To celebrate Dr. King, hundreds refurbish computers

The main event for the 16th Annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service took place in the Armory at Girard College where hundreds of volunteers gathered to refurbish computers, put together training packets, and help introduce families and students to the Internet. READ MORE

MLK Day Of Service At Girard College

Fox 29′s Shawnette Wilson was out at Girard College in North Philadelphia this morning where over 3,000 volunteers will participate in a huge MLK Day of Service project. SEE VIDEO

Volunteers honor King’s legacy

In a noisy, crowded gym at Girard College, Abel Jose-Perez and Tom Power labored over a computer, one of 100 to be refurbished and given to students and families with no Internet access. READ MORE

Five Cities Get Free Civic Apps Through Code for America

Five American cities have been selected for a random act of kindness from software developers. Boston, Boulder, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Seattle will all receive free web and/or mobile apps to help administer government and serve citizens, thanks to a program called Code for America. MORE

City’s computer network is in line for a makeover

An article that appeared in
Philadelphia Daily News – March 23, 2010
written by: Catherine Lucey

Paper time sheets may soon be a thing of the past for city workers.

Chief Technology Officer Allan Frank – the man charged with dragging City Hall into the 21st century – is overseeing a massive investment in the city’s technology program, an effort he says will make government more organized and cost-effective. READ MORE

Philadelphia CTO Allan Frank on Google Fiber Initiative

Allan Frank speaking on the Google Fiber Initiative.

Philly Startup offering prize for super network idea

An article posted on
Philadelphia Business Journal – March 19, 2010
Written by: Peter Key

At a Philly Startup Leaders group meeting wednesday night, its board decided to fund a prize with its money, which amounts to $5,000, and all other money anyone else wants to contribute to find the next BIG IDEA for a super-high bandwidth network for the City of Philadelphia. READ MORE

Phila. Bids for Contract with Google for Internet Service

A radio by KYW’s Mike Dunn
KWY1060 – March 21, 2010

Google is considering constructing an ‘ultra high speed” internet network and Philadelphia is among the cities vying to get it. Philadelphia’s Chief Information Officer Allan Frank spoke with KYW’s Mike Dunt. LISTEN TO

Philadelphia, the City of Google-y Love

An article posted on
Philly.com – March 19, 2010
written by: Mike Armstrong

You may have heard that Google Inc. plans to build a bunch of experimental broadband networks that would be far faster than anything currently in operation.

The company announced its plans in February, and any city or town can apply to land one of these networks that promise speeds of 1 gigabit per second to as many as 500,000 people. READ MORE

Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan

The staff of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the National Broadband Plan. To an extraordinary extent, however, the author of this plan is America itself.

Broadband is the great infrastructure challenge of the early
21st century. Like electricity a century ago, broadband is a foundation
for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and
a better way of life. READ MORE