Connecting Appalachia
Ashley Carnifax
March 3, 2011
Students and staff members working on Geographic Information Systems projects at the Voinovich School of Leadership of Public Affairs are beginning a new project through a partnership with Horizon Telecommunications to expand broadband Internet across Southeast Ohio.
The Voinovich School’s GIS team worked with Horizon to map census blocks, current broadband availability and usage among other things, as part of the process Horizon went through to apply for a grant. As a result, Horizon was awarded money from the federal stimulus, and is moving into the execution stage of the project.
The grant will allow Horizon Telecommunications to expand their service area to 34 counties in Southeast Ohio. This is a large undertaking that requires a lot of data and research, which Simon and his team will complete.
