Jennifer Duane

[Commentary] As the US workforce continues to adapt to the digital economy, it is critical that communities and their anchor institutions such as schools, libraries and hospitals have access to high-speed broadband infrastructure to ensure that working-age adults can access educational opportunities, build job skills and find employment.

This is why the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) put so much emphasis on connecting community anchor institutions as part of NTIA’s broadband grant program funded by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As part of that program, NTIA’s grantees connected more than 25,000 community anchor institutions to middle mile networks funded with the help of NTIA grants. Communities that lack broadband access have struggled to attract and to retain businesses and have placed their residents at a disadvantage in finding and training for new jobs, often forcing workers and their families to leave the area to find work. NTIA’s BroadbandUSA program can help communities address this need for broadband. BroadbandUSA provides guidance and technical assistance to communities interested in harnessing the power of broadband to increase economic growth opportunities for their residents. This support includes helping to develop strategies to improve broadband access and digital literacy, advising on the planning and execution of broadband expansion projects, and sharing best practices from NTIA’s broadband experts.

[Jennifer Duane is senior advisor for broadband and public safety at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration]