Whole Community Connectivity
The lack of local expertise have led the Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation, and Technology (OSIT) to engaged consultants from E-rate Central, a national leader in building community connectivity, to assist in developing and implementing Whole Community Connectivity programs tailored to unique rural communities across rural Nevada. The goal of OSIT’s Whole Community Connectivity Program is to attract better broadband options to these rural communities by implementing a phased “Whole Community Connectivity” strategy. To date, OSIT has partnered with six Nevada counties and municipalities. These counties and municipalities are seeking enhanced broadband infrastructure investments in their regions and better, more cost-effective, and reliable broadband service for the public sector, businesses and citizens.
By working with OSIT through the Whole Community Connectivity program, communities have already achieved additional broadband options for their businesses, government facilities, and community anchor institutions (schools, libraries, healthcare providers). With sustaining work, guided by OSIT, these improved broadband options will scale to the anticipated future need, rather than being a one-time improvement. As a result, citizens and businesses in these rural counties will be able to:
- Help rural Nevadans take advantage of telemedicine resources across all health specialties.
- Help rural Nevada students of all ages and levels attain higher levels of education and access specialized online training in needed skill areas.
- Help businesses increase markets for their business products and services.
- Add superior broadband access to the many attributes that contribute to rural Nevada’s high quality of life.