Task Force Meeting Highlights New Partnership for Better Computer Access and Skills

Making more computers available and teaching people how to use them is the goal of an exciting new partnership presented at yesterday’s Texas Broadband Task Force meeting in Austin.

Executive Director Don Shirley explained how the Connected Texas initiative is partnering with the State Library to support statewide digital literacy efforts through increased public outreach and various incentives to drive more participation in computer training, subscription to the broadband Internet, and greater use of public computing centers across the state.

Other meeting highlights included a detailed look at the current state of FCC reform that is now in the works in Washington, D.C. and how the reform may impact Texas communications money.

REPLACE_THIS_TEXT_WITH_OPENING_IMAGE_TAG alt="" src="http://cn.hcents.com/sites/default/files/blogs/imgres-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: right; width: 150px; height: 153px; " title="">Shirley also updated the Task Force on how the community engagement efforts are coming together for the new “Connected” community certification program. “Connected” is a community-based initiative to accelerate broadband access and use. The certification process benefits communities through a process of assessment, benchmarking, and planning by helping participants identify their community’s technological strengths and weaknesses and helping community partners match up with local opportunities.

The next meeting of the Texas Broadband Task Force is set for April.

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