Governor David A. Paterson’s Recovery Cabinet to Hold Broadband Stimulus Information Session

March 30, 2009, 1pm – 3pm
Clark Auditorium, Cultural Education Center
Empire State Plaza, Concourse Level
Albany, NY

Governor David A. Paterson’s Recovery Stimulus Cabinet is conducting Information Sessions across the State regarding the provisions of the Recovery Bill. An Information Session on the Broadband Provisions of the Recovery Bills will be jointly hosted by NYS Chief Information Officer and New York State Office for Technology (CIO/OFT) and the NYS Public Service Commission (PSC). Come hear about the Broadband Initiatives funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (“Stimulus”) of 2009. Learn how these provisions align with Governor David A. Paterson’s Universal Broadband Strategy for New Yorkers. This meeting is intended for members in the broadband service provider community, digital literacy training community in the public and private sectors, local/county/state entities, not-for-profit organizations, foundations, schools, community technology centers, libraries and other organizations who provide either Internet services or digital literacy and consumer education programs.

Hear about the two main broadband programs: Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and the Rural Utilities Services Broadband provisions of the Stimulus Bill. Included in the session will be a question and answer segment. Please email your questions no later than 48 hours before the session begins to broadbandstimulus@cio.state.ny.us to enable a productive session.

Invited Parties Include:
· State and local officials and agencies interested in extending Broadband access to their unserved and underserved urban and rural communities;
· Not-for-profit organizations interested in deploying Broadband access to the populations they serve;
· Libraries, educational and research institutions, foundations or digital literacy education programs interested in building out broadband infrastructure or providing digital literacy training programs to increase broadband demand and adoption; and
· Broadband service providers interested in partnering with other public and private organizations and companies to accelerate the build out of broadband infrastructures and training programs which will create jobs.

To Make A Reservation: Please make your reservation to attend by sending an email to: broadbandstimulus@cio.state.ny.us . With limited space, the state is asking each organization to limit the number of attendees to no more than four, as a courtesy, to allow more organizations to participate in the first of a series of information sessions.

For Additional Information and Stimulus Resources: Please continue to monitor Governor David A. Paterson’s Recovery website at: www.recovery.ny.gov. Mail your prepared questions to broadbandstimulus@cio.state.ny.us or use the toll free broadband stimulus number at 1-866-322-5787.