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THE MICHIGAN

MOONSHOT
WHY DOES SO MUCH OF MICHIGAN LACK BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS?

Origins of the Michigan Moonshot: Why a Research and Education Network is Working to Lessen the Digital Divide

Read the full letter and personal message from Merit’s President & CEO, Joe Sawasky

Change happens when the right collaborators and the right leaders come together at the right time for the right reason. The time is now.

Access to and use of the internet has become an integral component of everyday life in the 21st century. Digital information has reshaped how individuals participate in nearly every dimension of society. It is imperative that communities leverage broadband network access to eliminate the homework gap and improve education, socioeconomic equality, telemedicine, public safety and economic development to maintain and grow the quality of life for their residents.

At least 380,000 homes in Michigan lack access to broadband. This equates to 27% of households in the state with school-age children.

The Michigan Moonshot is a collective call to action which aims to bridge the digital divide in Michigan. This call to action is an initiative to expand broadband access to all citizens through policy and funding, data and mapping, and education and resources.

While Merit does not intend to provide direct residential services, the Michigan Moonshot aims to act as a catalyst in the broadband ecosystem by informing policy makers, fostering public-private partnerships and convening collaboration between citizens and organizations in our state.

PILLARS OF THE MICHIGAN MOONSHOT APPROACH

Data, Mapping & Analysis:

Provide communities with expert GIS & broadband support to assist with data collection and mapping, analysis, grant storytelling, and infrastructure planning. 

  • Developed by faculty researchers at higher education institutions
    • Resulting from collaborative projects to conduct county-wide citizen-science crowdsourcing that is aimed to quantify broadband access and adoption, affordability, citizen sentiment and speed
  • Principals include: user-driven data, granular, accurate and unbiased outputs, open-source tools. 
  • Analysis available for local and publicly available data sets to support funding and local communications narratives. 
  • Support in helping local decision makers converge infrastructure data, broadband access/availability data, publically available data sets through expert software technicians.
DATA, MAPPING & ANALYSIS

Education, Resources & Funding:

Share educational materials, host community events, and offer technical assistance to support and empower local leaders and communities to demonstrate tangible progress toward broadband expansion

  • Our mission revolves around community. Since 2018, we’ve strives to build a Statewide ecosystem dedicated to closing the digital divide for Michiganders border to border
  • Newsletter – centrally synthesize and distribute information regarding broadband expansion related to all components of our pillar focus
  • Framework – a comprehensive broadband expansion primer any community can follow
  • Community of Practice
  • Educational Series – webinars, roadshows, workshops, boot camps, Merits monthly community of practice. Featuring state and national broadband experts, successful community members and more. 
  • Pathfinder Consulting – experienced guides available to partner with local leaders to reach their digital equity and Internet access goals. Educate. Empower. Guide. 
  • Marketplace – a purchasing portal offering members-only deals on technology products and services specific to broadband expansion
  • Funding – Guidance for local communities seeking to align needs with state and federal funding programs, including access to custom reports and grant writing
  • Events: Annual broadband Summit
EDUCATION, RESOURCES & FUNDING

Infrastructure:

As a statewide network operator, Merit is positioned to assist communities with our infrastructure expertise. We approach infrastructure from an agnostic perspective in support of all ownership models, technologies and collaborator arrangements to help communities to:

  • Leverage Merit’s statewide open access middle-mile infrastructure to bring high capacity, secure and robust transit to communities across the state. 
  • Participate in innovative collaboration with private and public sector last mile operators to leverage both existing and new infrastructure to serve Michigan’s communities. 
  • Lower costs and decrease deployment timelines for ISPs to reach unserved and underserved communities through Merit’s open access middle-mile infrastructure and Dark Fiber Services. 
  • Receive consulting support for infrastructure planning, design, and network deployment.
  • Utilize Merit’s fully managed wholesale Internet access for member organizations’ community networks.
INFRASTRUCTURE

For more information, call (734) 527-5785 or email [email protected] 

INTERESTED IN MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE MICHIGAN MOONSHOT?

The Michigan Moonshot is Merit’s commitment to ending the digital divide. The Michigan Moonshot aims to leverage public and private partnerships to connect everyone in rural Michigan, regardless of geography.

The Moonshot Team needs citizen scientists, like YOU to help us gather data about the internet in your community.

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