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Survey says 37% of Iowans don’t have broadband hook up

October 22, 2011 By

The group called “Connect Iowa” says a survey on broadband access in the state shows 63% of Iowans subscribe to some type of broadband service. Connect Iowa program manager, Amy Kuhlers, says the majority of those who don’t have broadband,66%, are older Iowans.

Kuhler says the largest reason given for not having broadband access was they didn’t feel it was relevant and they didn’t need to have access. Other reasons for not having broadband included not having a way to access it.

She says 16% said they didn’t have a computer, 15% said security was an issue, and 10% said broadband was too complicated to figure out. Kuhler says seven percent simply said broadband was not available in their area. Kuhlers says they will use the survey results to address some of the connection issues.

Kuhlers says they are an outreach and education organization and want to work with communities to address the gaps they have with providing broadband access. Kuhlers says the top reason Iowans gave for using broadband is they realized it was worth the cost.

See more about the survey here: connectiowa.org/research/

Filed Under: Human Interest, News, Technology

UNI looking to intergrate smart phones into the classroom

October 18, 2011 By

Many teachers would prefer their students keep their cell phones at home, but researchers at the University of Northern Iowa are working to integrate smartphones with classroom activities. U.N.I. computer science professor Stephen Hughes is part of a team developing software for the Android phone to be used in the college classroom.

“We’re…really looking at the questions teachers have and the way they interact with students and if we can use this technology to support this,” Hughes explained. Another U.N.I. professor, Ben Schafer, along with Hughes and two students, form the Collective Interaction Research Group (CIRG). They’re hoping to test their smartphone “classroom response system” in an actual classroom yet this year.

Hughes said the goal is to find how the smartphones can be used “collaboratively” in the classroom, rather than just for personal note taking. The system should allow students to use their phones to collectively respond to questions or solve problems posed by the teacher.

“You may have two or three students in the classroom who are (working through) different parts of a shared display, simultaneously, to achieve a certain result…balancing an equation, drawing a line or sketching a solution out,” Hughes said. “We’re looking at some of the ways that collaboration can be fostered through this technology.”

The group was awarded a grant from the Grow Iowa Value Fund to help finance the research.

Filed Under: Education, News, Technology Tagged With:

Biotechnology summit underway in Ankeny

October 17, 2011 By

A two-day summit is underway for Iowans involved in biotechnology. Rachel Hurley, executive director of the Iowa Biotech Association, says the “Partnering for Growth” forum is working to pair up established leaders in the biotech industry with newcomers and students who are eager to learn.

“We have a lot of industry participants and biotech companies within the state who are interested in agricultural research and a lot of university students and associates as well,” Hurley says. “The intent of the program is to partner with the U.S.D.A. Ag Research Service group in developing and commercializing biotech within the state of Iowa.”

She says the forum at the Des Moines Area Community College campus in Ankeny features many of the big names in biotech, like Pioneer, Monsanto, Cargill and Kemin, but it’s also a launching pad for many smaller companies and start-ups. “Really, biotech does encompass a lot of areas from industrial and environmental biotech to animal health, pharmaceutical and the general grain and seed stuff,” she says.

The forum offers large group presentations, smaller panel discussions and one-on-one networking opportunities. Hurley says, “The intention is to create more of a partnering mentality here so it’s not just small companies who are trying to make it on their own but they’re partnering with universities, with governmental agencies to further their research faster and more efficiently so technologies can get commercialized and everyone can benefit.”

The forum runs through Tuesday. Speakers include Governor Branstad, officials from the U.S.D.A., and Debi Durham, head of the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress.

Filed Under: Business, Technology

Cattlemen’s representative calls for expanded broadband coverage

October 10, 2011 By

While Iowa is making strides to get rural areas connected to high-speed internet service, many areas are still lacking. Jess Peterson, executive vice president of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, says he favors expanding the nation’s broadband coverage, especially to rural areas in states like Iowa.

“It’s crazy that we’re sitting here in 2011 and you look at a recent report and it shows nearly 28-percent of rural Americans, nearly 19-million people, don’t have access to high speed internet,” Peterson says. “That doesn’t include those who have slow internet connections like dial up or even that satellite dish which is a little bit costly and if it snows or rains it can knock you off.” Peterson says imagine if those on Wall Street didn’t have instant access to the internet or if it took a business owner a half hour to place an order with a supplier. Many rural Americans are putting up with slow connections, he says, while trying to run a business, their family farm or ranch.

“That ability to see cattle, to buy cattle, to see how they’re trading along with all the corn, commodity prices, all in real time along with the weather, that all affects how you make your business decisions,” Peterson says. “What prices are you going to be taking? But, if you don’t have that access, you’re out in the dark and really negatively affects your business.” Peterson says President Obama is calling for a National Wireless Initiative to make high-speed wireless services available to at least 98-percent of Americans. Peterson hopes Iowans will urge their lawmakers to support the initiative, too.

“Please, be supportive,” he says. “Whether it’s public-private partnerships, USDA programs, grant-loan programs to rural development are helpful. The private investment this expansion to rural areas is so critical and a good idea can be hampered by red tape.” Peterson says some people in powerful places don’t care whether high-speed internet service is available to everyone, as long as they can connect anytime and anywhere. He says if they are business owners, they should think again.

“It might be once, twice a week if you have to go 30, 40, 50 miles to the nearest place to make your purchases, but if you’re on-line and have that access, you have virtually on-the-hour purchase ability,” Peterson says. “That’s huge to buy goods and services out of urban areas, so we’re really trying to tell this story. These are potential customers. This is a commerce issue, just like putting in the interstate.”

Peterson says high-speed internet will also improve “distance education,” which is especially important in remote and rural communities so students have access to classes they may not otherwise get. He says rural Americans will also have access to better health care through telemedicine technology.

By Karla James

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Technology Tagged With:

Straw Poll a test run for Paul’s “phone from home” tactic

September 21, 2011 By

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is asking his supporters to “phone from home” on his behalf. 

Many political candidates set up what’s called a “phone bank.” It’s most often rented office space where either land lines are installed or cell phones are rented and then used by volunteers who drive to the “phone bank” office to make turn-out-the-vote calls.

Ron Paul’s campaign has set up an on-line “Phone From Home” system. It allows his supporters to get lists of potential voters from the website and volunteer to make the calls from their own home phone or on their own cell phone. The candidate recorded a video message about the effort.

“Programs like this — we can get around the establishment,” Paul said. “We can save a lot of money if you participate in this and I’m convinced it’s going to be very, very successful.” 

Paul’s campaign is providing supporters a script for making the calls and once the contacts are made, the supporter is directed to enter information back into the on-line system about the call.  

“It can be done from your own home and much can be accomplished,” Paul said in the video. “And, so far, the testing that has been done has been very, very favorable.”

Paul’s campaign used this system for its turn-out efforts at the Iowa Straw Poll in August. In a letter to supporters, Paul called it “state-of-the-art technology that will allow grassroots activists to make the hundreds of thousands of calls it will take” to turn out voters in the early primary and caucus states, like Iowa. (Read the letter and see the video here, on the RunRonPaul website, as the RonPaul2012 website does not have it posted.) 

Paul made campaign stops in western Iowa yesterday.

Filed Under: Politics & Government, Technology Tagged With: ,

Iowa Western breaks ground for “Design Technology” program

September 15, 2011 By

Officials at groundbreaking for Iowa Western Design Technology program.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held this morning in Atlantic, for a new “Design Technology” program at Iowa Western Community College’s Cass County Center.

The program is the first of its kind at a two-year college and students enrolled will learn to build 3-D, virtual products using specialized software.

Atlantic native, Jay Miller, says he came up with the idea in later 2006, and then recruited a business advisory board in 2008. They then developed the curriculum and then got approval from the Higher Learning Commission to allow students to graduate from the Atlantic Center, and they received a $65-million grant from Siemens in the Summer of 2010.

Miller said graduates of the program will fill a need companies have to replace retiring workers in the high-tech industry throughout the world. The head of engineering services for Rockwell-Collins, Dale Wolf, says the knowledge students gain in state-of-the-art tools in 3-D electronic design and data management, should provide them with “significant employment opportunities,” in a variety of industries.

He says his company and others in the aerospace industry are facing a shortage of skilled workers due to retirements, and the Design Technology Program will help to fill the void. Bill Boswell, Head of Partnerships for Siemens P-L-M Software in Des Moines, said he attended a conference of industry analysts who cover the manufacturing industry, in Boston, Massachusetts, last week.

He said one of the things they talked about, in addition to the recent devastating effects of the hurricane, was the “perfect storm” the industry faces for educated and highly skilled workers. He says one of the company human resources vice presidents he spoke with, said they will be losing 50,000 people to retirement in the next 10-years alone.

“So you can imagine the brain drain that puts on companies,“ Boswell said. Boswell said even with a poor global economy last year, there was still a need for three-million engineers. He says that’s about 750,000 graduates short of what the colleges and universities produce every year.

Story and photo by Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic

Filed Under: Business, Education, Technology

You can’t eat the dishes, but they can be recycled

September 5, 2011 By

A new restaurant in downtown Des Moines claims it’s the first and only 100% compostable eatery in Iowa.

Jeff Duncan, who runs Big City Burgers and Greens, says he’s taking every step possible so no waste is sent to landfills and everything can break down to be composted or recycled.

Duncan says even their garbage bags are compostable.

“All of our containers that we put our to-go products in are 100% compostable,” Duncan says. “They’re all made from corn and other byproducts that will have them break down in a composting facility, our straws, paper, cups, coffee cups.”

A couple of institutions in Iowa are compostable facilities, including a few hospitals and select buildings on college campuses, but Duncan says his restaurant is the first of its kind in the state to take this environmental leap.

While he has no expensive dumpster fees, he does have to pay for someone to haul the restaurant’s daily refuse to the composting center.

“We get certain products in that are in cans that we can’t avoid but we put those in the recycling bin and all of our cardboard, we recycle on our back dock,” Duncan says. “That goes into a compactor and then obviously, our bottles go back to a rebate center.”

The restaurant is located on the ground floor of an eight-story building in the heart of downtown, so he says the eatery isn’t as green as he’d like it to be, at least not yet.

Duncan says, “There’s things that we’re limited to in the building as far as electricity and A/C and things like that, but if we expand and do a free-standing building, we can look to doing wind turbines, using more recyclable products in the construction, outside and inside our buildings.”

He says going 100-percent compostable is “our way of giving back,” adding, “more than just our salads are green.”

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Technology
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