vendor and technology area will also provide technology information. While you're there enjoy the entertainment, register for door prizes and have lunch. Everyone is invited to experience the new system during the Launch party. Marshall Area - PrairieNet Cluster From the inception of the PrairieNet Cluster, the organization exists to assist communities of Ghent, Marshall, Minneota, and Tracy in standardizing technological applications and practices employed within the communities for the economic growth of the region. As stated by one of the partners, "We learned that no organization by itself had the resources to do everything." Therefore, capitalizing on the strengths of the technical expertise residing within the organization's partners, the Cluster serves as an open forum for partners to share and discuss the information gathered regarding subjects such as preferred computer platforms, operating system being employed, and broadband applications used by business, government, and citizens within the community. This philosophy will be followed as the Cluster works to educate the communities and regional businesses in the use of Broadband as one of the tools for growth. It is our intent to work our goals established through existing education channels to provide group and one-on-one educational opportunities. Along with educational partner MnWest and ISP partner PrairieWave the Cluster feels confident that the partnership demonstrates a commitment to growth. Competition is a market force. Unfortunately in rural Minnesota, critical mass for a business plan of investment is a rare commodity. This partnership demonstrates the best of public/private collaboration and takes a strong position on regions working together to improve the quality of life. Mayor Robert Byrnes of Marshall said it best, "Working together on important projects creates relationships that prove to be just as valuable as the projects themselves." Thief River Falls - Get Broadband Project The Thief River Falls Get Broadband Steering Committee met for the fourth time. The primary objective for the last meeting was to review the results of the recent community-wide broadband survey. The Survey interviewed the commercial sector and the private residential sector. The not so surprising finding was that Thief River Falls is average, meaning that it falls within the state averages for rural Minnesota. The Thief River Falls Steering Committee had thought that the Survey results would help set the tone for the development of its program goals. Instead the results spurred more questions than it answered. Questions are being formulated and hopefully answers to those questions will give the Steering Committee more detail with which to work. However, a sampling of program goals are being developed and will be reviewed by the Steering Committee during its next meeting - scheduled for March 30th. The group is anxious to start delivering product. In addition, following the next meeting will be a meeting devoted to a presentation by the Minnesota Extension Service. We have discovered that the Extension Service has a series of Internet, web based e-commerce related topics that will help develop strategies for increasing broadband usage. International Falls - Get Broadband Project The International Falls Area "Get Broadband" program is moving forward with great ideas for promotion to increase the use of broadband in our area. A dedicated group has been meeting regularly to analyze community data and to plan and promote events. Rainy River Community College will be the host site for education classes for senior citizens and a technology fair is in the works for the fall. A Home and Sports show is taking place in April and our group will look into the possibility of having a booth for information and demonstration. We would like to hear from other communities that are further along than we are in the process. Please share your successful events with us. Cohasset - Get Broadband Project The Cohasset Get Broadband committee has met and is getting close to finalizing our goals. We are excited about these for both businesses and residents. As the goals were being discussed some great ideas came up as far as activities and ways to meet our objectives. Easily by the end of next month we will have them finalized and be well under way with planning our activities. The residents of Cohasset and surrounding area are beginning to ask more and more questions about Broadband and what their options are. We look at this as a good sign and direction. After talking with another ISP, it sounds like a new option will be available late spring for providing high speed. Grand Rapids - Get Broadband Project The
Grand Rapids Advanced Telecommunication Steering Committee has been hard
at work finalizing the first four goals they will accomplish under the
initiative. The goals include collaboration with the Quad County On Line
Learning Coordinator to train sixteen teachers with on line curriculum
development; bringing the health, education, government, business and
non profit sectors together to discuss a prototype for a community portal;
working with the City of Grand Rapids to provide additional tax assessment
data electronically. The biggest piece of the educational component for
both residents and businesses will be an area technology fair to be held
September 15, 2005. The steering committee will be organizing break out
sessions and demonstrations to further educate the public with respect
to broadband technologies. |
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