Lessons from the Redwoods for Next Generation Broadband

Author:

Sean McLaughlin

Date:

24 Dec 2009

Underground root systems and overhead canopies of the ancient Redwood forests serve as living examples for the next generation of mesh telecommunication networks that convey broadband media among humans and our devices.

Digital Redwoods – Constructive Propagation

The ancient giant forests growing on the North Coast of California set an inspiring example for community based institutions. You’ll see Redwood imagery all over the place – including county and city halls, libraries, schools, health care, and every kind of public service facility. These public, education and government (PEG) facilities are places we share as our “community anchor institutions” connecting local residents to each other and to essential, life sustaining services.

Digital Redwoods is a regional initiative on the North Coast of California to build high-capacity broadband communications connecting community anchor institutions, designed to create both immediate and long term benefits, including jobs. First, constructing high-bandwidth network capabilities will create short term employment. Then, local broadband communication infrastructure and sustainable adoption programs supporting knowledge and information based industries (like digital media) will benefit our communities for the long term.

Broadband investments for our future will grow an educated and media literate workforce for emerging high-tech, living-wage employment opportunities. To sustain such a dynamic, consider the interactions of vast root systems with far-ranging canopy networks, linked by giant Redwood trees. The energy dynamics and ecology of the cloud forest provide a worthy model for sustainable broadband ecosystems.

Digital Redwoods is a regional initiative of Access Humboldt, actively aligned with national efforts including the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition which works to improve the broadband capabilities of community anchor institutions and thereby enhance the quality and availability of essential services to our least served populations. Much of this article is based on their work – see the SHLB Coalition website http://shlbc.org for more information.

Across the nation (and the world), broadband plays a critical role in allowing people to benefit from the essential services provided by community anchor institutions in the following ways:

Local governments, public agencies and non-profit service organizations use broadband communications to engage their constituents, to support economic development, and to deliver public safety, public health, public works and every kind of public service more effectively and efficiently.
Public libraries and community centers make broadband connections available to the public at no charge. These connections allow people to submit job applications, apply for e-government benefits, participate in distance education and complete school homework assignments.
Public schools use high-capacity broadband access to offer specialized courses and basic coursework through distance learning. New multimedia educational applications can help teachers address various learning styles and abilities, and tailor instructional programming to meet individual students’ needs, where high-capacity broadband connections are available.
Community colleges and higher education require that high-capacity broadband be available far and wide to provide online degree programs and job training skills, to promote research and collaboration, and to give rural and low-income areas remote access to experts and laboratories. Research universities are often at the center of innovation in our economy; they need high-capacity broadband to propel the U.S. forward and to restore our global leadership in advanced technologies.
Hospitals, health clinics, and physician’s offices need high-capacity broadband to exchange diagnostic information and medical records, and to provide remote monitoring for out-patients. The effectiveness of telemedicine depends upon quality, high-capacity broadband connections. Rural health clinics have a great need for broadband connections to provide rural residents with immediate access to specialists in hospitals and other health care providers.
Community media outlets use broadband applications for production, archiving and distribution of local media content that serves public, education and government (PEG) purposes. Community broadband and media access provide uncensored outlets for local voices, resources for lifelong teaching and learning with unfettered access to local government and civic engagement.

Interactive digital media is a demand driver for broadband use and a catalyst for sustainable adoption. Remote rural communities that are “least served” for broadband access are similarly deprived of local and diverse media to inform and engage residents in civic, cultural and artistic endeavors. Broadband communication access is critical for healthy, sustainable media that serve local community needs and interests.

Broadband communications is about connecting people with each other to help create sustainable communities that meet human needs. The entire human society including public, non-profit, and private sectors – all need direct access to diverse local and competitive means of communication.

Perhaps the ancient Redwoods do have some lessons for next generation broadband media.

Robust, affordable, high-capacity, broadband connections are provided through mesh networks. Like roots on the ground (through public rights of way), wireline networks create spider webs from place to place. And over the public airwaves a full spectrum of wireless technologies are delivering a canopy of broadband inter-connections.

But how will these digital technologies be developed to meet local community needs with sustainable communication systems? We look to our community anchor institutions as the critical organizing entities, like the ancient Redwood trees, connecting vast root systems underground with lofty canopies overhead, spanning from neighbor to neighbor and from community to community.

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Sean McLaughlin serves as executive director of Access Humboldt whose mission is “Local Voices Through Community Media.” He is a ZeroDivide Fellow, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Communications Democracy and The Ink People Center for the Arts.