High-speed Internet is the key to the future. That’s one of the main messages participants are taking home this week from this year’s Grow Iowa Day at the state capitol. Connect Iowa Program Manager Amy Kuhlers was at the annual event to present the initiative and its mission of broadband access, adoption, and use to state legislators. The four-hour event …

  Great news today in our efforts to bridge the digital divide: We now have the ability to access the national broadband map on mobile devices! What does it mean for Connect Iowa? As we work with communities, organizations, and local providers to assess broadband needs, we use the national broadband map to help examine what areas lack availability and …

Connect Iowa has released broadband availability estimates at the statewide and county levels using the most recently published 2010 Census household data. These availability estimates reveal that 2.4% of Iowa households do not have access to basic broadband service of at least 768 Kbps downstream and 200 Kbps upstream. In addition, the data show that 7.5% of Iowa households do …

In the short time since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted an order that begins reforming the federal Universal Service Fund (USF) by creating the Connect America Fund and phasing out the existing High-Cost Fund, Connected Nation has noticed a big increase in the interest among Connected Nation stakeholders in the broadband mapping process and how Connected Nation’s broadband data (which is …

Leaders from across Iowa are back home this week with a critical new mission: Revive their communities through broadband expansion. Members of Councils of Governments (COGs) from across the state are now taking charge of bringing broadband to their communities. They took part in an intensive training last week on all things Internet. Connect Iowa in partnership with the Iowa …

The new year has started fast for our organization, and we’ve already held several great meetings at which we’ve planned for how to bring broadband to more areas of Iowa in 2012.

 We have plenty of work ahead of us, but with strong partners in local providers, government, and small business, we’re confident that this year will see great progress …

Connect Iowa and the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) now have a new broadband advisory committee in place. The committee includes elected officials, public service agency representatives, providers, educators, librarians, and business people. They met for the first time this week in Des Moines to discuss purposes and goals of the Connect Iowa initiative. “The first meeting of the advisory …

The new year is only eleven days old and our team is already making great strides toward further bridging the digital divide in 2012! Yesterday, Amy Kuhlers, Corey Johns, and the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) hosted our initial Connect Iowa advisory committee meeting in which they discussed the history of broadband expansion in the state, and the plan for …

Santa Claus is coming to town. And now, thanks to broadband, you’ll know exactly when to expect him! Jolly Old St. Nick is preparing the sleigh for his big night of round-the-world work. And, as soon as he takes to the sky, you’ll be able to track his travel with military precision. NORAD is the military organization responsible for the …

You have the power to help make the IRS experience a lot less taxing this year. The Internal Revenue Service is looking for volunteers to assist in preparing tax returns for 2011 at various sponsored sites throughout the state. It’s called the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program. Individuals with good computer skills are especially needed to assist in preparing …