A "TED" For Rural America – ‘The New Connected Countryside’ Aims to Give Rural America a Road Map to Broadband

Rural American communities are geographically distant, but a new project from the Intelligent Community Forum will try to bring them together.

"The real challenge is how do we make rural areas of the world just as exciting, just as dynamic a place to start a business, to grow a business, to raise a family, and have your kids have the option to stay there and get great jobs or build companies of their own, and really exploit broadband for its full potential as opposed to just using it for another means by which we all live cheek by jowl in cities?"

On Sept. 29, ICF will launch a two-month Indiegogo campaign https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/aa2194ef#/story to raise $40,000 for a project called The New Connected Countryside. The funds will go toward an online platform and community that allow rural citizens to share ideas, meet digitally and gain solace in the fact that they’re not alone.

by Colin Wood

Full Story: http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/The-New-Connected-Countryside-Aims-to-Give-Rural-America-a-Roadmap-to-Broadband.html