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Schools, Libraries, Hospitals Should be Top Priority for Broadband Funds
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Posted by Marc Berejka
Senior Director, Technology Policy & Strategy
originally posted April 23, 2009.
Update 5/21/09: For the past four years Don Means has been a pioneer in the effort to bring the benefits of broadband Internet access to more Americans. Specifically, Don and his organization, the Community TeleStructure Initiative, have been working through the details of building high-speed links to community facilities around the country.
As Google’s Richard Whitt explains in a blog post, Don’s efforts received a nice plug today during a forum hosted by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. As the post explains, Don’s “Fiber to the Library” program seeks to provide high-speed data connections to each of the nation’s 16,548 public libraries. The estimated cost? About $20,000, per library, according to Don’s calculations.
We agree that would be money well spent.
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From 4/23/09: It’s been nearly a decade since Bill Clinton unveiled his plan to “bridge the digital divide and create new opportunity for all Americans.” Since then, government and private industry have made considerable progress extending the reach of the World Wide Web. Yet, in many communities the same challenge remains: How do we harness the Internet to deliver economic and social benefits to all segments of the population, in all parts of the country?
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by President Obama in February, will help. The bill provides $7 billion to expand broadband Internet access in the U.S. That’s a lot of money, but as the Federal Communications Commission has pointed out, it’s not enough to wire every home in the nation.
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Supporting Economic Stimulus Efforts in the Puget Sound Area
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Posted by Brad Smith
General Counsel
Like nearly every part of America, Washington State has been hard-hit by the current economic downturn. Yesterday was a hopeful moment, as Washington Governor Chris Gregoire announced 138 transportation and infrastructure projects that will move forward as soon as possible, thanks to $551 million in federal stimulus funds. Altogether, these stimulus dollars will support the completion of projects representing billions of dollars in transportation investment across Washington state, creating thousands of new jobs, and addressing many of our State’s most pressing transportation needs.
You can see the full list of projects supported by the federal stimulus resources here, and you can listen to the Governor’s press conference here.
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New Microsoft Initiative Will Provide Skills Training to American Workers
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Posted by Pamela Passman
Corporate Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs
With unemployment at 7.6% in January and thousands of additional layoffs since then, the economy and jobs are the key issues here at the National Governors Association meetings in DC this weekend.
During a panel discussion about transforming America’s workforce, I announced a new Microsoft initiative called Elevate America that is designed to give state and local governments the tools and resources they need to provide no-cost or low-cost technology skills training to help get people back to work. Several states, including Florida, New York and Washington have already partnered with us to make Elevate America available to their citizens.
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Ballmer to Congress: Act Now on Stimulus Agreement
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Posted by David Bowermaster
Administrator, Microsoft on the Issues House and Senate lawmakers moved with impressive speed today to forge a final agreement on a $789 billion stimulus package designed to help revive the struggling U.S. economy. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who has been a vocal proponent of the legislation, has sent a letter to all members of Congress urging them to quickly pass the bill so President Obama can sign it into law. Click Read More to see the text of Mr. Ballmer’s letter:
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Microsoft Hails Senate Passage of Stimulus Package
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Posted by David Bowermaster
Administrator, Microsoft on the Issues
If you’ve been reading this blog since we launched it last month, you’ve probably figured out that Microsoft is a big proponent of the stimulus package working its way through Capitol Hill.
We have had one post highlighting the workforce development components of the proposal, and another examining the important science and technology provisions. Friday, we shared with you Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s remarks urging Congress to pass the legislation and to preserve its strategic investments in technology and innovation.
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A Federal Stimulus for Science and Technology
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Posted by Dan Reed
Scalable and Multicore Computing Strategist
Microsoft Research
My colleague Pamela Passman recently blogged about the importance of the workforce development components of the economic recovery package working its way through the U.S. Congress.
As a scientist at Microsoft Research and someone long engaged in federal policy debates regarding computing research, I want to highlight several other aspects of the recovery legislation that are also vital to our long-term health and competitiveness. In addition to math and science education funding, the bill includes strong support for basic and applied science and technology that is critical for America to succeed in the innovation economy.
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Message to Washington – It’s all about Outcomes
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Posted by Peter Neupert
Corporate Vice President, Health Solutions Group
Yesterday, I testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, otherwise known as HELP. You can see a video of my testimony here. Before getting to the substance, I need to highlight how I continue to be awe-inspired about how our government works -- in a positive way. Any body can walk into the halls of Congress and sit in and listen to a hearing. Folks from all walks of life have input via a variety of means -- and while I get it's not perfect and can be better -- I remain proud of our democratic system and feel honored to be able to contribute/participate in it.
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Workforce Development and Economic Stimulus
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Posted by Pamela Passman
Corporate Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs
Given the constant flow of dreary news battering American workers – including today’s announcement that jobless claims soared to 524,000 in December as the unemployment rate jumped to a 16-year high of 7.2 percent-- my colleagues and I at Microsoft are heartened that Congressional leaders and President-elect Obama have proposed historic investments to get the economy growing again.
We are particularly pleased that workforce training and skills development are core elements of the stimulus packages now on the table.
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