Mobilizing Community Collaboration to Drive Demand

Bill Coleman, Community Technology Advisors

Learning Objectives

• Learn how to:– Create linkage between a provider's market

development plan and community goals – Convene community leaders around

broadband-based community economic development and vitality

– Build community support for a proposed or existing FTTH network

Melding best practices from 30 years of broadband and economic development

• Blandin Foundation Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities Project

• Intelligent Community Forum Framework• Art of Hosting• MN Star City Program • Nortel Networks Integrated Community

Networks

Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities Project (MIRC)

$4.8 million NTIA Sustainable Broadband Adoption Grant$6.0 million total project investment

Partners: University of Minnesota Extension, State Workforce Centers, MN State Colleges and Universities, PCs for People, MN Renewable Energy Marketplace, 9 Regional Development Commissions and 11 Demonstration Communities

Intelligent Community Forum Framework

Documented MIRC Outcomes

• Broadband adoption growth rates 15% higher than comparable rural communities

• Communities improving their Intelligent Community benchmarks by an average of 15% in just 18 months

• Businesses improving their use of web and social media technologies by ____% in one year

THE OPPORTUNITY

Creating synergy between a provider’s market development plans and the community’s development goals

“What we have is a failure to communicate!”“What’s a gigabit? More importantly, what time is Cool Hand Luke?”

“Don’t they know how much I’ve invested in FTTH?”

Market Development = Community Development Provider Marketing Plans Community Development Plans LinkageSell high bandwidth and value added services to businesses

Help transform existing and new businesses to be globally competitive

Tech savvy businesses are positioned to succeed and grow

Sell high bandwidth and value added services to community institutions

Ensure that schools and hospitals are community assets to help to attract new residents

Well connected institutions deliver world-class services

Increase broadband penetration to 100%

Ensure that everyone is connected for full community and economic participation

Digital inclusion expands market and enables community innovation.

Invest in a growing market

Retain and attract new residents and businesses

Quality broadband is a marketable asset

Four Stage Process

Continue and repeat

Project implementation

Planning

Preparation

Preparation

• Recruit community champions• Leverage market development funds• Engage the community• Establish partnerships with shared

interests

Recruit Community Champions• Key actors

– Chamber of commerce– Community/regional foundation– Economic development– Health care– Not-for-Profits– Schools– Senior groups– Social services– Workforce services

• Key concepts– Enlightened self interest is OK– Shared control of process will be required

Leverage Market Development Funds• Commit to a community broadband budget for project

development– Cash– Broadband and other services

• Community matching commitment– Cash– Project support– Staff support

• Seek additional funding commitments– Community, regional or state foundations– Regional or state agencies and organizations

Engage the Community

• Create a steering team• Recruit local organizations• Use their language, not yours• Establish your network as the game-

changing asset for the community• Get people thinking and talking about your

network and the community opportunity

Recruit Those with Shared Interests

• Computer sales, networking and support• Web and app developers• Regional networks• Wireless carriers• Equipment vendors

Enlightened Self Interest Drives Participation!

Planning• Use Intelligent Community Framework• Identify community needs

– Benchmark on Intelligent Community and/or other data points– Use other community/regional studies and plans– Community input

• Use facilitation to set goals and desired outcomes– Based on benchmarking, plans and input

• Project development– Brainstorming– Prioritizing through voting and commitment– Project teams established

Providers must tolerate the groan zone!

Project possibilities• Digital inclusion projects• Wi-Fi Hotspots• 1 : 1 student devices• Home health care monitoring• Computer/internet training• Workforce online training for

key industries• Community healthy activities

online portal• Expanded GIS use• Technology user groups• Social media use

• Business accelerator• E-commerce training• Community portals• Web sites• Mobile app development• Flipped classrooms• Community video streaming• Community hackfests• Social media breakfasts• Government online apps• Senior citizen online coffee and

book clubs• More!

Project implementation

• Project teams develop activities/budgets with other committed resources

• Projects submitted to broadband fund board/advisory committee for ranking and funding decisions

• Selected projects funded and implemented• Other projects seek other funding or revise

projects to fit existing resources

Continue and repeat

• Document and promote success stories• Continue to cultivate community ideas for

technology use• Continue to seek funding – local, state,

federal and foundation – for technology projects for the community and region

• Be seen as the community partner

Market Development = Community Development

Market Development• Brand

– Community partner– Quality network and service

• Relationships built via soft sales environment

• Sales opportunities– Connectivity– Equipment– Services

• Community now acts as extended sales staff

Community Development• More broadband use• More sophisticated

technology use• Increased tendency to

see broadband technology as a problem solving tool

• Community now has a “culture of use”

Scale• Flexible• Implemented in a variety of geographies

– Rural regional centers– Countywide– Five county economic development region– Indian reservations

• Untested– Urban centers– Neighborhoods

Budget and business case

ExpensesItem Cost

Community Broadband Fund

$25,000 - $100,000

Community Facilitator/Coach

$5,000 - $10,000

Meeting Expenses $1,000 - $5,000

Total $31,000 - $115,000

Revenue• Driven by:

– Faster growth in residential take rates

– Greater revenues from community anchor tenants

– Revenue sharing with for-profit vendor partners

• Experience– *In rural MN, each 1% increase in

take rates yields $3 million in annual revenue to providers.

– Take rates in MIRC communities increased 15% faster than other rural communities

Critical Concepts

• “Go slow to go fast!”• “When you have seen one community, you have

seen one community”• Enjoy the low-hanging fruit sales opportunities• Process accelerates existing tech plans• Opportunity + funding facilitates collaboration• Digital illiteracy exists at many levels• Sales opportunities are at the back of the room, not

the front

Discussion• Contact

– Bill Coleman• Community Technology Advisors• bill@communitytechnologyadvisors.com• www.communitytechnologyadvisors.com• 651-491-2551

• Key online resources– http://broadband.blandinfoundation.org– www.intelligentcommunity.org