Dear Wired Wisconsin Members,

I am pleased to announce that in an effort to address technology issues facing not only our state but the Midwest as a whole, Wired Wisconsin has decided to join together with organizations that share a commitment to supporting an environment for innovative technology, high-tech job creation, and economic growth.

During the past year, we have been asked again and again if there are organizations similar to Wired Wisconsin in other states for our members to direct their family and friends facing the same technology challenges (Rural Broadband Deployment, 21st Century E-Learning, etc).

It ‘s our hope that by joining together with Illinois Technology Partnership and Technology for Ohio’s Tomorrow to form Midwest Consumers for Choice and Competition we’ll bring greater visibility to technology issues that go beyond state lines like dependable broadband access.

As always we look forward to working together to make Wired Wisconsin, and now Midwest Consumers for Choice and Competition, organizations dedicated to educating consumers, policymakers and businesses about technology-related legislative and regulatory issues that impact our lives and advocate for common-sense approaches to spur innovation and grow the economy.

Sincerely,

Thad Nation, Executive Director

Read Press Release Announcing Merger

Did you watch the State of the Union last night?  Maybe you even tweeted about it or participated in an online live chat during it.  One year after President Obama took office, many are assessing how his promises and policies have held up.   At Wired Wisconsin, we want to know how he changed the use of technology in the White House.

In January of 2009, after first taking office, the President released a memo sent to the heads of departments and agencies on transparency and open government.  In it he asked them “to harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public.”

Besides being arguably the most tech-savvy president (he did have to be torn away from his Blackberry when he became president), what has he done to incorporate technology into his administration?

Let’s take a look at a few examples:

• Data.gov:  The White House has compiled data from a number of government agencies to make it more accessible to the public
• Virtual Town hall meetings: The president has used this as a way to address concerns about jobs, education, and health care reform
• Blogging, Tweeting and Youtube: The White House uses all of these social networks communicate with the public

When elected officials use technology it can create greater transparency and openness, as well as increased efficiency.  We hope to see greater uses of technology on all levels of government.

From the moment you wake up in the morning and check your email over coffee, to the time you spend on the computer at work—the internet is ubiquitous in most people’s lives.  It’s an important part of both personal and professional worlds, and, that being so, it is essential that the speed of broadband be available to all.

While some parts of the state have broadband access, there are still many areas of Wisconsin without it.  At Wired Wisconsin, we will keep pushing this important issue to the forefront.   We believe that expanding broadband access will create economic growth (including jobs!) and help individuals connect.

 The FCC is required to deliver a national broadband deployment  plan to congress by February 17; however, they are currently seeking a month-long extension to complete the plan.  We are eager to see more action taken on a national level to increase broadband, but, seeing those delays, we also understand that it is important to keep forging ahead statewide.  We need public-private partnerships to bring broadband to rural Wisconsin communities. 

 Even though it can be a struggle, we hope you’ll join us in continuing the fight to provide broadband to all Wisconsinites.

The complete devastation of our neighbor to the south—literally our neighbor with the coast of Haiti closer to the United States than Milwaukee is to New York City—after a 7.0 magnitude quake left over 3 million people in need of medical attention, food, and shelter.

Stories of extreme poverty and the heartbreaking need for resources is being answered again and again by what we see as a light in the darkness of this horrible tragedy—technology.

Turn on any TV or radio station and you will find pleas for donations. There have been many tragedies in the last decade, but what makes this tragedy different is you now have millions of people able to donate by doing something they probably do every day: send text messages.

Text message donations alone have raised over $22 million. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint are all working with the Mobile Giving Foundation to better route donations to the Red Cross.

And as this article states,

The $22 million total smashed the previous American Red Cross record for text-based donations, which was the $400,000 raised in 2005 for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

The effort illustrates popularity of text messaging and current mobile penetration in the US. According to CTIA, there are 276.6 million wireless subscribers sending 135.2 billion text messages a month as of June 2009.

Our hearts go out to all the families affected by the Haitian Earthquake Disaster. As a technology issue nonprofit, we are grateful to all the people who have taken full advantage of the technology in their pockets to make a difference.

Please consider donating.

Text the word “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 On behalf of the American Red Cross in the U.S.

21^st Century E-Learning from the Perspective of a Wired Wisconsin Intern

As a college student in 2010, technology affects my education every day.  My experience is starkly different from my mother who attended the same university many years ago or even my brother who attended the same university just 3 years ago.

Last semester, for the first time, I had an e-book.  I didn’t head to the bookstore to purchase a text; I went online to purchase an account.  I was able to type in my password and access my e-book at any computer instead of lugging around an extra textbook.

 Technology also influences how I study.  While there’s nothing wrong with doing good old-fashioned research at the library; I have the additional option of using online scholarly search engines to find information.   And if I have a question?  Well, then I can just ask a librarian—I can ask via email, text, or even instant messenger.

I am also able to communicate with my professors and fellow classmates through online discussions, or I can just take my entire class online.

The expansion of technology has even allowed me to be taught by a professor in another country.  Once my professor was doing research abroad and had to miss class.  He used ichat, a video chat program, which was projected onto the wall, to teach a class of over 100 students. 

I know that technology has enriched my education.  It also makes learning more accessible for people like non-traditional students who struggle with hectic work schedules or demanding family responsibilities.   The development of technology has provided conveniences such as online classes—advancements that just might be the solution to make furthering their education a reality.  21^st Century e-learning is my Wired Wisconsin Issue.  What’s yours?

Can a person still share personal information with friends but keep it private from professional contacts and strangers in the age of the internet?  Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, the most popular social networking site, doesn’t seem to think so.

In an interview with TechCrunch.com, Zuckerberg argues that users offering more personal info is the new “social norm” and that loosening privacy regulations is just a way to “reflect what the current social norms are.”

With blogs and social networking sites becoming a part of everyone’s daily life, new privacy challenges are evolving.   

One common-sense way to protect one’s privacy is just to refrain from sharing information publically that is sensitive.  Personally I use the grandma-boss test.  Would you be embarrassed if your grandma or boss saw what you posted?

However, even though it’s smart to be cautious about the public information you share, at Wired Wisconsin we believe that developers and providers must respect consumer privacy.  Privacy protections must develop alongside the progress of the internet which is why future thinking technology policies are essential.

On Facebook last week the power of social media as a collaboration and communication tool was more than demonstrated. A Facebook email was sent around with a variation of the following text:

Something fun is going on……write the color of your bra in your status.  Just the color, nothing else. Send this message to all girls, no men. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men will wonder why all of the girls have a color in their status….LOL!

It didn’t take long for most of my Facebook friends to either post their bra color or send me a private message asking what the heck was going on.

Origins of this campaign don’t appear to be professional in nature, or even aimed at really getting people to think seriously about breast cancer awareness. So it’s not surprising that there’s been a slew of articles knocking the campaign as ‘pointless’ because it didn’t actually direct people to DO something for breast cancer.

And while that position may be true, I would also argue that the Facebook bra color campaign accomplished something worthy of note. It demonstrated the power of social media technologies to rally an unbelievable amount of people as well as getting millions beyond Facebook to debate the reasoning behind the bra color posting; if even in a justifying tone as it was for me.

The media buzz alone generated from both the status updates and subsequent discussions is more than the Susan G. Komen for a Cure could have hoped for with any traditional advertising campaign.  As this Washington Post article states, Whatever it is, its impact was immediate and dramatic:

As bra colors went flying around the net, something strange happened at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. After two years of intensive efforts to boost its profile through social networking, hiring two full-time people to do solely that, within two hours Friday morning, their fan base on Facebook exploded from 135 to 700.

We at Wired Wisconsin will continue to advocate on behalf of technologies that enable world-wide collaboration, education, and economic growth!

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Going to the gym, saving more money, spending more time with your family…these are all good New Year’s Resolutions, but we at Wired Wisconsin have one more suggestion to add to your list: e-recycling.

Did you get a great, new gadget like an iPod Touch, Kindle, or a smartphone this past holiday season? Playing with the latest technology is fun, but don’t forget to recycle your out-dated electronics.

Thanks to the E-Waste Bill signed this past fall, e-recycling is a lot easier in Wisconsin.  To find a location near you, try myGreenElectronics.org.  Simply type in your zip code, and a Google map of nearby e-recycling locations will appear.

We also recommend going to Goodwill, a partner of ours.  Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, South Central Wisconsin, and Northern Wisconsin all offer e-waste drop-off centers.  This provides a convenient and environmentally safe solution to getting rid of your old electronics.

Here’s to a green New Year’s, everyone!

Click here to read our Wired Wisconsin Electronic Waste Position Paper