Nurturing Connected Communities: Give Them Plenty of Broadband

April 19, 2005

by Charles Waltner, News@Cisco

The city of Monterey, Calif., is doing it. So is the province of Turin, Italy, as well as the county of Denton, Texas. In fact, hundreds of other cities, counties, regions, states and countries around the world are doing it, too. They are turning to Cisco Systems to get connected. In the process they are discovering the benefits of public sector broadband networks for reducing costs while improving the services they deliver to their communities. Some experts believe that such networks are crucial to the very future of any community.

And Cisco is right there, helping local, regional and national governments better serve their constituents through the power of converged Internet Protocol (IP)-based broadband communications networks. Cisco offers a wealth of networking technologies for connecting communities. The Cisco Foundation Infrastructure provides the routers, switches, and optical technology that form the core of broadband networks. Cisco IP Communications technologies make it possible for governments to use their broadband networks for voice and video communications, while Cisco's rich portfolio of wireless network technologies help public organizations extend broadband connections to mobile workers and their constituents. All these networks are protected with Cisco's industry-leading system of security technologies. And since Cisco creates its products from open technology standards, public organizations can be confident in investing in long-lasting and highly flexible network infrastructures.

Citizens are always interested in having their governments serve them better and work more efficiently, and broadband networks offer a remarkable tool for making that happen by connecting disparate public services, tying all together in a cohesive communications infrastructure that is more accessible to the communities they serve. The idea is to bring together the multiple agencies that support any government and help them connect with their multiple constituencies. By using broadband communications, communities can bridge time, space, politics and economic boundaries to achieve this goal.

Of course, budgets are always an issue when it comes to public investments, and Cisco broadband networks have a clear track record of saving public organizations significant money. The city of Southfield, Mich., for example, is saving approximately $100,000 annually since it moved more than two dozen of its municipal departments to a new Cisco IP Communications infrastructure that runs its phone system.

But beyond the practical needs of cost savings, Cisco broadband communications systems are helping governments work better for its citizens. Denton County, Texas, for example, is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars, increasing staff productivity, and improving service to its citizens through an extensive integrated Cisco network for voice, video and data communications. Now the county is streamlining back-office processes with Web-based applications, broadcasting commissioners meetings over IP-based TV, and instigating an assortment of online services, such as work bids and requests for proposals, property and judicial records searches, and tax statement reviews.

Cisco broadband networks are also improving public education. The Monterey Aquarium in Monterey, Calif., for example, is now helping children in the Midwest experience the wonders of the Pacific Ocean. But unlike a PBS show on marine life, children thousands of miles can talk in real-time with divers as they explore Monterey Bay's rich waters.

Cisco networking technologies are also improving public safety. Everett, Wash., for example, has set up a Cisco wireless network throughout the city to make it easier for police officers to access mug shots, warrants, and other law enforcement information from laptops in their squad cars.

And in an endless variety of ways Cisco broadband networks are boosting the economic development of the communities they serve. The province of Turin, Italy, for example, is using Cisco's converged networking technology to spread what officials there call the "city effect" to more rural areas. In the process, the new communications infrastructure is helping build jobs and more viable economies for these remote areas.

All combined, the improvements possible with Cisco IP-based converged networks are building the connected communities that some communications experts such as John Eger say are the key to future economic and cultural vitality. Eger, president of the World Foundation for Smart Communities, executive director of the International Center for Communications at San Diego State University, and former director of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy, asserts community broadband networks are crucial because the new economic era will be about the "manufacture of information" rather than the production of goods or services. "Cities, counties, states and countries need to learn how to use the Internet as a tool of growth," Eger says.

Broadband networks, Eger says, create connectivity, which in turn facilitates collaboration and spurs creativity. Certainly, the world has witnessed this potential as the Internet has changed the way people work and live. But much of this has happened internally, within a company or within a market. That same potential, Eger says, is waiting to be released externally to communities.

Eger says the new model for economic communities is a major city as a cultural and economic hub. "In the new knowledge economy, cities are the great incubators," he says. To this point, broadband communications has a revolutionary capability for helping people reach their creative potential. It provides information in two-way, interactive format, making it possible for citizens wherever they may be to fully access the public resources of community hubs.

And creativity, Eger asserts, will be the key to the economic success of communities both large and small. "Everyone is creative, whether you are a CEO or a janitor," he says. "And if we are going to succeed economically, everyone will need to reach their creative potential."

Eger says researchers have discovered that people learn in at least eight different ways, such as through words, images, numbers, music, and social interaction. Broadband communications has a unique ability to let people learn in many of these possible ways.

"Broadband is the key to increasing creativity," Eger says. "Our economy will be dependent on ideas and broadband is a revolutionary tool for fostering ideas. If you don't have the infrastructure, however, you can't make the changes."

Charles Waltner is a freelance journalist in Oakland, Calif.