Last week, RCRC staff attended the Essential Elements for the Future of the San Joaquin Valley Conference – a public and private series aimed at closing the digital divide. The conference focused on creating the nation’s first ag-based broadband pilot project, and brought together several of California’s leading experts to address the chronic issue of the lack of adequate broadband service that connects California’s agricultural industry and rural communities to the global marketplace.
California’s growers feed the world, yet most growers and producers are lacking adequate access and technology to support and fully maximize their potential output and reach. Essential Elements was created to begin to address the desperate need to increase high-speed broadband access throughout California. This pilot project was initiated with the simple mission of brokering solutions to the challenges facing California’s growers and producers, specifically in the San Joaquin Valley. As the world becomes more globalized and technologically-dependent, it is critical that growers and producers embrace the advances that have the potential to increase outputs while limiting inputs. This can only be accomplished through ubiquitous access to 21st century technology and communication.