The Associated Press is reporting that the government does not have near enough funding to meet the amount of requests from communities of all types to increase their access to high-speed Internet. The government has $4 billion to hand out. The government has received $28 billion in funding requests. The math does not work out in favor of small, rural, and poor communities trying to get access to high-speed Internet in the hopes that it will improve opportunities in their communities.“So the reviewers at the Commerce and Agriculture Departments who will award the broadband money must make hard choices. The 2,200 applications each envision something different - more fiber-optic lines, for example, or computer labs or municipal wireless networks. But they all promise that their proposals will create jobs and bring new economic opportunities.”
Meanwhile, the Fresno Bee online is reporting that more and more people in the agricultural industry are using online sources such as blogs, to “communicate [and] educate.” As the Fresno Bee reports, “a growing number of farmers and others in agriculture who are using social media tools to communicate with each other, send out information and educate the public about agriculture.”
Both sides of many contentious agricultural issues, such as animal welfare, use the sources to get their side of the story out. For many farmers these sources give them an outlet to show what their practices are really about, and to dispel many myths about “factory farming.” For many, raising “public awareness,” is the driving force behind the new technology usage.
So, while farmers are engaging the public with new sources of technology, the ability to expand farmer access to Internet systems that can enhance this technology is being limited. This makes the competition to secure broadband loans and grants even stiffer.
To read the Fresno Bee story on farmers and technology click here.
To read the AP story on broadband click here.
Posted: 10/12/09
