Phase I: Regional Telework Assessment Phase II: Bandwidth Collaborative Feasibility Audit Phase III: Visioning Process Phase IV: Telecommuting Implementation

Undertaking the task of integrating technology into the fabric of a community is not a simple task. IF a region intends to be a participant in the Information Age, it must integrate technology throughout the community in a way that links everyone to "anything, anywhere, anytime". To succeed the region must adopt a community vision and bring the other sectors into the process. Phase I quantified the region's telework potential and projected the impacts that would result from various levels of a community-wide telework deployment. Phase II expanded this telework focus to include the many other telecommuting applications and outlined a process that examined the technologic synergy existing between the various telecommuting applications and evaluated the community impacts that a comprehensive deployment could have within the context of the regional economy. Phase III requires the involvement of the community leadership as it chooses to either build upon these opportunities and mitigate the challenges and incorporate the telecommuting mindset into its collective policy/decision-making processes- or it chooses to remain with the status quo. It is an important choice.

As the world gets smaller, our communities must think bigger. These are not only exciting times but they are also times when communities must be thoughtful, knowledgeable- and proactive as they plan their infrastructure investments and economic development strategies. When it comes to adopting the telecommuting mindset, regions can:

• Deny it and eventually lose their ability to compete,
• Ignore it and let the market segment the community and drain its resources, or they can
• Strategically embrace it and build a stronger community through collaboration and leadership

The question is simple: Will the community come together to build an understanding of the possible and then join in dialogue in an attempt to optimize that potential, or not? If the leadership chooses to move forward, Phase III leads the community through the process via a series of e-Consensus Forums® to:

1. determine the degree to which the telecommuting vision should be incorporated into their planning,
2. explore strategies by which the opportunities can be captured and the challenges overcome, and
3. prioritize the strategies and define an implementation plan to begin the transition.

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