As a summary, we are enclosing an unsolicited narrative from Brian Bell, Vice President Global Science & Technology – Innovation Lab, who not only summarizes the value of Google’s high-speed Internet to Morgantown, but exemplifies the understanding and commitment of our private business community to the success of this experiment:

Beyond shaping the future of the Internet, Google has the opportunity to shape the lives of millions of people and improve the human condition through information. From the perspective of a private-sector member of the local high-tech community, a partnership with Google that results in a 1GB Internet infrastructure has numerous benefits that can be portrayed at as three distinct opportunities. 

Opportunity 1 – The Creation of the Silicon Mountains 

The 1GB information infrastructure will serve as the catalyst for the transformation of North Central West Virginia into the “Silicon Mountains.” Enormous opportunities have been generated in the iconic Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, and the fast growing Silicon Alley, located in Manhattan. The manufacturing process of the silicon chip and semiconductor devices was the catalyst for the emergence of the Silicon Valley. The Internet and new media was the catalyst for the emergence of Silicon Alley. As a result, both of these areas have witnessed an explosion of innovation and growth. Here in West Virginia, we already have the kindling in place, and all we need is the right catalyst to ignite an economic fireball. We have federal agencies (NOAA, NASA, DOE, DOL, DOJ) located here, and there are many high-tech companies in the area that have contracts to support these federal agencies. We have West Virginia University (WVU), which is educating researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs who are hungry to start new businesses. We are in close proximity to Washington, D.C., and other major urban areas that we can easily serve. With a 1GB catalyst, many more federal projects and programs can be lured to the area, which will create a phenomenal growth opportunity for existing businesses and opportunity for the creation of new business. The Silicon Mountains will foster a community of companies and organizations that add value in many ways to Google’s mission of organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful.

West Virginia understands the struggles of disenfranchised populations. The state’s geography and geology have provided opportunities, but they also have erected many barriers. These challenges have shaped an empathetic culture of caring and intuitive resourcefulness, both of which are critical for advancing information relevancy. 

It is recognized that today’s data will serve as the raw material for knowledge. There are volumes of data that have not yet been explored that hold promise for addressing some of the challenges facing humanity. With an investment in the information infrastructure, new technologies can be created and applied to better our communities and society. Information is essential to opening the door that will allow a partnership between Google and West Virginia to address some local challenges and to share our efforts and successes with the rest of the world. 

Google has been at the forefront of innovation, which will continue to drive the company’s growth and customer base. As new concepts and products are introduced, Google will need a digital ecosystem as a “laboratory” for simulation, validation, and refinement. Every new idea needs a proving ground, and the Silicon Mountains offer an ideal location for exploration, discovery and commercialization. West Virginia is small enough that product testing can be successfully performed, but large enough and technically savvy enough that the results of are representative of the current and prospective customer bases. The composition of our digital ecosystem includes many subject-matter experts from a myriad of domains, an attractive demographic of hungry information consumers, enthusiastic knowledge workers, entrepreneurial small businesses, federal agencies and laboratories, divisions of Fortune 500 companies, approachable and receptive public officials, and a university that offers both an academic and research framework to leverage and expand any and all activities that take place within the digital ecosystem. 

In summary, it is a rare opportunity for a community to create a partnership with a private business that can result in such mutual benefit. Google’s investment is much more than an information infrastructure: it is a catalyst for change. It extends beyond the future of the Internet and encompasses how information can change lives for the better. The measurement of success will surpass any return on investment (ROI) that exists on a financial statement. This investment will transform an entire economy and improve lives around the world.  It will create a framework where the people who benefit from the investment will compassionately and selflessly contribute to those who are less fortunate. It will create new industry and a new understanding of data and information. It will help establish new ways of educating, resulting in new academic disciplines. It will build an enthusiastic digital ecosystem where new products and applications can be tested and refined. 

Come, Google, and be a partner with West Virginia to tap the energy found in the Silicon Mountains. It is exciting and unfamiliar. It is wild and wonderful.

Morgantown views Google as a collaborator…not as a contractor. Our government, mayor, state, University, businesses and residents stand by willing to support this initiative in any way possible. We expect a lot of hard work. We expect to be measured and held accountable for our results. We have a plan. The only thing left is… “We want a Gig!”