How We Are Building Electronic Communications Capacity

Electronic communications are a powerful, rapidly developing tool which can facilitate increased human collaboration. They include email, conferences, geographical information systems (GIS), and inexpensive archiving and searching of information, all of which increase efficiency and productivity while encouraging public participation and understanding of complex issues.

We hope the following can be of benefit to others who are designing and implementing their own communications programs. The process our partners and we are following, with links to some of the documents and tools we are using, is:

• Identify key organizations who will benefit from being able to post and exchange information electronically
• Build a team and a public-private partnership by identifying with them a shared vision of how they can each benefit
• Develop an outline of a long-term Program for Building Information and Technology Capacity
• Identify resources needed to build a wide area network on the internet (an "intranet"), e.g. scientific and technology expertise
• Identify partners who will participate in writing grant applications
• Develop a budget and work plan for establishing the intranet and training organization personnel and the public to use it
• Identify potential sources of funding and local in-kind match for grant applications
• Apply to the National Telecommunications Information Administration for a grant in April, 1995
• Commence grant fulfillment after award in October, 1995
• Identify over 100 organizations in the region to survey to establish a baseline of electronic communications capability and select 25 to participate in the intranet (the Tahoe Basin Wide Area Network, or TBWAN). A major goal was to have a cross section of size, public/private/nonprofit, experience using electronic communications, and usefulness of information to provide. Weight was given to those most interested in participating. Completed June, 1996. Documents used were:
  • Initial Pre-Survey Letter
  • Pre-Survey Text
  • Table of Pre-Survey Results
  • Local ISP Survey Letter
  • Post-Survey Acceptance Letter
  • Post-Survey Letter for Future TBWAN Members
• Tahoe Basin Wide Area Network (TBWAN) Homepages Created (see also Regional Organizations):
  1. California State Parks - Sierra District
  2. Tahoe Center for a Sustainable Future
  3. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
  4. Tahoe Foundation
  5. Strategic Marketing Group
  6. Tahoe Truckee Regional Economic Coalition
  7. La Comunidad Unida
  8. City of South Lake Tahoe
  9. Tahoe Truckee Community Network
  10. Children's Cabinet
  11. Sierra Business Council
  12. League to Save Lake Tahoe
  13. Tahoe City Public Utility District
  14. Incline Village General Improvement District
  15. Lake Tahoe Community Trust
  16. Tahoe Sierra Preservation Council
  17. Tahoe Baikal Institute
  18. Leigh Scott & Cleary
  19. South Lake Tahoe Middle School
  20. Harlan Bartholmew & Associates
  21. EDAW, San Francisco
  22. Tahoe Resource Conservation District
  23. US Forest Service
  24. Town of Truckee
  25. Rideout Elementary School
  26. Incline Elementary School
• Design an implementation plan (completed April, 1996).
• Identify ways to track use and measure value added with each member of the TBWAN. This information will make up the training agenda and form the basis of the survey tracking use. (Completed June, 1996)
• Develop a training program and materials for TBWAN members and the public:
  • Pre-Training Checklist
  • Develop a Web Site Outline
  • Workshop/Training Outlines:
    • Internet Resource Guide
    • Basic Internet Workshop
    • Homepage Creation: HTML & FTP
  • Training Accomplishments
• In response to TBWAN members interest, a section in the manual on GIS and its use over the internet was completed in the summer of 1996.
• Complete 26 home pages.
• Schedule workdays for TBWAN partners to provide directed assistance for homepage updates, discuss and track use, and produce products related to the applications identified.
• Begin to develop collaborations with others based on access to sustainability data and sharing experiences in creating public/private partnerships to solve problems. The first is follows the signing of a Memorandum Of Understanding with organizations on Cape Cod who are also dealing with a tourist-based economy and a fragile environment. This dynamic page allows an easy link between the Cape Cod groups and TCSF, highlighting information of interest to both areas.
• Begin to develop applications beyond basic information. The applications implemented were:

  Applications:

  1. Post the TRPA IPES database system. -Posted September 23.
  2. Public Comments on the TRPA '96 Threshold Evaluation Report.
  3. Posted article on use of jet skis on Lake Tahoe.
  4. Regional Index for Tahoe's other pages, participating organizations by category and location, email addresses of contact persons. Structure complete with ongoing revisions and modifications made to reflect comments.
  5. Local's Page: Resources for the Tahoe Local. Structure complete with ongoing revisions and modifications made to reflect comments.
  6. Resources, Links and Info for the Earth Conscious. Structure complete with ongoing revisions and modifications made to reflect comments.
  7. Sustainability Learning Resource Center
  8. Regional GIS. Draft of searchable database available on-line in rough format. (Metadata Catalog.)
  9. School links for Sustainability Curriculum
  10. Links to other sustainability efforts (see Working Towards Sustainability: Sharing Our Experience)
• Evaluation of Internet Service options beyond the grant period
  • Request for Proposal for Internet Service
• Evaluation of Program
  • Mid-Grant Survey Text
  • End-of-Grant Cost-Benefit Analysis Survey
  • Table of End-of-Grant Cost-Benefit Analysis Survey Results
  • Final Report