Where We Are Now:
A Progress Report
What has the highway accomplished? How reliable is the technology? Is it a cost-effective use of
taxpayers’ dollars? How can we maximize the state’s investment? Do the results justify the cost?
The committee, made up of users from across the state and OSC personnel, designed and conducted surveys of the major groups involved at this point: students, principals, superintendents, facilitators, teachers and community college presidents. In addition, regional public meetings of local leaders were held around the state, and key stakeholders were interviewed to document the strengths and weaknesses of the NCIH.
Our evaluation indicated that the state has positioned itself well. We now have an operational network, with 125 sites across the state and another 15 in the process of being implemented. For the state’s investment of under $10 million, the telephone companies have built a customized fiber optic system for us. In comparison, the state of Iowa built its own fiber optic network, at a construction cost of $124 million.
North Carolina is now two to three years ahead of other states, most experts agree. Being at the front end of emerging technology is, however, a mixed blessing. Our position has drawn international attention and recognition, but we have also paid a price in terms of implementation, timing and cost.
Along the way, we have learned a lot—about planning and implementing projects, about developing telecommunications technology, about the requirements for training and support, and about the relative benefits of various applications. As one stakeholder put it, “We have gone through a lot of pain other states will have to go through.”
The bottom line is that the NCIH is being used. Most people are surprised to find that over 10,000 video sessions were transmitted over the highway in 1995, and the 1996 calendar is even busier. Still, there are problems that must be addressed if the state is to realize its vision, as users told us.
While there was widespread agreement that the pilot program has proven the technology works, participants also identified issues that must be resolved as it is further implemented. Among their primary interests were:
Concerns about funding for information technology came up over and over again in these sessions. Participants expressed their fear that the implementation and expansion of the NCIH and related technologies had been prematurely hindered by limiting funding and sites. On the other side of the coin, costs need to be reduced at the local level, which can be accomplished by greater absorption of overhead over a larger number of users.
The high level of technical proficiency of those interviewed is apparent in their responses. Technical concepts introduced here are explained in more depth in the following section on “Lessons Learned.” To summarize, they said:
Overall, our interviews indicated that stakeholders believe the highway is a necessary part of a larger communications infrastructure in the state. However, implementation has not been as smooth, easy or rapid as anyone would have liked.
Our results showed a favorable response to distance learning classes (classes conducted over the NCIH using two-way interactive video to bring advanced teaching to remote locations). Students in particular tended to embrace the advanced technology approach when comparing distance learning with the traditional classroom instruction approach. When asked about their educational experience, the students gave distance learning the highest marks of all survey questions.
Of course, feedback about the quality of technical support was of special interest to the Office of the State Controller’s staff. We were gratified to find that the responses represented high ratings in all categories of evaluation. Considering the magnitude and complexity of the project, these ratings tell us that we are on the right track.
Applications
Ultimately, what’s important about the NCIH is what it is doing—and can do—for the state. The
technical evaluation showed that users are enthusiastic about the applications of this technology, despite
the inevitable frustrations of being on the cutting edge of implementation. In fact, they want more: more
sites, more training and more support.
| APPLICATION | FREQUENCY |
|---|---|
| Distance Education | 421 |
| Economic Development | 169 |
| Library Information Services | 125 |
| Goverment | 115 |
| Health Care | 73 |
| Data Linkages | 37 |
| Telecommunications | 26 |
| Social Services | 23 |
| Prison Education | 6 |
| Cultural | 2 |
| Total | 997 |
Public Health Training and Information Network. The Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources (DEHNR), local health departments and the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill have teamed up to create the Public Health Training and Information Network, using the NCIH as a backbone. This network is already linking the state’s public health care providers at six sites—located in Hickory, Fayetteville, Sylva, Elizabeth City, Wilson and Chapel Hill—to provide training, technical assistance, collaborative degree programs, public health updates and professional certification programs.
Training has grown steadily since 1990, when the first 300 people were trained over existing video networks. Last year, 1,500 people participated in 15 courses over the NCIH and state officials project over 10,000 will use the network for various purposes in 1996. This trend could have a big impact on the bottom line: the DEHNR Office of Public Health Nursing, estimates an average savings of $35 per person for courses delivered over the highway rather than in traditional meeting spaces, in addition to allowing 1.5 hours of extra time on the job. In other words, the NCIH could save the state’s public health system over $780,000 in direct costs over the next eight years through additional productivity, reduced travel and reduced need for substitute staff.
Of course, not all advantages can be measured in direct costs. For example, if the performance of just 100 of the workforce’s lowest paid workers could be improved 10 percent by greater access to training and information, the state would receive a $300,000 annual return on its investment—or $2.4 million over the next eight years. If technology could produce a .1 percent reduction in turnover of public health employees, the state would realize $3.3 million in savings.
National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA). Through NTIA, North Carolina’s medical centers are using the NCIH to extend specialized expertise into remote areas of the state. The project partners the state’s major medical schools—Duke University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, East Carolina University and Bowman Gray—with small town hospitals in Lumberton, Siler City, Belhaven and Wilkesboro.
Telecommunications, video conferencing and medical technologies are all being used to help remote sites improve patient care. Perhaps the most exciting result is the ability to view x-rays taken by local hospitals and transmitted over the NCIH to advise residential physicians about treatment options. For example, emergency room specialists can offer advice about whether to treat a patient at the local facility, move the patient or treat the patient prior to transfer. Such advice has already saved at least one life, hospital personnel reported.
Rural Telemedicine Project. In the isolated northeastern part of the state, older people are getting better health care thanks to the NCIH. The Rural Telemedicine Project, launched in 1994 by the Program on Aging at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, is bringing specialists to Northampton and Halifax Counties, where such access would otherwise be unavailable.
The model project brings together the state Office of Rural Health and UNC-CH with Roanoke Amaranth/Hampton Woods, OUR Community Hospital in Scotland Neck and Halifax Hospital to serve the needs of the area’s large elderly population. While clinical education has been a primary focus of the program, the system has also been effectively used for medical diagnosis and treatment plans. For example, medical specialists from UNC-CH have provided video physical therapy progress evaluations and psychological assessments.
In this way, rural counties are “sharing” health-related resources to help defray costs. Participants say the technology provides an answer to their health care concerns: “By constantly evaluating, improving and optimizing the use of telemedicine in Northampton and Halifax counties we hope to restructure the health care resources within the area and would like to ultimately see the expansion of these practices across other counties in rural North Carolina.”
REACH-TV. The East Carolina University (ECU) School of Medicine is one of a handful of telemedicine applications that has received national recognition for innovative efforts. REACH-TV, which began before implementation of the NCIH, uses copper wire, satellites and fiber optics to provide medical consultations, conferences, seminars, continuing medical education courses and technical assistance across the state.
This environment enables interaction between a medical expert at one site and a patient and local health care provider at another, by providing information about the patient’s condition, medical history and condition being examined; supporting real-time transfer of high resolution radiographs; and enabling full motion video conferencing for emergency services. One noteworthy example of its application is ECU’s partnership with Central Prison, which transcends both geographic regions and bureaucratic divisions. The program enables physicians at the university to do remote diagnostics for Central Prison, which eliminates the costs and safety concerns involved in transporting prisoners. Since 1992, over 500 consultations have been conducted.
Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Some of the state’s nine Area Health Education Centers are actively using broadband technology to provide advanced training and telemedicine. Northwest AHEC, for instance, is electronically connecting Bowman Gray Medical School, Catawba Memorial Hospital, and Rowan County Hospital (through Rowan Cabarrus Community College) to share resources. Two schools are offering AHECs on-line “grand rounds”—which allow senior physicians to mentor new physicians: Bowman Gray in pediatrics, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Medical School in surgery.
VISTANET. The federally funded VISTANET trial—connecting MCNC, North Carolina Memorial Hospital, General Telephone, Southern Bell and Fujitsu—proved that high-end telemedicine applications could be run over the NCIH. VISTANET allowed UNC cancer researchers to access a supercomputer in the Research Triangle Park to develop precise three-dimensional images and radiology dose calculations for cancer treatments, without the costs and delays of travel or mailings.
As a result, educational institutions comprise the largest number of sites, with 53 high schools, 25 community colleges and 12 universities already connected. Most of these sites are video-only, growing out of the early emphasis on distance learning to overcome geographic barriers. Data, which has long been the focus of university interest, is now becoming a larger presence on the highway—a trend that is expected to accelerate.
North Carolina School of Science and Math. North Carolina’s number one example of the educational potential of information technology is the School of Science and Math in Durham. The school is fulfilling its mission to serve the state by operating two video rooms nearly full time every day to reach remote locations on the highway, and plans call for additional capacity soon.
As a result, courses such as Contemporary Precalculus Through Applications, Advanced Calculus and Statistics are available to students in historically underserved counties, such as Pender and Perquimans. The School of Science and Math also offers teacher training in instructional computing—a critical success factor—and arranges special sessions of interest to students.
Looking forward, the school’s vision of an Educational Futures Center is about to become a reality, with a start-up grant of $1 million from Burroughs-Wellcome. The center will allow the school to establish a “cyber campus” in each of the state’s seven economic development zones, transforming disadvantaged schools into high-tech models. Each campus will have a small facility with computers, printers, faxes, modems and other equipment necessary to navigate the information age. Special teacher training will also be offered, allowing teachers to receive credit for experience over the highway—without leaving their campus.
Guilford County School System. When Guilford County consolidated its school system, it brought together educational institutions from urban areas such as Greensboro and High Point with those from predominantly rural areas. The school system has used technology to bridge the gap, linking all 15 high schools to the NCIH. It is now a model for other systems, serving 3,000 users and available to another 54,000 for a variety of purposes:
Carteret Community College. There are a number of programs and activities throughout the state related to marine sciences: the Institute for Marine Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Center for Marine Science and Technology at North Carolina State University, the Sea Grant Program (a joint state- National Sciences Foundation project), programs at UNC-Wilmington and others. While these programs have traditionally operated independently, the NCIH is allowing the state to pull them together in an effective partnership, located at the coast. This synergistic effort, just getting underway, will give us the opportunity to achieve a national and international prominence far beyond what any of the players would be able to do on their own.
Just as important, this research facility is located at a regional community center, which includes the regional hospital and the community college, and offers the opportunity to bring in other extension activities to create a center of excellence. There is no question that it will have an enormous economic benefit on Carteret County, including an additional payroll of millions of dollars per year.
New Horizons. New Horizons, located at the Macon Program for Progress Head Start in Macon County, is using the NCIH to serve the state’s early childhood education programs. This active group is providing statewide training for teachers, holding roundtable discussions, setting standards for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, providing coursework for community college programs and offering programs for parents.
With the new technology, New Horizons is able to show its classrooms by remote cameras, so that others can see the way quality teachers interact with children in a real life environment. The Head Start regional office has recognized the program as a model and is attempting to extend its influence throughout the region.
Community College Interaction. North Carolina’s Community Colleges, which have historically operated independently, are sharing resources over the NCIH to reduce costs and better serve their students. The response has been enthusiastic:
In other examples, Mitchell Community College is offering a criminology course to Brunswick Community College, Southwestern Community College is offering human and social services courses to the Haywood Regional Training Center, and Pitt Community College is offering a radiation therapy course to Fayetteville Tech and Elizabeth State University.
Expansion of University Resources. The consolidation of resources is the major benefit of the NCIH, as actions at the state’s universities demonstrate. While the universities had initiated advanced telecommunications efforts before its implementation, the highway enabled the state to expand existing resources throughout the university system. For example, the North Carolina Research and Educational Network (NCREN) has been expanded to all 16 campuses, which would have been impossible over microwave technology alone.
High quality teleconferencing has been available at the major research universities for some time, but is now reaching far beyond. For example, North Carolina State University is offering courses in pest control, space biology, horse management and engineering over the highway; Appalachian State University is teaching courses ranging from pharmacy to ergonomics; and UNC-Wilmington is offering courses in nursing, environmental geography and calculus with analytical geometry.
North Carolina’s government agencies have generally been slower to respond to the potential of the NCIH than education and health-related institutions, not out of a lack of interest, but due to budget constraints. Despite these obstacles, programs are emerging that demonstrate the highway’s potential to do more with less.
Geographic Information System (GIS). One of the most exciting data applications in government is the Geographic Information System, which is emerging as the standard for depicting geographic information. These applications require high speed, high bandwidth transmission, based on the thousands of software instructions which are necessary for each pixel, or picture element.
In Asheville, for example, GIS is being used to provide a huge amount of information to developers, businesses considering relocation and others interested in the area’s resources. Through this technology, the city can literally “show” such customers different sites at a remarkable level of detail. For example, in addition to depicting roads and sewers, GIS can quickly locate manhole covers, determine tax rates or identify schools to answer questions as they arise.
Emergency Management Services. A teleconference on hurricane preparedness originating in Manteo and transmitted to four NCIH sites in the region joined personnel from various agencies to update skills on responding to emergencies. Participants traveled locally to the site closest to them, saving the direct costs of travel and indirect costs of lost staff time. Based on its success, efforts have been initiated to duplicate the program in Wilmington. In addition, Emergency Management Services has developed a proposal to make NCIH sites survivable for critical communications in the event of emergency.
Integrated County Plans. Haywood County has developed a five-year plan—the Haywood Information Technology Infrastructure Task Force (HIT-IT)—to coordinate technology for varied local applications. The plan will connect hospitals, libraries, law enforcement, schools, community colleges, public health, social services and the government center in a Wide Area Network (WAN) funneled through the NCIH. With this capacity, agencies will be able to share information and resources.
Similarly, the Catawba County Government Center is part of a long range plan to link four counties via video and data over the NCIH. The plan proposes emergency medicine regional meetings and other video applications, but the big push was for data. Three hubs have already been established in public libraries to allow citizens access to the Internet.
Teleconferencing. While the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources has been the government leader in training applications, other agencies are beginning to realize the potential of the NCIH for electronic meetings. The Department of Commerce Division of Community Assistance, for example, has used teleconferencing to communicate with regions on community development block grants. The federal Department of Defense is looking at training military reserve units across the state over the highway, with a stated objective of providing a site within 30 minutes of every reservist. And, the North Carolina Justice Academy has expressed interest in using video for corrections applications, pending the necessary funding.
1. What’s important about technology is what it can do for the state. The state needs to change the way it looks at its technology infrastructure. Instead of focusing on technology options and funding— how to do it—we should be looking at why.
The point is, technology is a tool—a resource that can help us transform the way government works— not an end in itself. So, like the state’s most successful businesses, we ought to determine what we want to do and then make decisions on that basis. Rather than sprinkling resources across the gamut, our leaders should target specific applications and use what we’ve learned to selectively deploy technology. To assure ownership and success, there must be buy-in by the General Assembly and state departments and agencies.
The NCIH is one aspect of this larger picture. The tendency to view it as a separate, stand-alone project is not in the best interest of the state. In fact, the highway is one part of an overall statewide communications structure. Our engineers view it as nothing more than the next step in the evolution and migration of technology: bigger “pipes” with greater capability to move information.
2. The NCIH is a prototype: its potential has not yet been realized. We were struck by a user’s comparison of the information highway to an infant: like a young child, it shows great promise, but has a long way to go before fulfilling its potential.
When you look at it this way, it’s understandable that the NCIH has just begun to show what it can do— and that legislators are concerned about its cost effectiveness. It is important to remember, however, that the majority of sites have been up for less than a year, and that much of the initial effort has been spent on getting the technology right. Only now are applications being developed and used.
During this period, the basic technology problems have been resolved. As a result, North Carolina is beginning to realize the original vision of installing a high capacity infrastructure: incremental services are being added at a lower cost. Yet the state is also facing the challenges of a whole new way of doing business: an approach that requires government agencies to overcome the barriers of the past and work together for the greatest good.
3. It is time to broaden the focus of the NCIH. With the 20-20 vision of hindsight, it is clear that the NCIH initially focused too tightly on education, particularly on remote classrooms and distance learning. There is no question that such applications have tremendous value for the state, but they are not easily “scalable” across the state.
Current work being conducted at the state’s universities and private software companies indicates that new educational models using networked desktop applications will be as—if not more—important in the future than studio-based classes. Interactive learning models offer individual pacing and flexible presentation of material, freeing teachers to act as “mentors” who help students master critical skills and achieve their potential. Judging from past history, however, it is likely to take some time before such innovations are widely accepted and used.
Just as important, the state must look at the implications of this technology for widespread applications beyond education. That’s why we must expand the focus of the NCIH to help North Carolina restructure the way it does business. Using the NCIH to transform the way processes operate will not only result in significant cost savings, it will improve service delivery and customer satisfaction. In addition, it can be used to stimulate economic development, streamline human services, enhance health care delivery and increase public safety.
4. The way the state invests in technology is out of date. Too many of the state’s investments in large technology projects are going wrong—or are more costly than necessary—because we haven’t adapted our investment strategy to leverage the benefits of technology. The problem is that we look at information systems expenditures as vertical “silos” when what we need is a horizontal platform that can be used to support numerous applications.
Today, the tendency is to build one system from beginning to end, right next to another top-down system involving the same employees and customers. We wouldn’t build a separate water and septic system for every building in Raleigh, or run a separate power line to every individual home, but in essence, that’s just what we’re doing with technology. The result? Difficulties in sharing information, repeated entries of the same information and unnecessary duplication of effort.
The state simply can’t afford to go on in this wasteful way: it takes too long and costs too much. Instead of starting with the application and working backwards, we should turn our approach around and fund technology from the perspective of the seven-layer architectural model mentioned earlier, which begins at the physical layer to build a basic infrastructure that supports multiple applications. Making this fundamental change would allow us to respond much faster—and have greater success—in addition to saving costs.
The state’s budget process causes other problems. Making decisions in three months that set the course for a whole year is a hardship for long-term planning, especially in technology, which is dramatically changing every six months. Agencies need the assurance of a stable funding base with more continuity to maximize the potential of the highway.
5. The gap between perception and reality causes problems. Although most North Carolinians have heard the term “information highway,” it seems to mean something different to nearly every one. If the NCIH isn’t meeting their expectations, naturally they are disappointed.
Part of the problem is that the state is dealing with a technology that’s not yet mature: in fact, the ATM technology is so new that standards are still being developed. The initial deployment of this leading edge technology resulted in more technical problems and downtime than expected, due to the lack of fully trained support personnel in the local exchange carriers and equipment vendors. These delays slowed the development of applications, which in turn has made deployment and support more difficult. As a result, it will probably be another year or more before the state can deliver on its potential.
The promise of ATM is “bandwidth on demand,” provided by Switched Virtual Circuits (SVC), which allows users to schedule programming as needed. But what the NCIH actually offers today is access to a piece of bandwidth at a certain time —that is, Permanent Virtual Circuits (PVC)—and it will be at least another year until SVC is available.
Those experienced with implementing new technologies know that it always involves making long range projections—say, over five to ten years. From this perspective, the fact that implementation has slowed in the first year isn’t significant. The ramp up the highway is going to be different than projected, but it’s still going to happen, because high bandwidth is the key to the future.
6. The costs of implementation, particularly operating costs, must be addressed. Although users commend the state for establishing an operational network, cost is still a major concern. We found that the cost of the NCIH was cited most frequently as a “major weakness” by the stakeholders interviewed for this study.
In particular, respondents complained about the high cost of IXC (Inter-Exchange Carrier) connections. The IXC connections, which allow communication between LATAs, are especially important to the remote areas of the state that need this technology the most. In major urban areas, like the Research Triangle or Triad, users often don’t feel the need to go outside the LATA and are frustrated that they are, in effect, subsidizing others. They are paying a premium, based on the state policy to assure equal access regardless of geographic location; the trade-off would be a widening gap between the state’s “haves” and “have-nots.”
Current moves toward deregulation of the telecommunications industry, still under discussion, will most likely have an impact on the IXC costs. Local Exchange Carriers (LECs), such as Bell South, GTE and Sprint Carolina, are expecting to be allowed to provide inter-exchange connections, creating an environment of greater competition and the potential of reducing costs. Again, although we know such changes are coming, it will take some time before they are actually in place.
In the meantime, the state will still have to grapple with the costs of video studios, which present an obstacle to many school systems and other institutions. Although costs have dropped and are expected to drop even further, current capital and operating are beyond the capacity of many organizations.
7. Developing technology is different from stable operating technology and requires a different type of management. ATM/SONET, an emerging technology, is still developing. It therefore demands a different mindset: an experimental, flexible approach, as opposed to an established, production-oriented approach. But the State Information Processing Service (SIPS), which is responsible for managing the information highway, is a receipts-based organization designed to recoup costs for services. It is set up to provide services on a contract basis, not to invest in developing new technology. This distinction has created a stumbling block for users, as well as the NCIH staff.
For example, the initial grant process was rushed, which meant that some of the places that truly needed the highway couldn’t respond in time. The rate structure is seen by some as confusing and unstable, while others consider it too rigid. This observation is in no way meant to be disparaging. The organization has been asked to implement this major communications initiative, without being given the funding or resources to accomplish the desired results—a sure recipe for disappointment.
8. Users are still waiting for a single vision to emerge. It is still unclear who is going to drive this effort. Unfortunately, there has been a conflict in leadership within the executive branch, as well as with the legislative branch. Users, meanwhile, are waiting for a unified vision to emerge.
The NCIH is at a critical stage in its development. What is needed now is focused attention in both the administration and General Assembly to manage information technology resources in a rational, cost- effective way. As part of its leadership function, the legislature should also resolve confusion about agencies’ authority to act. The way current legislation is written precludes agencies from using any monies not specifically dedicated to the NCIH to pay for NCIH connections and operations.
9. Support and training are essential to making this effort work. Making the best use of technology ultimately depends on the people using it. Unfortunately, due to a general lack of equipment and training, technology is not effectively used in the business of government.
Training is one part of the solution, but North Carolina will have to go even further to change the mindset of government, overcoming the natural resistance to change. Unlike successful businesses, public agencies tend to avoid taking on anything new without additional resources and people. They need to be directed and assisted to look at ways to accomplish current activities cheaper, faster and better.
10. Forget the glitz: this is a hardworking network that can save the state money. In our initial enthusiasm over the NCIH, we sold a superlative view of the state’s high technology future. When the reality didn’t meet these lofty heights—and immediately transform the state’s educational and economic progress—the value of the entire project came into question. Whatever the faults of the past, the bottom line is that the NCIH is working today and offers the enormous capacity needed for the future.
The kind of infrastructure we have built—and are building—puts our state at a very definite advantage in providing services to citizens, bringing equity across the state and reducing the costs of government operations. That’s why we believe North Carolina’s leaders made a wise decision when they took steps to put in the communications backbone to meet the continually evolving demand for information. Our state should not go backwards. However, we must be sure to apply good business principles as we move forward.
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