[1st-mile-nm] Gar Clarke on NM State Broadband Efforts

Mon Nov 26 10:29:15 PST 2012

Following is a posting from list subscriber Gar Clarke, who heads up 
state broadband initiatives at NM DoIT.
I'm not sure if it went out to all on this list; so please excuse 
possible re-posting.
Gar, responding to a number of recent postings, provides a substantial 
description of current State efforts.
RL

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: [1st-mile-nm] Friedman on Chattanooga's fiber network
 From: "Clarke, George, DoIT" <george.clarke at state.nm.us>
Date: Sat, November 24, 2012 11:09 pm
To: Owen Densmore <owen at backspaces.net>, <frank at wmxsystems.com>
Cc: 1st-Mile-NM <1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org>

Owen, Frank, and the rest of the ‘Listeners’:

I appreciate your question Owen.  We in New Mexico have some plans in 
the works that have evolved from the wisdom of you all and a few 
creative twists of our own.  As a result of lessons learned in places 
such as the City of Santa Fe and elsewhere, the New Mexico Broadband 
Program (NMBBP) is proceeding with a number of projects that will sew 
into a fabric, we believe, a good implementation structure.  Please give 
me the time to explain as this sounds like a bunch of junk, yet I assure 
you that we have an opportunity to be successful.  I encourage your 
comment.

The NMBBP is pushing together three ‘Mini Broadband Strategic Plans” 
that will focus on the Business Sectors of Health, Education, and 
Economic Development.  These will be completed before summer of 2013.  
The outlines or “deliverables” will include the following”

   - Advisory Group:  An Advisory Group of experts representing each of 
the Business Sectors (Education, Economic Development, and Health) will 
be created to assist in the development of the mini strategic plan.  
This group will provide content and review deliverables. They will need 
to include representatives from industry, governance, tribal, and public 
interest groups.  Each of these groups will have a series of facilitated 
meetings provided by an independent contractor who will step off from 
the platforms established by the NM State Library Broadband Summit 
findings.

   - Please see “Reports and Summary”:  
http://nmfirst.org/events/statewide-broadband-summit

   - Infrastructure Gap Analysis:  An inventory of all Business Sector 
Specific Facilities (Community Anchor Institutions) within the state 
that include telecom provider, type(s) of technology, upload/download 
speeds, cost of service, point of contact (primary/secondary), address, 
service adequacy, and actionable solutions.  There will be others and 
ideas our encouraged.  Note, this is an extremely important part to 
identify inadequate services that the “Regional Broadband Implementation 
Planning Pilots” (see below) can focus on.

   - Document/Project Search:  A list of past and current  projects for 
each Business Sector will be assembled.  The list will include a title, 
description, contacts, stakeholders, sustainability plan/issues, and 
future plans.  If appropriate, Contractor may include “Case Studies” in 
this section that describe the correct way to implement a Statewide 
Business Sector Broadband Program.  This section when blended with other 
business sectors will provide opportunities for “coalition 
opportunities”.

   - Funding Sources:  A list of funding sources available to the 
Business Sector towards support, construction, and implementation that 
will include title, description, participant requirements, restrictions, 
and additional resources.  NMBBP is hopeful that the “silo” worlds in 
each of these Business Sectors will be able to collaborate on funding 
opportunities.  Of note, schools do education, have clinics, and support 
libraries.  Each of these have fund strings that are not usually 
integrated.

   - Strategic Plan: This must be an “action” document that states very 
clearly what New Mexico needs to create, fund, and implement in order to 
have an educated, vibrant, busy society that keeps jobs at home, and 
competes beyond our borders.  This has got to be an “Implementation” or 
“Action” document.  Meaning,  in the categories of Infrastructure 
(Statewide planning, Provider Participation, Collaborative Assessments), 
Economics (Funding Sources, Returns on Investment), Education/Training 
(Digital Literacy, Distance Learning), Governance (Legislation/Policy) 
there has to be coalition building.  Simply working together to get New 
Mexico some distance from the lower performing states.

So what?  Well integrated with these plans are three other activities 
the NMBBP will be implementing.

Guidebook:  They include the soon to be completed “Community Broadband 
Master Plan Guidebook”.  This “Guidebook” was morphed from many laments 
by New Mexico Counties and Cities regarding how to serve their 
communities with broadband, yet having no expertise to proceed.  A 
number of communities have made this mistake and have found themselves 
in risky situations.  Regardless, we are producing this document and 
will provide it to any who wish.  This Guidebook will be available at 
the end of this year.

Strategic Plan:  Yes, I am wary of “Plans”” as well.  To succeed, they 
need folks who are pushy.  We may have more success than others.  
Anyhow, we are taking those three “Mini Strategic Plans” on Economic 
Development, Health, and Education and integrating them into a Statewide 
Strategic Plan with a section that snaps with “Action Items”.  This will 
be completed in September/October 2013.  So, if you want something to 
get done that is in the best interest of New Mexico, be best to 
participate.

RBIP Pilot(s):  Depending on how much cash we’ve left, the NMBBP will 
implement at least one and hopefully more, Regional Broadband 
Implementation Planning (RBIP) Pilots.  These will incorporate a 
granular analysis of mapping and socio-economic analytics to a table of 
“stakeholders” for a particular region that represent governance, 
education, private industry, telecom providers, health, tribal if 
appropriate, business, and home users to “solve a problem”.  That 
problem being the enhancement, the adoption, the access, and improved 
quality of broadband within that region.

Okay, that’s an overview of what is happening with the New Mexico 
Broadband Program (NMBBP).  A Program that is funded by the FCC and 
overseen by the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration).  These are funds that have and are serving us well.  
Note the above dirge is only a part of the program.  We are also 
developing a Digital Literacy Resource Guide, a Right of Way Contact 
Query System, a Statewide Analytical Land Index, a Native Lands Pilot, a 
Statewide Property Validation tool, an inventive NM Broadband Map, and a 
premier Digital Literacy Train the Trainer Program.

Additional information please contact me and/or hit on our NM BB 
Portal, needs updating, located at:

   - http://www.doit.state.nm.us/broadband/

So, if any of you have some constructive thinking, I am interested.  I 
want to thank the mentoring of ideas from others who include Susan 
Oberlander, Richard Lowenberg, Joanne Hovis, Eva Artschwager, Frank 
Ohrtman (The Frame), the solution oriented NTIA staff, and the 
incredible women at DoIT.

For those who may wonder why I am doing this on Saturday Night, a night 
that I deem spiritual, I am recovering from minor surgery.  Hence, my 
response now, rather than later.

Be Well,  Gar Clarke

Gar Clarke
Broadband Program Manager
Department of Information Technology
Simms Building
715 Alta Vista Street
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505
Email:  george.clarke at state.nm.us
Desk:  505.827-1663
Cell:  505.690-1661
Fax:  505.827-2325
BB Web:  http://www.doit.state.nm.us/broadband/

-----------------------------------
Richard Lowenberg
1st-Mile Institute
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110 / 505-603-5200
www.1st-mile.com   rl at 1st-mile.com
-----------------------------------