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Communications Technology Needs and Interests Ascertainment Study

Multnomah County residents face equity issues in access to communications technology similar to other communities across the country

Inequities in communications technology access causes a significant divide among school-aged children

Inequities in communications technology access reduce economic opportunity

The variances in access to technology within Multnomah County appear to be driven by the characteristics of the populations within any given area rather than the availability of communications technology within a geographic area

Communities increasingly access the internet in a wide range of places

Public libraries continue to play a key role in providing technology access throughout the geographic area

Affordability is the single biggest factor across Communities of Interest concerning whether they are able to access the communications technologies that they need

Organizational communities indicated the significant challenges they face in overcoming affordability issues related to access to communications technology for both their organization and the constituencies they serve

Schools, libraries and local governments have been able to expand services because of the affordability of the network bandwidth provided by the Institutional Network

Community media producers and nonprofits identified PCM and Metro East as an affordable way to access multimedia communications technology

There is a continuing need for a low cost, basic cable service

There is a continuing need for free cable service drops for schools

In order to increase communications technology adoption for the oldest segments of Multnomah County, technology literacy and training opportunities and outreach must increase

For younger generations, technology literacy is significantly less of an adoption barrier than access to needed technology

Disparities in technology literacy are evident among teachers and staff in the various school districts

Many Communities of Interest expressed the need for a common understanding about communications technology literacy standards

Nonprofits, educators, local governments and multicultural groups expressed the continuing and increasing need for community media organizations that focus on multimedia training, literacy and education

Public agencies, schools and libraries continually need access to higher network capacity

Private Service providers are seeing increasing demands on their network capacity

There is a significant need to increase the capacity of residential internet access networks to provide higher connection speeds

The use of mobile devices and technology is high and on the rise in Multnomah County

Mobile phones and their related portable data capabilities provide an “access point” to communications technology for many in Multnomah County

Promoting digital inclusion requires an understanding of the gradations in the digital divide in Multnomah County and developing a variety of effective responses

Local government should continue its critical role in working to overcome inequities in access to communications technology

Educational entities need to expand their role in helping resolve equity issues

Community groups and non-profits also need to continue to work for digital inclusion, but need increased support to fulfill that role

Community Access Capital Grantees indicate that the funding they received has helped resolve inequities

RELEVANCY

Lack of perceived relevancy is the second largest factor contributing to non-adoption of communications technology in Multnomah County

Relevant content is a key issue to address significantly low levels of internet adoption by Hispanic populations in Multnomah County

Relevant online content needs to be enhanced for older populations in Multnomah County in order to increase internet adoption

Work to reduce barriers to content adoption is being conducted by non-profits, local governments and other agencies across Multnomah County.  Representatives of these agencies indicated that the MHCRC could be a dissemination point for information as to how to access these programs

Local community media, local community programming and other local content is seen as highly important across Communities of Interest, especially by and for marginalized and underserved populations

Local content needs to be on all platforms that people utilize, in consideration of the target audience, for it to be adequately accessible.

Providing funding, training and technology to diverse populations will facilitate development of more diverse local content

Critical local emergency communications content is facilitated by the cable system and the institutional network

PCM and MetroEast contribute greatly to the development of local content

Access to content operates along a continuum of users and technologies, with some still not having adopted the internet and others on the opposite end of the continuum seeking content through multiple technologies and high capacity systems

A broad amount of content is accessed on-line

Most Multnomah County residents still access video entertainment through television but online, web-based viewing is rapidly increasing

The types of activities that Multnomah County Communities access on the internet are largely consistent with national trends, except for watching TV programs and accessing health and medical information

Cloud computing will be increasingly utilized to access content in the future

Local community media channels need to be displayed and be able to be accessed on the cable system through the on-screen menu system in order for subscribers to easily access the channel, programming information and the channel’s content

PCM and MetroEast provide the facilities, training and assistance needed to successfully create content

Multnomah County communities are creating a great amount of content, nearly 24/7 for a variety of different purposes

Emerging small, portable technologies are enhancing/increasing content creation in many, but not all cases

Community media providers will need significant investment in capital equipment and advanced technologies to successfully continue facilitation of content creation

Multnomah County communities are delivering content in an ever increasing number of ways through an ever increasing number of technologies

Residents in Multnomah County are increasingly providing content online for others to access

Nonprofit organizations deliver content and services in a variety of ways to the constituencies they serve

Video is increasingly used by multiple communities to distribute content -

The local community access channels are primary outlets for distribution of content relevant to underserved communities

Multnomah County residents strongly support the need for and availability of local Community Access Channels on cable TV programming tiers

Capacity for local community access is needed across multiple distribution platforms

The points of channel origination for critical PEG programming distribution, including live origination that are needed by PEG providers, are those in place now as well as additional locations in the future

Institutional communities distribute content in a variety of increasingly web-based ways to best meet their mission, often within limited budgets

The interactive component is increasing for communications that have largely been one way in the past

Local community media organizations will need to incorporate iTV applications as the audience migrates viewing preferences to iTV content

Four key emerging and evolving technologies are most likely to drive increased system capacity in the near and long term: video; in-home services accessed via the internet; portable mobile devices; and collaborative, real-time online applications

Emerging technologies will positively impact several key network attributes: ease of use; scalable bandwidth; centralized data storage and applications; and network reliability

Healthcare and education sectors have and will significantly benefit from opportunities created by emerging technologies and technology convergence

Communications networks need substantial increases in bandwidth and capacity to handle current and future applications demonstrated/documented by Multnomah County populations

The predominant need is for symmetrical bandwidth versus the currently dominant provision of asymmetrical bandwidth

Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) is the current and future infrastructure which is able to meet the full range of demonstrable needs of the community in terms of interactive, scalable, network capacity

Failure to keep pace with necessary bandwidth expansion will negatively impact Multnomah County, especially in the areas of economic development, education and healthcare

The management structure of the I-Net has positively contributed to the affordability and the reliability of network services for local schools, libraries and local governments

State of the Art, Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) capacity is generally not available in Multnomah County, except in certain East county areas where Verizon has built its FIOS system

High speed data and internet services are not universally available to all businesses in Multnomah County

Local government should spur development of, or expansion of existing, high capacity communications systems in order to help pursue universal coverage

The Institutional Network has provided the network connectivity that school districts and government locations need to facilitate both administrative operations and services to students, residents, businesses and customers

The I-Net interconnect with the IRNE network has, and needs to continue to provide, valuable and cost effective network redundancy, access to critical public sites not on the I-Net and connectivity with ISPs for public agencies

The I-Net interconnection capacity is currently meeting public user needs, but increasing network use will subsequently drive demand for higher interconnection bandwidth and connections with other networks

Growth in portable, mobile computing will continue to increase demand for ubiquitous, high capacity wireless networks

Public institutions anticipate significant increases in their mobility needs in the future

The quality and reliability of the I-Net as a transport system is good

The useful life of the underlying physical I-Net infrastructure has a long term outlook as opposed to the life of the transport system electronics

Key factors contributing to the I-Net being a stable transport system for public stakeholder users include regular maintenance and upgrades to the network, continued high reliability and stable costs for service

A current insufficient level of skills to use communications technology effectively, commensurate with the level of need, is problematic for job seekers, employees and employers

Some resources are available within Multnomah County to gain a sufficient level of multimedia skills

The disparity in the level of multimedia literacy and technology in the business, nonprofit and institutional sectors may impede the ability of the Multnomah County community to stay competitive

The Community Access Capital Grant program is helping to increase multimedia skills

A higher level of promotion is needed concerning places to receive multimedia training

Communications technology has significantly aided economic and workforce development locally

Conversely, predominant reliance on communications technologies for workforce development and employment activities can work to hinder certain populations unless they have the knowledge to utilize such technologies

Multiple communities ascertained are utilizing communications technologies to contribute to workforce development

Resources available under the franchises have contributed to Multnomah County’s economic development

Continued efforts to push for digital inclusion will have a positive impact on workforce and economic development

Communications technology has a significant impact on the local economic development of certain sectors, especially those that must compete in a global economy

MHCRC Community Access Capital Grants have contributed to local employment

Communications technologies are very important to the operation of a home-based business

More than half of Multnomah County residents (57%) with internet access use the internet for activities related to work or employment services

Service providers and businesses indicate that they can contribute to greater economic development with a more fair, competitive communications technology marketplace

Partnerships with the private sector are seen as important to continue to advance the communications technology environment in Multnomah County

Communications technologies and systems are increasingly used by local government to engage the community and encourage civic participation

Local community media has contributed to community building in a variety of ways

Existing public benefit resources available through the cable services franchises have contributed to civic participation and community engagement

The majority of Community Access Capital Grant recipients’ projects stimulated civic participation

Greater use of assistive technologies is needed to enable broader civic participation

Multnomah County residents use their online connection to participate in advocacy issues

Communications technology is a critical tool in building community relationships and partnerships

Local community media has contributed to community building in a variety of ways

As further detailed in the Consumer Protection subsection below, the public believes that local government has a critical role in consumer protection

Local government has a role in facilitating a competitive communications market

Local government has a role in facilitating access to information and other communications technology-related resources

Local government has a local planning role in order to meet the community’s communications technology needs

The high value of the franchise is well documented by its impact on the multiple communities who receive, or are the beneficiaries of, the public benefits under the franchise

The franchise has provided critical funding for robust development of local community programming and the I-Net and future funding must be flexible to respond to changing technology and community needs over the next 10-15 years

The residents of Multnomah County have significant consumer protection concerns and want local government to be involved in addressing these concerns

Certain cable franchise customer service standards are not being met concerning service response and telephone response time

Cable subscribers report a significant number of system outages