Governor's BTOP Round One Prioritization 

BACKGROUND 

REVIEW PANEL - REVIEW PROCESS
Two panels representing Illinois infrastructure, health, education and public safety offices reviewed all submitted proposals.   

Infrastructure Review Team

·         Governor’s Office

·         Illinois Department of Central Management Services

·         Illinois Commerce Commission

·         Illinois Department of Transportation

Public Computer Center & Sustainable Broadband Adoption Review Team

·         Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity  

·         Illinois Emergency Management Agency

·         Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services

·         Illinois State Board of Education

The two review panels evaluated applications in their respective categories.  Those that failed to meet minimum application requirements were removed from consideration.The panels used NTIA scoring criteria, keeping state priorities in mind, to designate applications as "highly recommended," "recommended" or "incomplete".

Those designated as "recommended" or "highly recommended" advanced to a conference committee consisting of the members from both review panels.  The conference committee determined whether projects should in fact be designated as "highly recommended" based on their consistency with federal and state priorities.

STATE BROADBAND PRIORITIES 

•Improving broadband connectivity in rural, remote and economically depressed areas.

•Expanding the use of telemedicine applications by hospitals and health care facilities.

•Enriching education, research and supercomputing capabilities.

•Linking law enforcement, homeland security, and other public safety officials.

•Supporting organizations that provide training in 21st Century technology skills. 

TIMELINE

·         September 18, 2009               NTIA provided Illinois with a list of projects to consider

·         September 24, 2009               Process briefing for all reviewers

·         September 24, 2009               Deadline for organizations to submit full BTOP applications to gov.broadband@illinois.gov

·         October 6, 2009                     Review panel meetings

·         October 9, 2009                     Conference Committee meeting

·         October 14, 2009                   Illinois submitted BTOP prioritization recommendation to NTIA

GOVERNOR'S LETTER

October 14, 2009

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP)

1401 Constitution Ave, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230

Dear Assistant Secretary Strickling:

As Chairman of the Illinois Broadband Deployment Council, one of my long-standing priorities is to improve the cost, speed and availability of world-class information and communication networks in rural, low-income and disadvantaged communities. I firmly believe that broadband progress made possible by the BTOP will hasten innovation in education, government, public safety, health care, economic and community development in Illinois. Seldom does one program offer such promise.

That’s why we made an unparalleled state investment in Illinois’ BTOP applicants. The “Illinois Jobs NOW!” public works plan, signed into law in July, designates $50 million for state financial commitments to exceptional BTOP projects. We partnered with public universities to provide grant writing assistance to groups seeking to serve Illinois, and finally, in the interest of smart planning, we called on our state transportation and IT departments to install fiber optic duct (where it does not already exist) in all new public construction projects that open, bore, or trench alongside State-owned infrastructure.

More than 140 BTOP applications representing Illinois reinforce my respect for the wealth of broadband enthusiasm and expertise in our state. Each of these applicants was invited to provide information to an inter-agency review panel representing Illinois’ infrastructure, commerce, education, health care and public safety agencies.

In light of the technology needs in our rural, urban and suburban Illinois communities, I highly recommend the applications listed on page two of this document. If funded, these projects will have an immediate and long-lasting positive impact on the economic recovery in Illinois.

While many Illinois applications not listed below displayed strong potential, our inter-agency review panel was very selective, and in some cases did not have enough information, to warrant a full recommendation. In the coming weeks and months, my staff and I are eager to ensure that every well-intentioned Illinois applicant, included here or not, has a fair opportunity to help transform the broadband landscape in Illinois.

I appreciate the size and the pressure of your historic charge to carry out this program. We in Illinois are grateful for the chance to work with you to maximize the public benefit of the BTOP. Please accept these recommendations as a signal of our willingness to cooperate in all future related efforts to achieve the ambitious broadband vision that President Obama, the U.S. Congress and I share.

Sincerely,

Governor Pat Quinn

18 highly recommended Infrastructure projects (alphabetical order):

9 highly recommended Public Computer Center projects (alphabetical order):

 4 highly recommended Sustainable Broadband Adoption projects (alphabetical order)