What's the Public CIO's Role With Broadband Stimulus?

[Commentary] Hardly a town, hill or hamlet in America has not contemplated how it might take advantage of the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus package. Many have been planning for months. Whether acknowledged or not, the local government's CIO has a prominent role in this pondering and planning. Local governments typically are a driving force in broadband initiatives. Their CIOs, logically, should be the point people since they know technology better than most, their job is determining which technologies best meet end-users' needs, and they have expertise implementing technology. Your first main task is getting government and community stakeholders to come to grips with a cold reality: The broadband network is a business venture. Sure, the stated public policy is to make high-speed Internet access available where currently there is none, or none adequate enough. But a network costs much more to operate than any stimulus money you get. If it cannot earn the bulk of its keep as a business venture, those who need access the most may not benefit.