What a year! We began 2021 with a brand-new Executive Steering Committee (ESC) and our consulting firm, Magellan Advisors, was still doing initial interviews with stakeholders. Our ESC reached out in their communities to pull in more people with diverse perspectives. That effort eventually added more than 500 registered stakeholders and thousands of survey, focus group, and interview responses, giving us insights and data to create our county-wide Strategic Plan. Magellan Advisors uncovered information about what broadband infrastructure and services were available where, who owned it, and the owners’ plans in Marin. We went from just having a list of questions to a firm grip on the facts and confidence in where to go from here. We are grateful for your support throughout 2021. Thank you!
Notable Accomplishments
- The Canal Neighborhood Wi-Fi collaborative project received Honorable Mention for 2021 Community Broadband & Digital Equity from NATOA
- Liza Massey participated in a meeting with California County CIOs and two representatives from the CPUC and found out more information about the State’s Broadband funding.
- State’s Open Access Middle Mile Initiative timeline for making decisions regarding middle mile routes is by early 2022
- The CENIC network will most likely be part of the middle mile network
- CalTrans routes are not the only ones being considered; also looking at anywhere “we” have control of ROW
- Federal Funding Account (funding to states through the CA Broadband Legislation) will focus on un- and under-served households
- Counties receive $5 million plus portion of remaining funds based on percentage of un- and under-served households
- Rules, final determination of funding for each county, and timeline for distribution are pending but hopefully by mid-2022
- State’s Open Access Middle Mile Initiative timeline for making decisions regarding middle mile routes is by early 2022
- Met with department heads for Community Development Agency, Public Works (DPW), and Marin County Free Library to review several fiber and conduit installations being considered for submission by DPW for the County’s year 2 ARP funding.
- Submitted proposal for the County’s year 2 ARP funding for broadband service, devices, training, and support for the five subsidized housing sites that serve older adults and people with disabilities. Partnering with Marin Housing Authority, Marin County Free Library, and Comcast.
- A Community Forum to explain the final draft of the Strategic Plan and get additional feedback was held the evening of December 9th.
- The final draft Strategic Plan was posted to the GoDigitalMarin.org website with a request for comments. Notices of the Community forum and request for comments were sent to all registered stakeholders and published in the newsletter.
- The Strategic Plan is nearly complete including the graphics and aesthetic details. While it meant being a bit behind our original timeline, we addressed a tremendous amount of feedback. Key stakeholders gave us ideas for improvements, clarified some potentially confusing content, and provided suggestions to help make the Plan better.
- We submitted a request to the Marin County Board of Supervisors to adopt the Plan at an upcoming meeting. Since we received feedback as late as last week, final updates to the Plan’s formatting are pending, and want a final digital accessibility review, we anticipate that the Plan will be on the February 1st Board agenda.
Activity Status
Completed
- ESC and Sponsors Review, Approve, & Publish Strategic Plan
Ongoing without problem
- Strategic Plan and Finalization
- Final edits pending
- Countywide Adoption effort
There are no requests for action at this time.