Improved Internet access for students and entrepreneurs is being tested
PLATTSBURG, Monday, Sept. 20, 2021—More than 30 Clinton County residents in the Village of Turney celebrated the launch of the much-anticipated new Internet technology experiment on Thurs., Sept. 17, 2021. The group gathered in the park shelter located across the road from the grain leg owned by Wade Farms that is being used to elevate the necessary equipment for broadcasting faster Internet speeds. Residents, local school superintendent Chris Fine of Lathrop R-II School District, and Missouri Representative Randy Railsback all vocalized their support and interest in the project’s outcomes in the event’s question-and-answer session.
Clinton County Project OVERCOME Team
The goal is to test a wireless method that can reduce costs and simultaneously expand broadband service in areas not served by fiber infrastructure. Turney was selected due to the level of need as an area void of many options for Internet service. It is also next to a United Fiber line already in place.
The broadband Project OVERCOME pilot is a collaborative partnership with Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) in Rolla, Mo., Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts, United Electric Cooperative’s subsidiary United Fiber, University of Missouri Extension and Exceed, and The Clinton County Initiative, which is a part of The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri’s Maximize NWMO Regional Vitality Initiative. Funding for the groundbreaking project was secured through a grant proposal for support from US Ignite and the National Science Foundation (Award # CNS-2044448).
“Having an Internet Service Provider who was willing and able to work with the project team in the interest of serving the community made this particular rural village in our state a great place to conduct our experiment, said Dr. Casey Canfield, assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering at Missouri S&T. “If our RF over Fiber (RFoF) and intelligent routing approach works here, this may be a stop gap solution that extends the speed of fiber to unserved and underserved areas of the country until fiber becomes available to all addresses.”
Equipment on Top of Wade Farms Grain
The Turney Project OVERCOME location and The Clinton County Initiative were selected as a Project OVERCOME grant recipient in March 2021 as one of seven communities in a $2.7 million effort nationwide designed to connect the unconnected through novel broadband technology solutions.
The U. S. National Science Foundation conceived of and provided $2.25 million in funding for the project. US Ignite managed the selection process and oversees these projects along with multiple efforts to connect the benefits of emerging technology with some of our communities most challenging needs.
“Working closely in partnership with NSF, we deployed Project OVERCOME in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic with the intention to identify and efficiently test connectivity solutions quickly in a diverse set of U.S. communities. The deployment in Clinton County will offer valuable insights on designing reliable wireless networks to meet the needs of Turney residents and to learn more about the innovative components that bring a reliable connection to our rural areas.” – Lee Davenport, Director of Community Development at US Ignite.
Testing the Network with Superintendent Chris Fine
The project in Clinton County received $300,000 of the one-year grant award with the challenge of designing the network’s configuration, engaging residents, conducting a pre-launch and post-launch survey to gauge impact, and organize community conversations and digital learning opportunities all within twelve months. The project team is on track and said in their presentation that more events related to Project OVERCOME’s goals will be held in Turney as well as other locations throughout the county.
“We don’t know if this application of unprecedented technology will work better for Turney residents or not, but we are hopeful. Finding out is the point of the experiment and it feels great to be actively working together to find some solutions to the desperate pleas from our county’s friends and neighbors who are at a disadvantage by not having reliable high-speed broadband service at home. The last year and a half have really highlighted the critical need to solve our access challenges in this primarily rural region,” said Christel Gollnick, a Maximize NWMO Navigation Team member and president of JUPER Communications, in Clinton County.
In addition to the broadband experiment itself, The Clinton County Initiative is calling all residents to help the team map the coverage in the county as well as think about what other challenges could be solved by working together. They invite anyone living and/or working in the county to check out their web pages and take a quick survey at https://www.maximizenwmo.org/clinton-county or https://bit.ly/DreamBigClintonCoSurveytoSchools. Updated information on Turney’s Project OVERCOME can be found at https://www.maximizenwmo.org/broadband-project-overcome.
Turney Residents at Launch Event
About Maximize NWMO
US Ignite is a high‐tech nonprofit with a mission to accelerate the smart community movement. Our public-private partnership programs leverage advanced networking and data science to drive key outcomes for communities. Our work also enables new opportunities for wireless and IoT research designed to help narrow the gap between cutting‐edge experimentation and scalable, real‐world technology deployments. For more information, visit www.us-ignite.org.
About Maximize NWMO
Maximize NWMO serves the region in a neutral role providing administrative, communications, data access, and coaching support on systems-thinking and community wealth building for individuals, communities and the region. The initiative’s Navigation Team supports leaders and communities who want to dream big, decide wisely, and maximize our region’s potential by growing together. Maximize NWMO is the regional vitality initiative of The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri. It is made possible through partnerships with Communities of Excellence 2026, the United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development (USDA-RD), University of Missouri Extension, Missouri Department of Economic Development, Northwest Missouri State University, Evergy, and private donors. For more information, visit www.maximizenwmo.org.
About US Ignite
US Ignite is a high‐tech nonprofit with a mission to accelerate the smart community movement. Our public-private partnership programs leverage advanced networking and data science to drive key outcomes for communities. Our work also enables new opportunities for wireless and IoT research designed to help narrow the gap between cutting‐edge experimentation and scalable, real‐world technology deployments. For more information, visit www.us-ignite.org.