THE BROADBAND MILLENNIUM: COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND MARKETS, Chicago: International Engineering Consortium, 2004 is the product of six years of research within the Institute for Telecommunications Studies. This 550 page publication, being marketed commercially as a professional book and as a textbook, examines the disruptive forces of new digital communication technologies on international business, infrastructure investment, government deregulation and consumer empowerment. It is the first book in print to address broadband telephony, cable, wireless, satellite, broadcasting and Internet convergence in the “First/Last Mile” of home and office under a single cover.

The BROADBAND COMMUNICATION book is an elaboration of a chapter in the 1998 ANNUAL REVIEW OF COMMUNICATIONS, Chicago: International Engineering Consortium, 1998, entitled “The Last Mile: Where Telecommunications Traffic Slows to a Crawl,” based on ITS research by Don Flournoy and Ph.D. student Tom N. Scott

An illustration of the important role the Institute of Telecommunications Studies plays in the transfer of broadband communication knowledge to practice is the Intelligent Community Forum sponsored by the World Teleport Association. For the last three years the ICF has annually held conferences that bring together the public and private sectors of selected communities to explore the strategies and best practices needed to transform cities and towns in the Digital Age using advanced communication technologies.

In June 2004, the Intelligent Community Conference and Awards (www.intelligentcommunity.org/html/ICCA2004.html) was held in downtown Manhattan in conjunction with the New York City Economic Development Corporation with the goal of exploring the ways Information and Communication Technologies can help close the digital divide, contribute to economic growth and increase competitiveness. Don Flournoy represented the ITS as a member of the Board of Advisors of ICCA 2004.

The ITS has taken on the challenge of helping to position the Information Technology Alliance of Appalachian Ohio for an Intelligent Community Forum award nomination in 2005. ITAAO is an organization dedicated to growing and improving the competitiveness of South East/South Central Ohio’s information technology (IT) industry. ITAAO is a member of Ohio’s IT Alliance, a statewide network of six regional organizations concentrating information technology development in Ohio.

The ITS is also working with Mauritius, a small island nation off the coast of Southern Africa with aspirations to be a cyber hub for the Indian Ocean region, in preparation of its nomination packet for a 2005 Intelligent Communities Forum award.