Right now I am sitting is a panel discussion on Broadband, a critical conversation that is part of the Education Forum 2008, organized by SETDA. Panelists include:
• Thomas Buckley, Senior Chief Deputy, Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC
• Bijaya Devkota, Chief Information Officer, Charles County Public Schools, Maryland
• Dr. Geoffry Fletcher, Editorial Director of T.H.E. Journal
• Lillian Kellogg, VP Client Services, Education Networks of America
• Kevin MacRitchie, VP Global Government Systems Group, Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Jeff Mao, Learning and Technology Policy Director, Maine Department of Education
I was eager to learn more about the pressing national issues of Broadband in education, but the primary reason I attended was to support Kevin. Kevin MacRitchie and I met at the Michigan Department of Education late last year (2007) through an offer by Cisco to expand Kevin’s “Executive On Loan” assignment to include the entire state.
Goal #8 of the Michigan Educational Technology Plan is Broadband Access. Honestly, I quickly realized #8 was the hardest goal to tackle when I took the state education director position in January 2007. Thus, the arrival of Kevin was a godsend.
Kevin has not showed signs of slowing down since we meet almost a year ago. He has been a tireless Broadband interconnectivity advocate who meets with local, regional, and state organizations, looking for ways to leverage current spending to increase everyone’s connectivity.
In February 2008, Kevin and I journeyed to Columbus, Ohio and met with the Ohio Department of Education and a regional technology center that provides 100Mbps access to each school district / 10Mbps to each building. We came away with a deep appreciation for a clearly articulated vision for increased Bandwidth.
We also realized that, given Michigan’s economic climate, advocating for funding a statewide Broadband network was not plausible. But when we looked at our state, we saw districts and regions with plenty of unused, “dark” fiber. We determined that a series of linked, regional, integrated networks was our most plausible path.
Kevin went back to work in his own county, Livingston County, bringing together education, law enforcement, health and safety, and other local government agencies and designing an integrated network that seeks to lower costs and expand Broadband.
Sounds too good to be true? Well, Kevin accomplished his goal and this summer the work was started to integrate the county’s varied Internet services and activities (i.e., VOIP, wireless connectivity, shared data center, etc.). Collaboration between agencies proved to be the key, and Kevin, as a third party, non-vested party, was the catalyst for this unique collaboration.
This initial success opened up similar conversations across Michigan and demand for Kevin’s time has skyrocketed. Because of his work, Kevin has briefed Michigan’s Chief Information Officer, and continues to build the inertia needed to achieve these regional economies and lead to an interconnected, statewide network in Michigan.
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