Greensboro Is Talking

Who would of thunk that we had 73812 telephone poles in Greensboro?

Steketee Greiner Co. has released their latest tracking report on Community Google Fiber efforts from across the Nation. Greensboro moved up from #10 to #9. Asheville came in at #7. North Carolina is the only state with more then one city in top ten.

.pdf report here

Derek Slater a policy analyst for Google, mentioned the possibilities on the Google Policy blog on July 23, 2008, of coalacing around the end user owning the last mile of our boudband infrastructure by asking the question: ” What if you could own your Internet connection? ” He raised it again there on Nov 20, 2008 …this from [...]

Community Brainstorming Session today, hope to see you there. Where: Greensboro Public Library – Central Branch – 219 N. Church St. When: Sunday, March 21, 2010 2:00pm-4:00pm What: Informal gathering of community members pursuing ways that Greensboro can distinguish itself from others in the Google Fiber for Communities Initiative. Who: Everyone is invited Why: To provide additional opportunities for interested [...]

Dale S, Frederick, MD asks Google:
“Do you expect financial incentives or committment from the host communities?”
Goggle Responds:
“No, we are not asking for any special privileges or incentives.”
Read More and ask your own questions with Google’s Q & A for Local Governments Moderator App

From now until March 26th, we’re asking interested municipalities to provide us with information about their communities through the Request for Information (RFI). If you are a local government official please send us any questions or requests for clarification using Google moderator . With Google moderator you can submit your questions and vote on others, [...]

From the Site:

Our Funds Available and Historically Underutilized Business pages outline the opportunities that exist for you to apply for stimulus funded programs administered by the City. Opportunities will come in different forms depending on the need of the program – either through requests for proposals (RFPs), contracts, or grant applications. Funding is limited to nonprofits and [...]

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Greensboro residents are hitting the ground with shovels and pick axes in an effort to prepare their city for what they believe is Google Fiber’s eminent arrival. According to the GSO Engineering Department the city is “overwhelmed with requests” for digging permits.  “We’ve never seen anything like it.” says one local [...]

Headed out the door now for this evenings Community Brainstorming Session in support of the Google Application. Hope you can join us.

“Civic engagement is the lifeblood of any democracy and the bedrock of its legitimacy. Broadband holds the potential to strengthen our democracy by dramatically increasing the public’s access to information and by providing new tools for Americans to engage with this information, their government and one another. Increasingly our national conversation, our sources for news [...]

The FCC has released their much anticipated National Broadband Plan. You can access it recommendations here.

Steve Moore From Greensboro Fiber Fan Page:”I still say trying to do dorky things to lure google is the wrong approach. Research their mission and vision and create an outcomes based approach, not a rag tag bunch of red and blue people in suits during the ACC tournament. You’ll notice Google is not much into advertising [...]

LOST Friend !!!

Lupe is a black male Australian Shepherd

Last seen 3/13 on Westgate Dr.

Call Gary at 704-651-2400 – reward

From City of Greensboro City Connections E-Newsletter:

The following is from Broadband USA the Portal to Apply for Broadband Funding Under the America Recovery and Re-Investment Act of 2009 . The deadline for the second round of funding to be released is March 26, 2010. Maybe we could consider submitting a request at the same time as we apply to Google. This page contains links to Round [...]

We are pulling two additional Community Brainstorming Sessions together, hope to see you there. Where: Greensboro Public Library – Central Branch  – 219 N. Church St. When: Thursday,  March 18, 2010 6:00pm-8:00pm Sunday,   March 21, 2010 2:00pm-4:00pm What: Informal gathering of community members pursuing ways that Greensboro can distinguish itself from others in the Google Fiber for Communities Initiative. Who: Everyone [...]

Kathey Gill has a list of over 100 cities and counties in 43 states of official and unofficial efforts to lure Google . From her blog Wired Pen:

“Cash-strapped city officials understand the competitive advantage that a high-speed broadband initiative can mean for economics, both business activity and in-migration attractiveness. It will be interesting to see how many [...]

What is iSpartan?
“iSpartan is UNCG’s implementation of Google Apps for Education (GAFE). iSpartan services at UNCG will include: Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sites, Talk and the Personal Start Page. You can learn more about the services provided on the GAFE web page.”