Initiatives
The Education Council has assumed the lead role for two of the NITC's strategic initiatives: Network Nebraska and Digital Education. The Education Council may, as it deems necessary, form task forces, teams, working groups, and special, ad hoc, and standing subcommittees to carry out its mission and responsibilities.
Network Nebraska Action items
Digital Education Action Items
Network Nebraska
Network Nebraska provides a scalable, reliable, and secure telecommunications infrastructure that enables any type of eligible entity (i.e., local and state government, K-12 and higher education) to purchase the amount of service that the entities need, when they need it, on an annual basis. The project, Network Nebraska, was initiated by the Nebraska Legislature in April 2006 and now interconnects over 250 entities.
The primary objective of this initiative is to develop a broadband, scalable telecommunications infrastructure that optimizes the quality of service to every public entity in the State of Nebraska. Network Nebraska aggregates disparate networks into a multipurpose core backbone extending from Norfolk, Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney, and North Platte to the Panhandle. The State of Nebraska, Division of Communications, the University of Nebraska, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission, Department of Education, Public Service Commission, and the Nebraska Information Technology Commission have formed the Collaborative Aggregation Partnership (CAP) to guide and implement Network Nebraska. The next phase of this initiative is to formalize business relationships and agreements and to enhance rural bandwidth through local aggregation.
Digital Education
The primary objective of the Digital Education Initiative is to promote the effective and efficient integration of technology into the instructional, learning, and administrative processes and to utilize technology to deliver enhanced digital educational opportunities to students at all levels throughout Nebraska on an equitable and affordable basis.
This initiative will involve the coordination and promotion of several major systems and applications that heretofore have either been developed mostly at the local level or have not been replicated statewide.
The initiative will be dependent upon adequate Internet connectivity and transport bandwidth for learners, instructors, administrators, and for educational attendance sites. A minimum acceptable level of classroom technology will have to be established for the initiative to be successful.