In 2008 Congress passed the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA) in recognition of the importance of Broadband to the national economy and quality of life to its citizens. The BDIA encouraged state involvement in their Broadband initiatives by providing grant funding through the American Recovery Reinvestment Act.
Governor Deal has set strategic goals for Georgia in which Broadband plays a critical role in reaching those goals. The State does not have an overarching Digital Economy or Broadband plan and given the State’s vast economic resources spread across its diverse regions of metropolitan areas, mountains, and farmlands, the creation of a single plan for Broadband and its utilization can prove to be difficult.
The Middle Georgia Regional Commission has created a Digital Economy Plan that covers such aspects and will help our region grow in its utilization of information technology. To that end, a Middle Georgia Digital Economy Summit will be held in October at Middle Georgia State College to discuss the future of the Digital Economy in our community. For more information, click HERE.
The Digital Economy is incredibly important to Middle Georgia’s well-being. Using communications technologies and the Internet, businesses can work faster and more efficiently, residents can enjoy better quality of life, and children can learn more broadly and deeply.