Connected Nation

Send us Fan Mail The Connected Nation Podcast wrapping up from Lexington, Kentucky at the 2024 Govtech Digital Government Summit. In the final installment of our coverage, Jessica Denson speaks with the SLED East Director from Socure, a Kentucky State Senator, and the CIO of the Kentucky Department of Education. Visit the links below to listen to parts 1 and 2 of the Digital Government Summit podc...

Send us Fan Mail The Connected Nation Podcast checking back in from Lexington, Kentucky at the 2024 Govtech Digital Government Summit. In today's second episode, Jessica Denson welcomes on a Editorial Director for Content Spaces for Govtech, a GIS Analyst with TechSystems, and the IT Director for the Louisville Metro Government. Check out our socials this week to listen to parts 1 and 3 of th...

Send us Fan Mail The Connected Nation Podcast is back on the road today in Lexington, Kentucky at the 2024 Govtech Digital Government Summit. In this episode, our host, Jessica Denson, speaks with the Executive Director of State Programs at Connected Nation, the CIO of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, and an account executive at Dynatrace. Stay tuned to our socials this week to liste...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we are joined by Sitetracker’s leadership about the delivery on that promise with what the company has dubbed a “future proof platform.”  When it comes to building new telecommunications and internet infrastructure – there are a lot of moving parts. What if you could better predict when to scale up resources to complete jobs faster, more efficiently, and with more profitabi...

Send us Fan Mail  The Connected Nation podcast is back covering the 2024 Broadband Communities Summit in The Woodlands, Texas. The event serves as a hub of collaboration and innovation for some of the biggest names in broadband, all working towards a shared mission of closing the Digital Divide. In our final installment of the summit, Jessica is joined by leadership from Comcast Texas, leadership...

Send us Fan Mail Today, the Connected Nation podcast is back covering the 2024 Broadband Communities Summit in The Woodlands, Texas. The event serves as a hub of collaboration and innovation for some of the biggest names in broadband, all working towards a shared mission of closing the Digital Divide. On today's second episode, you'll hear from one company that's helping to train sk...

Send us Fan Mail Today, the Connected Nation podcast is back covering the 2024 Broadband Communities Summit in The Woodlands, Texas. The event serves as a hub of collaboration and innovation for some of the biggest names in broadband, all working towards a shared mission of closing the Digital Divide. On today's episode, we talk with the head of the USDA's Rural Utilities Service, a smal...

Send us Fan Mail This week, the Connected Nation podcast is on the road covering the 2024 Broadband Communities Summit in The Woodlands, Texas. The event serves as a hub of collaboration and innovation for some of the biggest names in broadband, all working towards a shared mission of closing the Digital Divide. On today's episode, Jessica Denson welcomes on a variety of guests from varying b...

Send us Fan Mail On today’s episode of the Connected Nation Podcast, we focus on important guidance provided by the US Department of Education regarding the use of assistive technology devices and services for children with disabilities.   We are joined by the woman who leads the office that provides that guidance – about the facts and the myths - that surround the use of these technologies within...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Connected Nation (CN), we explore how CN's Engineering and Technical Services team  is helping states monitor broadband infrastructure builds and, most importantly, verifying that the billions of dollars set aside to help the most underconnected Americans are spent as promised. Related links: Learn more about CN's services by clicking here See the team...

Send us Fan Mail On today's two guest episode we are first joined by Joe Costello, the founder and CEO of Kwikbit Internet – an internet service provider with a mission to help some of the most underserved populations in the country. Learn how the company is focusing on bringing access to everyone from rural communities to inner city households – by using what it calls “flexible deployment.”...

Send us Fan Mail A recently released report examines how states are approaching reforms to telehealth laws – from allowing access to specialists across borders to creating more flexibility for innovation.   On today's installment of the Connected Nation podcast, we’ll talk with one of the co-authors of the research project – which provides a report card of sorts on how states are doing. Find...

Send us Fan Mail In recognition of Women's History Month, we're putting a spotlight on women who are leaders in tech or leveraging technology in new ways.  On this episode of Connected Nation, we talk with award-winning writer, producer, and director Jessica Mathis (aka Divinity Rose) about taking her craft online in the days of and following the pandemic. Learn how it changed her approa...

Send us Fan Mail In recognition of Women's History Month, we're putting a spotlight on women who are leaders in tech or leveraging technology in new ways.   On this episode of Connected Nation, we're talking with the CEO and co-founder of Oria Health, Amanda Havard.  Learn how the company is addressing the critical need for more mental health practitioners in rural America; why its...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode of the Connected Nation podcast, we welcome Ryan Adams, the President and Chief Operations Officer of GeoLinks, a California-based telecommunications company. Ryan shares what he believes in standing in the way of helping millions more Americans, AND we explore the hybrid network model he says can connect the hardest to reach communities in the U.S. Recomme...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode we celebrate and mark Black History Month by exploring issues important to African Americans relating to broadband, technology, and the Digital Divide. We welcome guests that are leaders in a variety of areas in tech for a round table discussion on everything from the misuse of the term “diversity” to the future of Black tech in America.   Recommended Links...

Send us Fan Mail On Season 5 Episode 5, we walk through the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan. It examines how technologies can raise the bar for elementary and secondary students – and offers solutions already being utilized by schools, districts, and states to close digital inequities in learning.  We are joined today by one of those who helped author that plan, Zac Chase, who is a Digit...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, we are joined by an amazing guest that is a US Army Veteran, IT Adjunct Professor at South University and Technical Program Manager at Google. We discuss his time in Iraq, his 18 years of experience in the "Game of Thrones" world of telecommunications and what it is like to work at Google. As he is our first guest of Black History Month, Demarkus also sh...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Connected Nation, we explore what it takes to connect some of the most rural areas across the country.   You'll hear from leadership at Capcon Networks and Irby Utilities, who are not shy about calling themselves "The Dream Team" when it comes to helping smaller ISPs grow.  Plus, we'll talk with a company that's benefitting from their gu...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Connected Nation Podcast, we explore a report addressing pivotal questions surrounding the digital equity landscape in the United States. As the nation invests billions of tax dollars to bridge the connectivity gap, our guests, the authors of "Developing Digital Equity Theory of Change with Tech Goes Home," provide valuable insights. Join us as we...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Connected Nation,  we talk with the Chairman of the Board and Head of Development for Toptana Technologies - the first Native American-owned company that is about to build a new cable landing station. Learn how the company is working to improve the quality of life for the Quinault Indian Nation and its neighbors by providing access to global internet connectivit...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Connected Nation, we talk with three Connected Nation communications team members: our Senior Communication Specialist, Lily McCoy; Senior Marketing Specialist, Ashley Pino; and Communications Social Media Specialist, Grant Ahlbrand.  Get a behind-the-scenes look into how the communications staff spreads the word about CN's varied work – including it’s on-t...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Connected Nation,  we talk with the CEO of Fiber Fast Homes – a company that works directly with real estate developers and builders to connect homes and rental buildings to lightning-fast internet. Learn how the company approaches working with builders,  what’s next when it comes to connectivity to the home, and why some say having internet access at home is mo...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Connectede Nation, we are joined by Ben Elkins, CEO of AireBeam Internet.  He shares his mission to bring fiber to the rural communities of Arizona with the capabilities of a massive ISP and the personality of a small-town organization. Ben speaks with our host, Jessica Denson, about the wide range of groups AireBeam serves, the unique challenges of focusing on...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Connected Nation, we complete our coverage of the US Broadband Summit taking place in Washington, DC. Among our guests: Quinn Jordan, who founded the Mississippi Broadband Association; Donald Long Knife who built broadband access from the ground up for his tribe in Montana; and Gigi Sohn, who has a long history of public service, including with the Federal Commu...