Silicon Flatirons

A Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado

The Second Annual Colorado Broadband Summit

@ Level 3 Communications, Broomfield, CO
November 14, 2008

Post-Event Coverage

Post-event coverage is available at The Rocky Mountain News.

Program

Organized by: The Governor's Innovation Council, the Governor's Office of Information Technology, and the Silicon Flatirons Center

Co-sponsored by: Action 22, Club 20, Colorado Counties, Inc., Colorado Municipal League, Colorado Rural Development Council, and Progressive 15

In The Colorado Promise, candidate Bill Ritter set forth his commitment that the State of Colorado should play an active role in promoting broadband deployment and adoption as a critical strategy for delivering public services more effectively (such as education and health care) as well as for spurring economic development. After his election, Governor Ritter established the State's first Innovation Council and chartered it to, among other things, develop and oversee the State's broadband policy. Last spring, he encouraged the Colorado Legislature to enact Senate Bill 215, which charged the State's Chief Information Officer, in conjunction with the Innovation Council, with the mapping of where broadband connections are available throughout the State. This effort, which will be completed by the spring of 2009, will encourage broadband providers to serve parts of the State where broadband is not currently available and will enable the State to evaluate future broadband initiatives.

As part of the mapping initiative, the State's Chief Information Officer and Innovation Council are conducting a statewide outreach campaign that will culminate in the 2008 Colorado Broadband Summit. The Summit will be the second of two related events, the first of which was held in the fall of 2007 and focused on assessing the "State of the State" of broadband in Colorado. This 2008 Summit will bring together leaders in government, academia, and industry to evaluate the importance of broadband to our State and how broadband intensive applications can make a difference in areas ranging from education to health care to energy conservation. In addition to the array of experts and stakeholders who will participate in this event, Governor Ritter will deliver a lunchtime address and Level 3 CEO Jim Crowe will give a keynote address.

Event Moderator: John Conley, Deputy State Chief Information Officer