State Capacity Building:

The Connect Ohio Program Office, under the direction of the Ohio Office of Information Technology (OIT), will provide staff support to the Connect Ohio Technology Association, which consists of leadership form the Department of Development, the Office of Information Technology, the Department of Education, Public Utilities Commission, the State Library, legislators, state associations, broadband providers and other broadband stakeholders in Ohio. In Year 4, Connect Ohio will also conduct surveys in each of Ohio’s 88 counties to assess the rates of broadband adoption and the barriers to adoption. The results of these surveys will be peer reviewed before release.

Technical Assistance:

Building on the local planning teams that now exist in all of Ohio’s counties, the Connect Ohio Last Mile Enablement Project will provide broadband infrastructure assessments for local stakeholders so that they may effectively determine how to attract or build greater broadband capacity. These funds will also offer limited technical design support to determine best options for deployment and will share best practices statewide.

Data Collection, Integration, and Validation:

This project was originally funded for broadband planning activities and two years of data collection. In September of 2010, this project was amended to extend data collection activities for an additional three years and to identify and implement best practices.

Address File Development:

The State of Ohio maintains an existing partnership, the Location Based Response System (LBRS), between the state and local governments, to build accurate field verified address databases. This project will support direct funding to rural counties that lack the technical and/or financial resources required for LBRS participation.