American Red Cross Using Technology to Prepare People for Hurricane Season

Posted: May 20, 2011

American Red Cross will be adding technology to help people and prepare them for an above-average 2011 Atlantic hurricane season.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that 12-18 named storms, 6-10 hurricanes and 3-6 major hurricanes will occur this year. The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1. Red Cross’ officials said that families can take steps now to create a family emergency plan.

Red Cross has developed a free iPhone app that gives the location of all open Red Cross shelters. In addition to mapping the location of a shelter, this app also shows current capacity and population. Users can download the app by visiting the Apple store and “American Red Cross shelters,” said organization’s officials.

In case families do not have an iphone, the shelter information can be obtained from

Red Cross Website by clicking on the option “Find a Shelter.”

Additionally, the Red Cross Safe and Well Web site now allows users to update their Facebook and Twitter status when they register on the site.

To read more click here.

Farmers need high-speed Internet access

By HUGH WEATHERS, S.C. Commissioner of Agriculture

Posted: Monday, August 22, 2011

Farmers need high-speed Internet access

A lot goes into keeping South Carolina agriculture strong.

That's a rather obvious statement when talking about farming, but I am not simply referring to the cost of seed and fertilizer, or hay and grain, or fuel and repair parts. I am talking about the amount of information that has to be processed monthly, weekly, daily or even hourly, such as price changes, weather forecasts, or legislative and regulatory updates.

Any farmer nowadays will tell you that critical information such as I have described must be very timely or it can impact the bottom line as much as improperly calibrating a fertilizer spreader. And timely information in 2011 and beyond is not over the telephone or the local parts store counter - it's via high-speed Internet access.

To read more click here.

Two Charleston Co. schools set to get iPads

WEST ASHLEY, SC (WCSC)
The Charleston County School Board has approved a recommendation to allow two schools to have iPad 2's in the classroom.

Right now, a kindergarten, first and third grade class at Drayton Hall are using iPads. With Monday evening's approval, all of Drayton Hall will get iPad 2's plus one more elementary school in Charleston County.

"They have made a huge difference in learning. The kids test grades have gotten much better," said Amy Winsted, a teacher at Drayton Hall Elementary.

"It saves so much paper. Eventually we're hoping to let kids take tests and quizzes on the iPads and e-mail them to their teachers," Winsted said.

To read more click here.

South Carolina Focuses On Broadband

Conferences, meetings, and workshops assess broadband’s growth across the state

By Wil Payton, Communications Specialist, Connected Nation

Broadband is a powerful, enabling technology that is fast becoming the engine of economic growth in America. Increasingly, businesses seeking to open or expand operations look to see not only whether a community has robust broadband access, but also whether potential workers have digital literacy skills and tools. The economic future of communities in South Carolina depends not only on whether robust broadband infrastructure is present but also whether businesses and individuals fully utilize that technology to grow and develop local economies.

On August 18, the South Carolina Public Service Commission is holding a Broadband Best Practices Workshop where Jerry Pate, South Carolina Telephone Association, Corey Johns, Connected Nation, Tom Fletcher, Department of State Information Technology, Dent Adams, Farmers Telephone Cooperative, Rich Schollman, Century Link, and Rick Wolfe, Comcast, are scheduled to discuss broadband availability, adoption, affordability, and best practices across the state.

Earlier this month, the South Carolina Association of Counties and the Joint SC/NC Cable Television Association conducted events to examine the current level of broadband implementation statewide.

At the December 2010 South Carolina Association of Counties Legislative Conference, Patrick Mason, co-founder of the Center for Carolina Living, introduced the term “turbo tourist” to define a person who visits one or more times to seek employment, open a business, moves to the state to purchase a second home or to retire.

“We like turbo tourists, because they spend more, stay longer, and come back more frequently than the average visitor,” Mason said. “The bad news is that they’re only about six percent of the 29 million tourist who visit each year. So, we need to target the six percent and reach out and attract our fair share of the larger number of tourist if we want to see some economic impact for all of our counties.”

The use of technology may prove to be a viable tool for converting tourists into residents.

A report by Connect South Carolina shows businesses with a broadband connection are likely to generate more revenue and jobs. South Carolina businesses with high-speed Internet connections report having median annual revenues $200,000 more than business without broadband.

While the state’s technological landscape has room for improvement, inroads have been made.

“Connect South Carolina’s research reveals that broadband-connected South Carolina businesses earn twice the revenues of those without broadband” said Ray Sharpe, South Carolina Cable Television Association executive director. “South Carolina’s cable companies are proud of the connectivity we provide that enables these businesses to succeed, grow, and create more jobs for the residents of the Palmetto State.”

Broadband Expansion Going Nowhere Fast

South Carolina Still Lags Behind in High-Speed Digital Access

BY COREY HUTCHINS | freetimes

In October 2009, the state Budget and Control Board quietly approved a $143 million contract that effectively leased out 95 percent of the state’s broadcast bandwidth — owned by the public for decades — to two private telecommunications companies for the next 30 years.

Those companies — Washington-based Clearwire and Virginia-based DigitalBridge — were expected to build out connectivity to rural and underserved areas of the state.

Nearly two years later, the strategy for expanding broadband access in the Palmetto State appears static.

To read more click here.