Broadband Needs Assessment, Diagnostics, and Benchmarking for the North Florida Broadband Authority (NFBA) Ubiquitous Middle Mile Project

The Information Use Management & Policy Institute (Information Institute, http://ii.fsu.edu/) of Florida State University, College of Communication & Information, School of Library & Information Studies has received an award from the North Florida Broadband Authority (NFBA) to perform several activities in support of its $30 million Ubiquitous Middle Mile Project for which the NFBA has obtained funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as part of the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP).

The Information Institute will be conducting several activities to achieve a more thorough understanding of how anchor institutions (e.g., libraries, schools, community colleges, local government agencies, and hospitals) within the North Florida 14 county Rural Areas of Critical Economic Concern (RACEC) currently use broadband technology, as well as to achieve an understanding of the factors that might impact the anchor institutions’ decisions to adopt the high-speed broadband services offered by the project.