State Capacity Building:

The Washington Department of Information Services (DIS) plans to expand the activities of the Washington State Broadband Office, which was created with funds from its initial award. The office will establish a state broadband advisory council to focus on improving broadband availability and adoption with anchor institutions, tribes, small businesses, minority populations, and people with disabilities; provide data to state and local policymakers and communities; support the development of partnerships with education; partner with urban hospitals in order to facilitate telehealth development in rural communities; and lead other activities, as determined by the needs of Washington.

Local Regional Technology Planning Teams:

This program will award up to $250,000 annually, over the three-year life of the project, to organizations and entities that establish or support regional broadband planning efforts designed to identify community needs, set goals, articulate performance expectations, and implement strategies to achieve shared goals. Eligible projects and entities will include tribal, public safety, community or regional teams that are multi-disciplinary, with a particular focus on entities that have a history of working with unserved and under-served areas.

Application Development:

The Washington State Broadband Office will establish the Washington ‘Apps to the People’ Contest to increase the amount and quality of publicly available data and improve the tools available to application developers using Washington State data.

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.