Colorado State University Hosts Seminar March 29 on Role of Higher Education in Providing Strategic Bandwidth Advantage to U.S.

Colorado State University’s Information Science and Technology Center will host Blair Levin, who will present “The Next American Upgrade: The Role of Higher Education in Providing the United States a Strategic Bandwidth Advantage.” Levin will speak at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 29, at the Lory Student Center Grey Rock Room.

Levin is leading the Gigabit university-community partnership initiative that seeks transformative approaches for next-generation, ultrahigh-speed, last-mile connectivity in communities in which research universities are located.

The University Community Next Generation Innovation Project, or Gig.U, is a broad-based group of more than 30 leading research universities from across the United States, including CSU. Drawing on America’s rich history of community-led innovation in research and entrepreneurship, Gig.U seeks to accelerate deployment of ultra high-speed networks to leading U.S. universities and their surrounding communities. Improvements to these networks drive economic growth and stimulate a new generation of innovations addressing critical needs, such as health care and education.

During the seminar, Levin, Communications and Society Fellow with the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program, will discuss Gig.U’s initiative and talk about how CSU and Fort Collins communities can act together to attract a vendor for Gigabit services to the community.

Levin began his position with the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program in May 2010 following his departure from the Federal Communications Commission, where he served as executive director of the Omnibus Broadband Initiative. In his role at the FCC, Levin oversaw the development of a National Broadband Plan, a project mandated by Congress in the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Colorado State’s Information and Technology Center is a university-wide organization for promoting, facilitating and enhancing CSU’s research, education and outreach activities pertaining to the design and innovative application of computer, communication and information systems.

For more information about Gig.U, visit www.gig-u.org.
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