The scenario couldn’t be more promising: An employee wants to telework, their workload is conducive to it, and their manager is willing to give it a try. But as is too often the case, says Karen Jackson, director of the Virginia Office of Telework Promotion and Broadband, "they can’t telework because they don’t have the broadband connection that they need to do their work."

Virginia would like to do away with that hurdle. This past summer, Gov. Tim Kaine announced the formation of a Broadband Roundtable to develop a "last mile" telecommunications blueprint that will eventually provide every area of the state with low-cost, high-speed Internet access by 2010.

"What this means for telework managers is that they now have a place to turn to where they can ask for help in removing one of the biggest obstacles to telework, which is ensuring access to high-speed broadband connectivity for their employees," explains Aneesh Chopra, Virginia’s Secretary of Technology.

Chopra, along with former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, will co-chair the Broadband Roundtable, but other leading Internet and technology experts are also on-board, including Dr. Ted Rappaport, sometimes referred to as the "godfather" of wireless technology, as well as leaders from business, government, and academia.

The Roundtable will assist communities by taking on the following tasks:

• Surface innovative models to measure adoption and other target areas for investment
• Identify existing and emerging technologies (wired and wireless) that are suitable for delivering affordable services across the Commonwealth
• Highlight broadband dependent applications including telework, telemedicine, distance learning, public safety interoperability, and social empowerment
• Develop community-oriented models to finance deployment and provide long-term sustainability with a specific emphasis on ensuring access to all areas of the state
• Coordinate outreach strategies to encourage business and resident adoption

The effort, Chopra notes, is one that will require and is already attracting great cooperation and collaboration across various sectors. For example, the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), of which Jackson serves as vice president of broadband programs, is working closely with Roundtable members to identify areas where there is both great demand for and low supply of broadband services.

CIT officials are now inviting teleworkers (and their managers) to log onto their Web site (www.cit.org) and fill out a Broadband Availability Survey. The data collected on the site, Jackson explains, will be fed to the Broadband Roundtable to help pinpoint "where the holes truly are," she says. "This will enable us to take less of a reactive and more of a proactive stance in trying to determine the areas of need and then trying to find ways to help those areas get that connectivity."

The Broadband Roundtable will conduct meetings throughout the year and provide a comprehensive report to Gov. Kaine in July 2008. For more information, visit www.otpba.vi.virginia.gov/broadband_roundtable.shtml.