Following on its 2016 Annual Survey on Broadband Adoption in California, the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) reached out to County, City and School District officials to better understand their views on broadband and found that 77 percent view high-speed Internet as “very important to the future economic prosperity and quality of life in their jurisdiction.” Among the respondents to the survey, 60 percent were elected officials, and 50 percent represented rural communities – areas where the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) estimated per an April 2016 report that only 43 percent of rural households have access to reliable broadband service.
Other findings in the CETF 2016 Survey of Local Government Officials included:
- 73% report broadband is very important to their jurisdictions’ small and large businesses;
- 53% report their low-income residents are not connected at home to broadband;
- 63% report broadband is a very important issue to residents;
- 57% report that schools are very able to provide computing devices and broadband in classrooms;
- 22% report that schools always allow students to take home computing devices to do homework;
- 65% report their jurisdiction would benefit greatly from telehealth-telemedicine technology and capabilities;
- 78% report broadband availability and speed are neither very high nor very low;
- 71% report their jurisdiction is fairly advanced in providing information and services online;
- 71% report their jurisdiction uses electronic communications quite often to reach residents;
- 55% report their workforce is prepared to use computing and Internet navigation skills to fill available jobs; and,
- 36% report that broadband is very adequate for public safety and emergency responses.
The full press release and survey findings can be accessed here.