TANgents Summer 2004

Nebrask@ Online, which is located at www.Nebraska.gov, now offers automatic notifications of official events as well as the ability to track and provide comments on proposed rules and regulations over the Internet. The new nebAnnounce feature notifies the user via e-mail when public meetings are entered, updated or deleted from the Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar. Users can register for automatic notifications at Nebrask@ Online by providing a valid e-mail address and creating a profile of agencies to be tracked. More than 77 agencies are currently using the system, which was funded by a grant from the Nebraska State Records Board. The Public Meeting Calendar with the new event notification feature is linked to the state's homepage (www.Nebraska.gov).

Nebraska's new online rule and regulation tracking and public comment system provides citizens and businesses with an easy way to participate in the democratic process. The new service will allow citizens to post online comments to proposed regulations and also allow citizens to track rules as they go through the adoption process. This new feature is located at http://www.sos.state.ne.us/local/regtrack/.

The Technology Administration has released the fourth edition of the State Science and Technology Indicators. Nebraska does well on human resources measures, with a top ten ranking in percentage of population completing high school; percentage of bachelor's degrees granted per population 18-24; and computer specialists per 10,000 workers.

Nebraska also ranks in the top 10 in labor force participation rate; percentage of workforce employed; and University R&D per $1,000 of gross state product.

The report also recognizes Technologies Across Nebraska as one of Nebraska's science and technology organizations.

The Milken Institute's State Technology and Science Index: Enduring Lessons for the Intangible Economy ranks Nebraska 28, up from 32 in 2002. Nebraska made significant improvements in technology concentration, moving up to 38 from 47 in 2002, and in research and sevelopment inputs, moving up to 23 from 38 in 2002. In risk capital and infrastructure, Nebraska ranks 35, unchanged from 2002. Nebraska's highest ranking is in technology and science workforce, moving up to 12 from 14 in 2004. Nebraska moved down in only one category, human capital investment, dropping from 20 in 2002 to 25 in 2004. State Technology and Science Index: Enduring Lessons for the Intangible Economy is available from http://www.milkeninstitute.org/.

Two surveys by the Pew Internet Project have found that Americans are increasingly connecting to the Internet via wireless and broadband connections. According to the PIP Data Memo: The Rise of Wireless Connectivity, 17% of Internet users have logged on to the Internet using wireless devices. Another report, Broadband Penetration on the Upswing, found that 55 of adult Internet users have broadband at home or work and that 39% of Internet users have broadband at home.

At least 2.8 million U.S. consumers have moved their telephone number between wireless carriers or between a wireless phone and a landline phone since November, Federal Communications Commission officials said Thursday.

On May 24, telephone carriers will have to begin offering customers in all markets across the United States the ability to move without losing their telephone number. However, some waivers have been granted that will delay that choice for many consumers.

The Nebraska Department of Roads has installed and activated an automated work-zone system on a major construction project along I-80 in the Omaha area. Located just east of the Platte River to Nebraska Highway 370, the system utilizes state-of-the-art technology aimed at improving work-zone safety and efficiency.

The system is designed to collect real-time data in the I-80 six-lane reconstruction project work zone between Ruff Road and Highway 370. Electronic detectors are in place to measure the speed of traffic. The information from the detectors is sent to a central computer system and then relayed to changeable message signs (CMS), alerting motorists of delays and advising them to slow down or take alternate routes.

In addition to the detectors and CMS signs, two mobile camera units are located along the project to provide real-time viewing on an Internet website. By clicking on one of the CMS boards on the website map and following the color-coded instructions on the key, the viewer may find the current range for the speed of traffic. The website address is http://www.nebraskai80construction.com/. A link to the website is also located on the NDOR website, www.nebraskatransportation.org.

A new web-based feature from the University of Nebraska gives the public a way to ask university experts questions about agricultural and food marketing issues while simultaneously linking researchers with the outside world.

"With the technology of the Internet, we have a vehicle that allows us direct contact between academic researchers and the public," said Azzeddine Azzam, an agricultural economist and director of the Center for Agriculture and Food Industrial Organization (CAFIO). "The kinds of questions asked on Ask CAFIO give us an idea of what the public thinks are researchable issues."

Ask CAFIO, which was launched earlier this year, features an on-line inquiry form designed for users including journalists, policy makers, farmers, ranchers, business people, students and citizens.

This spring the National Audubon Society's Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon and the National Geographic Society offered live footage of Sandhill cranes on the web. With the departure of the cranes, the Crane Cam is no longer operating, but you can still view highlights at http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/cranecam/highlights01.html.

With a $146,000 grant from the USDA Rural Utilities Service Community Connect Broadband Grant Program, KDS Internet has worked with the community to open a technology center. The technology center has 10 computers available for public use and training. The technology center, the community center, the public library, and the Sherman County Medical Clinic all have free, high-speed wireless Internet access for two years through the grant.

TANgents, a quarterly publication of Technologies Across Nebraska, is edited and produced by Linda Tempel, University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension, ltempel@unlnotes.unl.edu, and Anne Byers, Nebraska Information Technology Commission, abyers@notes.state.ne.us. Please contact us if you would like to contribute an article or an idea for an article. Comments and suggestions are also welcome.