 Describe any current or planned programs in your community to accelerate and expand adoption and use of broadband Internet access: Let us begin our description of Morgantown’s acceleration and adoption plan by painting a picture of Morgantown 10 years from now… The year is 2020 and the Google-Morgantown partnership has been in place for nearly a decade. Morgantown was chosen as a model city for this partnership because of its commitment to innovation and collaboration, its location in the heart of Appalachia, and its association with WVU (a major land-grant institution), two national laboratories and the world’s largest generic pharmaceutical company. The partnership has been a success beyond imagination and the rest of the nation took notice. Morgantown differentiated itself in several ways:    At WVU, the one Gig network provided a strong platform for new on-line academic programs and a stronger research environment. The new partnerships developed between the University and Google raised WVU’s research and development stature in the IT world. WVU and the National Energy Technology Laboratory developed new programs in energy and water research that led to a city-wide smart grid and energy audits that truly supported the concept of “going green.” At home, families used the many Google products to enhance their style of living, expand their awareness of the environment, and become involved in a global society. The digital divide was closed.  Morgantown won many awards and recognitions in the 2000's for being a “best place to live and work in America.” But those awards were quickly eclipsed by the milestones of progress created through the Google-Morgantown partnership. Morgantown proved to be the perfect model city to test the next generation of Google services. Morgantown became a destination with people choosing to move here to participate in the elevated levels of success in education and healthcare delivery, the new opportunities in business, and the generally acknowledged outstanding quality of life. All of this is attributable to Google's belief in 2010 to the power of this community as a place to test its one Gig network. Morgantown was Google’s laboratory for testing products and applications for a 21st century community. The Google infrastructure provided the impetus for the community to transform itself. So how did this all begin in 2010? In 2010 Morgantown and WVU worked with Google to bring electronic transportation to our city and campus just as in the 1970's when Morgantown and WVU worked with the U.S. Department of Transportation to bring the PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) to the city and campus. The PRT was progressive then and remains a state-of-the-art, “operator-free,” computer program driven transit system; it became the model for hundreds that were developed afterwards. A one Gig Google network was the 21st century equivalent to the PRT; Morgantown became the model for other cities to emulate. Morgantown was selected for three key reasons that separated itself from other cities:
It started with having a plan that, at the core, focused on sustainability, collaboration and innovation. This plan, outlined below, constitutes “ready-to-launch” expansion and adoption plans to be implemented city-wide, focusing on four categories: business, education, health care and public services, to benefit all residents of Morgantown. This plan and application are entitled Morgantown’s Next Generation, which is defined as a rebirth and resurgence of economic development, education, health care and energy research and public services not capable by any other means. Once the high-speed Internet switch is flipped, Morgantown’s Next Generation begins. But first…we need a plan. We’ve outlined current expansion and adoption initiatives (A), as well as tactics for implementation at key timeline targets of six months (B), one year (C) and beyond one year (D) after the Google switch is “flipped.” A. MORGANTOWN BEFORE GOOGLE: CURRENT INITIATIVES Google has powerful tools for businesses in its Local Business Center. The Morgantown Chamber of Commerce is working with the City to urge resident businesses to take advantage of this suite of products in a win-win scenario for Google and local businesses.  Local school districts have been attempting Internet-based learning initiatives, such as remote learning and virtual classrooms. However, slow Internet connections have delayed this effort. Schools are currently tracking student results online, providing distance learning initiatives, communicating with parents using online programs and presenting content using mobile devices. While the schools remain committed to using the Internet and Web 2.0 tools as teaching aids, current infrastructure does not allow for immediate adoption. Our schools are continually pursuing grant and funding opportunities for upgrades, however, without high-speed Internet, efforts for upgrades are futile. Local arts and culture camps will be infusing STEM programming within their existing curricula, beginning this summer. These camps will provide expansive knowledge into core learning aspects necessary to this next generation. Internet components will be used for this instruction. While our plan, as you will see below, is to focus on this “next generation” of Morgantown resident, we are not neglecting our older populations. With the assistance of WVU students, programs are in place providing basic computer instruction to older Morgantown residents. Assisted living facilities and nursing homes, as a result of these programs, are connecting this older generation with loved ones across the country through e-mail communications. With West Virginia University Hospital as its epicenter, Morgantown is an advanced area of health care research and development. From progressive cancer research to youth fitness initiatives, WVUH has always provided top notch care to community residents. Current technology has allowed for the development of a $100 million investment in electronic health record management, which is currently accessible within the WVUH system. Additionally, for more than 10 years, WVUH has provided point-to-point telemedicine consultations, clinics and assessments through dedicated Internet connections between parties. WVUH plans to continue development of these systems and works to promote their use in primary health care and beyond. Morgantown’s new Mayor is progressive and tenacious in his approach to foster innovation within the city. The City has broadcast public meetings on local television channels and has worked hard to enhance electronic delivery of content to its residents. One of the benefits the City has realized, as a result of this application process, is the value Google can provide to City business through its suite of applications and tools. Morgantown government is working to utilize tools such as Google docs, discussion forums and groups to further develop communication channels to its residents and offer transparent governance.  B. MORGANTOWN WITHIN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF GOOGLE The City of Morgantown has received a commitment of $50,000 from West Virginia University to develop training programs focused on Google’s suite of small business products. This programming will be developed by the University, and Google as necessary, providing business and marketing support for local businesses. The City of Morgantown will make the commitment (estimated at approximately $1 million), to place a computer in every K-12 student household within the city currently lacking a computer. These computers will be new computers using open source programs, providing gateways into homes where such infrastructure does not currently exist. This will provide Google with potential access to 100% of Morgantown student residences, and equal opportunities for all students in the City. High-speed internet connections will provide for immediate expansion to in-home monitoring. Quality of care can be expanded to include cutting-edge monitoring techniques on health care, social work and other forms of treatment. Linking Morgantown and WVUH to high-speed Internet will result in better care to the residents of Morgantown and better access to care services desperately needed. As Google’s experimental site for high-speed Internet, the City of Morgantown will position itself as a community leader in adopting Google’s full suite of tools and applications by “leading by example.” All applicable government services and communications will be migrated to Google platforms. The City’s government will work with Google experts to determine best uses for implementation of this migration. The City will work to be the example of how government can maximize Google products for delivery of public services. This includes more expansive integration with Morgantown’s transportation, public safety and public education efforts. C. MORGANTOWN WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR OF GOOGLE Programs highlighting Google’s support services of small businesses previously described will be released to local small businesses. The City will use vehicles of the Chamber of Commerce and Small Business Development Center to deliver this training direct to business professionals. Registration of local businesses will be encouraged, promoted and spotlighted as a key strategic initiative of these organizations. The City has also initiated forward-thinking discussions with local businesses, such as harnessing computational capacity on both dedicated and "idle" resources to run extreme-scale data-heavy, compute-intensive, and distributed command and control applications. STEM camps that have been described previously will continue to be developed, duplicated and instated in cities beyond Morgantown, with a focus on Internet-based learning initiatives. WVU is also pledging an additional $100,000 of financial support to develop PreK-12, Internet-based, in-house curricula targeted at Internet education with the goal of promoting online activities and STEM careers to students. WVU will work with local school districts to enable learning units within the schools, with continuing education to occur in-home. This project will focus on laying the foundation for Internet training of Morgantown’s next generation of community leader and business professional. WVUH is currently a leader in specialty services and community care initiatives. The University has provided workforce training initiatives highlighting these specialty services to out-of-network medical residents and future care providers. This training has been restricted to limited audiences because of the point-to-point connectivity restrictions of their Internet connections. With increased Internet capacity, WVU will be able to expand this training and share their research and specialty service with the next generation of health care providers across the globe. One example of this is WVU’s pediatric neurology care. With limited pediatric neurologists across the country, WVU will be able to connect with other hospitals and share research and care techniques that, otherwise, would be unavailable. Additionally, electronic health records will be available direct to patients and out-of-network care providers, allowing seamless care support. Morgantown already boasts state-of-the art public safety tools, like networked cameras that allow for monitoring of targeted areas throughout the city. High-speed Internet access will allow for expansion of this network to include monitoring via live video and/or sensors and real-time intervention of incidences of disturbance. Reaction times of public safety personnel to emergency situations will be increased, enhancing the safety of Morgantown residents and businesses. Traffic control can be monitored and adjusted real-time to accommodate varying traffic congestion Morgantown experiences, for example, during weekends in the fall when the population grows by 40,000 to accommodate adoring football fans. D. MORGANTOWN BEYOND THE FIRST YEAR OF GOOGLE Working with Google and WVU to establish business-based training programs to help small businesses expand their reach, the City, Chamber and other similar organizations will provide next level support for further marketing businesses using these services. New businesses and markets will be educated in the facets of these tools and assistance will be provided to support small business development and attraction. There are many technology companies located in the City of Morgantown who have expressed their support of high-speed Internet to the area. Plans considered include moving data centers from other cities where Internet speeds are faster, like Pittsburgh, to the Morgantown area and expansion to new markets of products and services otherwise not able to be developed due to limitations of business Internet speeds. With WVU researchers, high-tech development and the desire for business expansion, Morgantown is poised to transform from coal miner to data miner, with the assistance of high-speed Internet capacity. With Google’s high-speed Internet, the City has committed to ensuring each household has a computer, as mentioned above. In similar vein, the City will work with the local schools, business and academic community to build sustainability to this program. This collaboration will work with local businesses and the University to decommission computers being replaced at their institutions and provide these machines to community residents, as provided machines become obsolete and outdated. Classrooms have already been equipped to provide students with a virtual environment, when they can experience prehistoric times by placing students “in” the environment of the time period; or examining the parts of a human blood cell from “inside” the cell. This technology can be adapted and expanded to in-home application to accommodate all students 24/7. Additionally, community groups have already expressed interest, upon successful piloting of STEM camps and initiatives, to seek out and connect, via the Internet, to similar programs across the country. This will provide online, real-time collaboration with other students, instructors and businesses to provide enhanced STEM education initiatives benefitting Morgantown and those other programs across the country. These educational on-line opportunities would not be possible without high-speed Internet. Morgantown and WVU Hospitals have been “ruralized” by its location and, more importantly, its lack of Internet capabilities. By providing high-speed Internet to WVUH and the City of Morgantown, specialists can be connected to those who need care across the country. The WVUH telemedicine system has been in place for more than 20 years. As early telemedicine pioneers, Morgantown doctors are familiar with the immense benefits telemedicine can have on the health care industry. They know what it will take to make it succeed globally. WVUH doctors and administrators have witnessed how telemedicine has strengthened WVU health services, albeit on a dedicated point-to-point connection. High speed Internet will allow for quick access to health care specialty services, advanced research, medical collaboration, specialty service training and medical record information. As early adopters, WVUH and the City of Morgantown have already tested these technologies locally. High-speed Internet will allow WVUH to share these findings with the global health care community. To this point, focus has been placed on hard connections to Morgantown residents. The City will support and anchor wireless and cloud computing services, intersecting with the fiber initiatives, building a mobile environment. Such an environment will enable Morgantown to continue testing for real-time smart grid capabilities across the City, reducing energy dependence and creating a greener future. Morgantown is a City that thrives on avant-garde initiatives. From early experiments in transportation that still provide reliable and affordable connections to parts of our community, to the leadership of today, the Morgantown Mountaineer Spirit provides us the fortitude to come together as a community to guarantee success.  Morgantown-Google Application Table of Contents: |
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