Special thanks to Andy Ogan and Jan Newman for
their project management efforts; Deb Larson for managing the federal
reporting and fiscal requirements; Mike Waldner for capacity building; Brandy
McBride and Jamie Fry for technology planning; and Chris Marsh, Josh Whitman,
Sandra Panicucci and Tim Teaford for address identification and geographic
information systems. This was a significant project that delivered real
results benefitting many entities across the state.
South Dakota BIT’s Broadband Grant Coming to an End
As everyday tasks and critical business functions
further entrench themselves as online and not in line, the ability to stay
digitally connected remains paramount for success for citizens, businesses and
the public sector. While highly populated areas enjoy a plethora of high-speed,
competitively priced connectivity options, large regions of the country
unfortunately lagged behind in technical infrastructure and remained unserved
or underserved. The issues of this
growing digital divide caught the attention of Congress and the White House,
and through a series of bills and laws ultimately funded by the ARRA (American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act) in 2009, started an effort to track and improve
the nation’s broadband capacity and capabilities. The program, known as the State Broadband
Initiative (SBI), was administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce through
the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA). South Dakota’s participation in this effort
was funded by an NTIA from late 2009 through January 2015.
With a statewide reach and eyes and ears in every
corner of the state, South Dakota BIT was charged with researching and
accomplishing SBI’s national goals while maintaining a local perspective. In
late 2009, BIT began generating the first statewide broadband availability map.
With their partner, BroadMap, BIT worked to gather comprehensive, accurate
statewide broadband availability data from South Dakota Internet service
providers. This data includes availability to a census-block level of accuracy,
technologies in use (fiber-optic, cable modem, wireless, etc.), and speeds
available to consumers and businesses. After conflating all data into a single,
statewide dataset and map resource, this information was made available to the
public via the web (http://broadband.sd.gov) and delivered to the NTIA for inclusion in the
first national broadband map (http://www.broadbandmap.gov).
Collecting the details of South Dakota’s broadband
availability was a semi-annual requirement of our NTIA grant. But in addition
to collecting these details, verifying the accuracy of the data presented its
own set of challenges. By surveying public and private offices, businesses and
citizens, the state’s first broadband map was further refined to ensure all
areas served by broadband were included. As South Dakotans regularly conduct
business and everyday transactions away from the traditional desk, the first
statewide cellular “drive tests” were conducted to inspect capacity for the
state’s road warriors. By driving over 80,000 miles and collecting nearly 2
million performance measurements, BIT could adjust and update both our wireless
coverage maps and those of the cellular providers.
In the end, the entire process of broadband mapping
data collection, integration, verification, display and submission to NTIA
occurred ten times in five years, providing the most complete and accurate view
of South Dakota’s broadband environment to local and national policymakers and
stakeholders. BIT’s efforts to ensure accuracy were applauded by South Dakota
providers, telecommunications associations, state peers, and by the NTIA
themselves.
South Dakota’s SBI grant did much more than just
fund a creation of maps and broadband databases. Our first statewide broadband
coordination office was established through the grant as well. This broadband capacity planner and builder
sought to bring awareness of broadband issues and challenges across the government,
private industry and the general public. Through in-person outreach meetings,
surveys, a statewide broadband advisory team, and social media, our capacity
builder ensured that the necessary digital dialogues were held statewide in
city halls, fire halls, board rooms, living rooms, school offices, and the
offices of the State Capitol.
Also funded by the SBI grant was an effort to
improve the accuracy of location-based online datasets and services. These
activities focused on improving our statewide “address files”, allowing
citizens, businesses, researchers and stakeholders to accurately translate
urban and rural street addresses to the latitude/longitude coordinates used in
location-based research and service delivery. While South Dakota’s largest
cities were previously documented to some extent, rural and suburban used of
address data often led to grossly inaccurate results, at times being tens of
miles off. This grant-funded activity mapped 48 of South Dakota’s 66 counties to
have all of their street addresses tracked to either the rooftop or mailbox
level. This data was used to improve the accuracy of our broadband mapping
work, but has also brought benefits to tax requirements identification and
collection and the next-generation of 911 services designed to bring emergency
services where they are needed accurately the first time.
South Dakota has a long and proud history of lending
a helping hand when needed. Our fourth
program funded by the SBI grant, known as the Technology Planning program,
strived to capture everything represented by that spirit and focus it towards
technology. Any one of South Dakota’s “community anchor institutions” (CAIs),
which included K-12, libraries, healthcare, government offices, public safety,
higher education, and community support offices, could register for a no-charge
Technology Assessment from our seasoned engineers. Sitting down with the folks doing the
day-to-day business of an organization and listening to their vision for
improving their practices, our engineers recognized and drew attention to areas
where technology could make big improvements in their operations.
By reviewing outdated systems, tailoring the latest
national IT trends to their local environments, and translating the often intimidating
technical mumbo-jumbo into plain English, our team helped to break down common
and uncommon obstacles faced in CAI’s across the state. Leaving the institution
with a plan to go forward was paramount to the success of this effort. Each CAI received a thorough written
description of systems in place, challenges faced, recommended upgrades, and
equipment additions necessary to accomplish the short and long-term goals of
the CAI in the technical environment. Additional, deep discounts were
negotiated were equipment resellers, allowing reliable, dependable and capable
technologies to be affordable for even the smallest location.
The technical roadmaps laid out in the Technology
Planning program were used to guide the funds available through BIT’s final grant
funded program. BIT administered our own federally funded program, known
internally as our Ownership and Adoption program, to provide equipment grants
to qualifying CAI’s in support of activities desired and discussed during our
onsite technology assessment. CAI’s would apply for specific equipment, prioritize
their needs, and describe the specific technical challenges faced by their
office. The BIT team competitively reviewed each application and made awards
based on technical need, alignment with CAI stated goals, and ability to
execute and maintain the technology over time. The enterprise-level equipment
awarded was ordered, configured and installed at recipient CAI offices, with follow-ups
made as the years progressed to ensure everything was still operational and used
as originally intended. This program
awarded over $1,000,000 in equipment to 150+ CAI’s across the state, making
vast improvements in CAI technical capacities.
These included improvements to cybersecurity, expanded wired and wireless
networks, and upgraded end-user devices.
While South Dakota has chosen to not continue
funding the same services and offerings at a state-level, we remain proud of
the many improvements made across South Dakota.
Be it the first statewide broadband availability map, the 48 counties
with complete address data, the technical improvements made at CAI’s statewide,
or the voices heard and repeated regarding the state’s current broadband
environment, the South Dakota Broadband Initiative invested the funds, time,
sweat, and passion into our state’s digital economy to pay dividends for years
to come in ways never imagined.