Report Defines State Roles in Information, Communications Technology Projects

States can nurture economic development in distressed communities through policies that support deployment of information and communications technology, according to a new report by the Office of Economic Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Contact: Paul Kalomiris
Economic and Technology Policy Studies NGA Centero for Best Practices

The report concludes that states can play several different roles in this process:

* Providing funds to local technology deployment projects at critical times, as was the case with the Ben Franklin program in Pennsylvania, which provided capital funds in Bloomsburg and Northeast Pennsylvania. Similarly, North Carolina provided funds to construct a training facility in the Global TransPark in Kinston, N.C.

* Aggregating demand to achieve a critical mass to make infrastructure projects economically viable for private sector providers.

* Coordinating with local governments to ensure that state resources are spent in a manner consistent with local plans.

The report looks at information and communications technology initiatives in 13 distressed communities in eight states: Arkansas, Kansas, Massachusetts, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. General lessons from the case studies are also included in the content.
Related Links:

* Report: Identifying Technology Infrastructure Needs in America’s Distressed Communities

http://www.osec.doc.gov/eda/pdf/UNC-Luger_Complete.pdf