BOAF Grantees Synopses

07-08 BOAF Projects

06-07 BOAF Projects

07-08 BOAF Projects

Grantee: Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of PA
Project Name: AICUP - Broadband Networks Outreach and Aggregation
Project Synopsis:

The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (AICUP) project will organize joint telecommunications aggregation projects along regional lines for colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. There is anticipation in creating three to five regional networks within the scope of this grant over the next three years. The AICUP approach follows the four-phase process of other successful networking projects in Pennsylvania: research and outreach, planning, execution and network expansion. AICUP will establish benchmarks for technology services identify gaps in available resources and analyze the capabilities of regional organizations, including telecommunications providers.A Strategic Learning Plan (SLP) will address applications sharing over the network. It After collecting and analyzing information about project participants, AICUP will prepare and issue up to five different Requests for Proposals (RFP) (or equivalent tool) related to the procurement of regional college networks, this entails components related to discovery, resourcing, development, and documentation. The outcome will be successful execution of telecommunications contracts creating regional networks. AICUP will help assist with procurement decisions, contract execution, transition to network construction and network expansion to additional members.

Grantee: Technology Council of Central PA
Project Name: TCCP - Emergency Management Communications Plan
Project Synopsis:

The Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania is a non-profit technology trade association focused on leading efforts in technology deployment, technology infrastructure deployment, workforce development and industry partnerships. The Council has formed a Board of Advisors ("BOA") to oversee, manage, promote and assist in the Major User Aggregation Project. The following Goals and Intended Outcomes (Deliverables) are part of this grant application, which seeks to create and implement an Emergency Management Communications Plan. The Emergency Management Agency’s mission is to rapidly and reliably communicate in times of preparation and response to man-made and natural disasters. Their expertise and knowledge will guide the TCCP to communicate with this phase of the communications plan. In addition to other entities, TCCP is adding the PA American Red Cross and their PA Chapters within each county as supporting and participating organizations. The project geographic scope shall include all or portions of Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York Counties. Throughout the project, the Technology Council will implement effective communications with stakeholders, partners and customers. TCCP will implement a plan to improve the broadband connectivity of the communities. TCCP intend to prioritize based on the needs of the region and the partners. The vehicle for improvement may be one or more BFRR programs implemented, a cooperative procurement or negotiations with a service provider to meet a specific need. The project scope is expanded to identify and develop BFRR opportunities in the six (6) county regions. Engage Legislators, local municipalities, Emergency Service Providers, health care in education concerning capability, use and procurement of broadband services.

Grantee: PA e-Commerce Association
Project Name: PA Ecommerce - Warren/McKean Counties Outreach and Aggregation Project
Project Synopsis:

The PA e-Commerce Association is working with community champions and numerous municipalities. The Association accomplished objectives from a Grant in FY 06-07 and produced 3 DVD recordings of webinars that will prove to be useful to the Association and other partnerships that will develop. Pa e-commerce proposes to perform outreach and aggregation in Potter, and McKean counties. They will pursue BFRR and BARP endeavors with the collaboration of the American Red Cross Elk County Chapter, and region stakeholders. Organizations such as economic development organizations, county and municipal governments and local libraries will be approached. With these collaborations and the proven record of the Association, a positive outcome is ensured that will promote broadband not only in Potter, and McKean and counties but also in Elk and Cameron counties. The Association will develop a 30 second public service announcement on BFRR/BARP and encourage placement on rural radio stations within the targeted communities. The Association will develop a print advertising campaign to be placed in rural newspapers within the targeted communities. The Association will establish a toll free number for those responding to advertising and public relations campaigns.

Grantee: PA Medical Society
Project Name: PA Med - Connect the Docs II
Project Synopsis:

The PA Medical Society’s goals are to accelerate the adoption and use of the following applications by physicians and health care providers statewide: Electronic medical records and electronic prescribing; Secure exchange of electronic medical records among physicians and other health care providers; Telehealth/telemedicine/teleradiology applications and, online education and training for physicians and their staff. Achieving these goals will require focused outreach and education to Pennsylvania’s healthcare community and expanded access to reliable high-speed broadband. The Pennsylvania Medical Society was awarded a BOAF grant in FY06-07 to begin the first phase of a multi-phase project to assess the broadband connectivity of physicians and other healthcare community and other partners. Branded “ConnectTheDocs,” these efforts, were coordinated with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Governor’s Office to ensure alignment with broader Health Information Technology (HIT) policies and objectives. The Phase I connectivity assessment survey indentified not only a statewide interest, but specific regions Northwest PA: Erie, Crawford, Warren, Mercer, Venango, Forest, Clarion, and Lawrence counties and East Central PA: Carbon, Monroe, Lehigh, Northampton, and Bucks counties with an immediate need/desire for broadband procurement.

The PA Medical Society will launch physician-specific outreach efforts, focused on educating and informing physicians regarding the benefits and uses of broadband in their practices and applications that require or are enhanced by broadband. Such efforts will include educational offerings and decision resource tools using various mediums, such as live meetings, webinars, podcasts, written materials, and further development of similar resources on the web site.

Grantee: Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program
Project Name: PennTAP - PA Wilds Broadband
Project Synopsis:

The Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP) of the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) has a long history of supporting technology development initiatives that draw upon the technical, managerial, and administrative elements of the organization. Starting with PennTAP’s Y-2K Assessment Program and continuing through the E-Commerce Technical Assistance Program (E-TAP) and the Cluster-Based Information Technology (CBIT) Initiative. This team will be comprised of Information Technology (IT) specialists who can speak to the issues impacting the travel and tourism industry, local government needs, and the application of broadband to schools, businesses and healthcare activities. PennTAP has maintained a presence of Information Technology specialists in the region covered by the PA Wilds initiative. The Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP) of the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) proposes to create, manage, administer, and execute a Broadband Outreach and Aggregation Fund-supported outreach program directed towards political subdivisions, economic development entities, schools, health care facilities, businesses, and residential customers throughout the PA Wilds region promoting the benefits, use, and procurement of broadband services. As part of its ongoing efforts, PennTAP will develop a mechanism to quantify the number of broadband activities conducted and interest expressed. In newly enabled broadband areas, the PennTAP team will assist companies that are ready to exploit their increased connectivity by providing advanced information technology assistance (i.e. website design, connectivity solutions, internet products and services, IT disaster recovery, etc.).

Grantee: Pennsylvania Public Television Network
Project Name: PPTN - Analog to Digital Outreach / Statewide Broadband Outreach
Project Synopsis:

The Pennsylvania Public Television Network (PPTN) is a non-profit Television association, focusing on technology, lifestyle, workforce development, and much more. PPTN’s public broadcasting membership network has grown to eight (8) stations reaching 98% of the state’s 12 million plus citizens. PPTN’s stations have a proven track record of television production at the local and national level, and provide significant educational training and support to the communities they serve. PPTN, as an independent state commission receives an annual appropriation from the General Assembly. Our executive and technical/operational staff complement includes 20 individuals. PPTN proposes to develop a RFP among affiliate stations to produce a 60-minute program on the topic of Digital Divide. The program will promote the benefits, use, and procurement of broadband, highlight the BFRR, BARP, and BOAF programs, share best practices and success stories, and feature broadband industry leaders, etc. PPTN will produce and broadcast a 30-minute program referencing the analog to digital transition, providing awareness and information required for the smooth transition slated for February 17, 2009. Thirdly, PPTN will produce 15-30 second television Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) and 15- 30 second radio spot PSA broadcasting in English and Spanish to assist in reaching intermittent viewers. PPTN also will develop and distribute a high quality pamphlet/brochure related to the analog to digital transition and federal “converter box coupon program.” These programs and collateral materials will be broadcast and distributed among PPTN’s affiliates. PPTN will also provide a summer internship program to assist with the Datacast rollout and other broadcast related opportunities. DCED will approve the RFP issued to the stations, will be engaged in the selection process, and will have pre-production input on the materials produced.

Grantee: American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania
Project Name: Red Cross - Broadband Networks Outreach and Aggregation
Project Synopsis:

The American Red Cross’ broadband project objective is to prepare and execute a distance education plan for better serving their community. The American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania is a humanitarian organization, led by volunteers and funded by local charitable contributions. The Elk-Cameron Chapter provides quality education and training to save lives and avert tragedies in northern Pennsylvania. The Red Cross will be sure to explore the feasibility of creating online courses besides the health-related offerings emphasized in this grant application. The communities of Elk and Cameron counties are isolated rural counties needing better access to health literacy resources such as First Aid, CPR, HIV and AIDS Education, Family Care Giving for seniors and disabled adults, Babysitters Training and Preventing Disease Transmission. The American Red Cross chapter serving Elk and Cameron counties has the potential to provide health literacy training and education to the diverse community populations in need, including schoolchildren, young families, and aging retirees. The Red Cross proposes collaborative efforts with PA e-Commerce and will seek additional resources from other BOAF grantee’s and local stakeholders. Seneca Highlands Intermediate Unit 9 and Cameron and Elk School Districts recently conducted a major upgrade of their telecommunications capabilities, which has spilled over into the non-educational marketplace. The Red Cross intends to draw upon their expertise to answer important telecommunications related questions. The Red Cross will coordinate with and support the efforts of the PA e-Commerce Association regarding the BFRR program. This will include helping to identify communities for BFRR petitions within Elk and Cameron counties and providing support for executing those requests.

Grantee: Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission
Project Name: SAP&DC - Regional Outreach
Project Synopsis:

The Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission / Rural Education and Aggregation of Community Telecommunications (RE-ACT) program contends to provide Outreach and Aggregation within its six counties. Focus will be on the uses, opportunities, and procurement of broadband services. SAP&DC will outreach with community sparkplugs, news releases, special community and local leadership events, as well as collaborations with and partnerships with Penn State Cooperative, Appalachian Regional Commission, TCCP, Center for e-Business, and other organizations. The LDD recognizes the importance of broadband to the education facilities, economic and community needs, health care facilities, public safety and awareness. This project supports the Southern Alleghenies Regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), the goals of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), Pennsylvania’s Strategy Statement for use of Appalachian Regional Commission funds, and the Keystone Principles for Growth, Investment & Resource Conservation to provide efficient infrastructure and to increase job opportunities. The ultimate goal of this outreach and aggregation project is to expand affordable broadband services to communities and customer service areas (CSA) that do not currently have access to these modern services. This goal will be accomplished through educational outreach and customer aggregation at a community and CSA level through the Bona Fide Retail Request Program (BFRR) as established by Act 183 – Pennsylvania’s telecommunications law. Recruit Community Sparkplugs – The SAP&DC will receive inquiries from communities interested in BFRR and businesses in BARP assistance. Upon request, the SAP&DC will provide community leaders information and assistance regarding the broadband and BFRR/BARP process. The SAP&DC will work closely with the community sparkplugs and to approach telecommunications providers to obtain and analyze CSA maps. Throughout the process, the SAP&DC will serve as a liaison between the community and the telecommunications provider.

Grantee: SEDA – Council of Governments
Project Name: SEDA-COG - Attracting Broadband to Communities
Project Synopsis:

SEDA-COG is a non-profit organization, focusing on technology, health care, education, and workforce development. They have developed and proven their aggregation efforts with numerous qualifying BFRR communities, while developing strong partnerships within their region. SEDA-COG’s Information Technologies Group (ITG) has been championing the implementation of connectivity in business and government for many years. Most recently, the Rural Education/Aggregation of Community Telecommunications (RE/ACT) program pioneered methods to market, create, and successfully complete Bona Fide retail Requests (BFFR’s) in the very rural parts of the central region of PA. The goal of this outreach and aggregation project is to expand affordable broadband services to communities and customer service areas (CSA) that do not currently have access to these modern services. This goal will be accomplished through educational outreach to employers and customer aggregation Bona Fide Retail Request Program (BFRR) targeting their employees. In developing collaborations, large employers with diverse workforces in the health care, technology, and education industries will be targeted. These influential partners will be essential in developing the information and support needed to expand regional high-speed Internet services.

Grantee: Southwest PA Planning Commission
Project Name: SWPC - Connecting your Community
Project Synopsis:

The Southwest Planning Commission (SPC) is the LDD located in the Southwest region of Pennsylvania, which is headquartered in Pittsburgh. SPC covers a nine county region including Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Washington, and Westmoreland. In order for Pennsylvania to stay competitive, the Southwest Commission aims to attract and/or retain businesses and improve the quality of life of residents within the Commonwealth. Through outreach and aggregation of communities, specifically utilizing the BFRR program, SPC will continue its efforts stemming from their 2007 BOAF grant.

The goal of this project will be accomplished through educational outreach and customer aggregation at a community and CSA level through the Bona Fide Retail Request Program (BFRR) as established by Act 183 – Pennsylvania’s telecommunications law. There are 29 broadband providers in the SPC region and every effort to identify and promote communities to these providers is the intent of this proposal. Additional efforts will involve businesses as to their needs for broadband and the capabilities for growth utilizing the Business Attraction or Retention Program (BARP).

Grantee: Northwest PA Regional Planning and Development Commission
Project Name: NWRP&DC - Northwest Regional Outreach and Aggregation Project
Project Synopsis:

The Northwest Commission Rural Education/Aggregation of Community Telecommunications (RE/ACT) Program was implemented by virtue of the Broadband Outreach and Aggregation Fund on March 20, 2007. In just five months, the program had demonstrated definitive success in aggregating demand for broadband connectivity through the Bona Fide Retail Request (BFRR) program and raised awareness of broadband issues in underserved communities in northwest Pennsylvania. The continuing efforts of an outreach and aggregation project area will cover the eight (8) rural counties of northwest Pennsylvania including Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, and Warren. This project will continue and extend a targeted outreach program concerning the benefits, use, and procurement of broadband services in a multi-county region. Additionally, the acceleration of the BFRR and BARP programs will intensify with the ongoing efforts The goal of this outreach and aggregation project is to leverage the Bona Fide Retail Request Program and Business Attraction and Retention Program to expand affordable broadband services to communities and businesses that do not currently have access to these modern services and/or challenge in upgrading these services to accommodate current business needs. Educating local leadership and identifying additional collaborations will be a focus for the NWRPDC, which will accentuate their program. The entire project will identify and collaborate with other BOAF recipients. In addition, Union City Pride located within IU5 is an identified educational collaboration.

Grantee: World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh
Project Name: WAC - Broadband Outreach
Project Synopsis:

The purpose of the World Affairs Council (WAC) grant is to gain support for the long-term strategy of expanded community outreach through the use of broadband technology in the educational programs and, therefore, to build awareness of the benefits of broadband service in the community. The use of this technology will allow more businesses, community groups, and schools to become internationally connected and globally competitive. WAC intends to expand their outreach to businesses, schools, and the broader community, while promoting the use of broadband technology and helping those in the community successfully navigate the BFRR process. The Council, in addition to providing material for broadband use, will also successfully aggregate the BFRR process, identify campaign success, maintain and provide campaign literature, and promote community relations and public discussions around the use of broadband technology. WAC partnership with Southside Beaver High School and the new G.A.I.N. initiative, there have been steps taken to build a community based network for students and teachers throughout the entire region. The site will allow students to see the benefits of broadband though webcasting, podcasting, messaging, and general interactivity. In addition to building up the wiki site for high school students and teachers, the Council will make worldaffairspittsburgh.org website (this site gets an average of 70,000 hits per month) more interactive and appealing by using RSS to syndicate upcoming programs listed on the home page, making the radio interviews available as podcasts, and integrating media blogging tools with audio and video capabilities. The Council will also utilize local radio stations to get the word out about the BFRR process. Specifically, will advertise the campaign in three publicity spots throughout the year on KQV 1410 AM, reaching 26,000 listeners per week. WAC weekly radio program airs, Pittsburgh Global Press Conference on this same station. The Council has a relationship with Peters Township Public Library in Washington County and plan to grow that partnership to include programs that would focus on the benefits of the use of broadband. The Council is will seek the opportunity to collaborate with Pittsburgh Technology Council and Southwest Commission LDD and other local and regional resources.

Grantee: Technology Council of Central PA
Project Name: TCCP - Major Users Aggregation Project-Somerset County
Project Synopsis:

The Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania is a non-profit technology trade association focused on leading efforts in technology deployment, technology infrastructure deployment, workforce development and industry partnerships. Since September 2005, the Council has lead and operated the Pennsylvania Telecommunications Task Force, the Technology and Telecommunications Industry Partnership and the Technology & Medicine Industry Partnership, Presently. The Tech & Med Partnership has more than 411 members from 197 different organizations across Pennsylvania. Additionally, the Project will contract with expert industry specialists and consultants to deploy the best possible project design, benchmarking and deployment. The Major Users Aggregation Project will Identify the largest broadband users (and potential users) across various industry sectors, especially focused on a presence in health care, engineering and educational facilities and their large broadband needs and uses. The project will help foster additional relationships with technology content and technology applications, like eLearning, websites, and networks for community groups, schools, government, public safety and other entities. TCCP will conduct Marketing and Promoting of the Major Users Project-Somerset which will attract local and national media attention, providing Pennsylvania with excellent media coverage on its attractiveness for business. Demand-Driven Aggregation Projects - Upon determination of the best-match regional/inter-regional capabilities, the Project will develop appropriate and detailed bid/RFP packages with aggressive benchmark matrix and completion dates. Then, the bid/RFP projects will be publicized, marketed, reviewed and deployed. Finally, best practices will be developed and presented to help future projects.

06-07 BOAF Projects

Grantee: PA Ecommerce Association
Project Name: PA Ecommerce
Project Synopsis:

PA E-Commerce association proposes to develop (4) pod casts (webinars) in conjunction with coordinated training pamphlets on broadband accessibility and new technologies. The series of pod casts (webinars) will highlight business applications that are broadband dependent. PA Ecommerce recognizes that many rural areas of the Commonwealth have little or no access to affordable high speed internet connections.

Grantee will begin each pod cast (webinar) with information on the Commonwealth’s BFRR program and demand aggregation efforts. Pod casts (Webinars) will then highlight alternative and emerging technologies such as Broadband over Power Lines (BPL), WiFi, WiMax and Satellite. The pod casts (webinars) will effectively provide industry data on affordable or accessible service other than hard lined/fiber technology, as well as highlighting the business case for broadband investment in hard lined/fiber technology. These broadband technologies are of evident concern to business and residential applications/requirements.

The focus of delivery to targeted counties will be those within Pennsylvania’s Appalachian Regional Commission Area (ARC). These counties are Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming. These areas fall within the service areas of North Central PA Regional Planning and Development Commission, Clarion SBDC, Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission and the University of Scranton SBDC.

Grantee: Pennsylvania Association of Non-Profit Homes for the Aging (PANPHA)
Project Name: BOAF Grant for Long Term Care Study
Project Synopsis:

PANPHA is an association of Pennsylvania-based nonprofit senior care facilities (representing over 330 nonprofit providers) whichrecognizes that many senior care providers lack the necessary broadband network connectivity and infrastructure needed for today’s health care. Broadband network technology would enhance and provide leverage through the various benefits associated with integrated information, communications, quality of life and pertinent telemedicine applications. These applications may not only reduce costs to providers and insurers, but can also provide clients with increased availability to specialized care and access to various quality-of-life enhancements associated with senior health care and all health care.

During the span of a proposed dual pilot project,one rural and one suburban, PANPHA will develop an initial communications strategy highlighting the benefits for senior care providers,one in the Jefferson County area and another in the Bucks County area. Grantee will collect relevant information from providers located within these two regions with respect to their technology network capacity (including information on current cost associated with providers for Internet or related telecommunications services). Grantee will successfully facilitate BFRRs within its area in order to complete the aggregate demand process with 2 implementations projected, one being in Bucks County and one in Jefferson County with each to include a senior health care facility. PANPHA will establish a benchmark for broadband network services, identify gaps in resources, and explore additional external funding sources.

BOAF Grantees Synopses

Most Viewed Pages

Most Viewed Pages

Most Viewed Pages