The National Association of Counties (NACo) has multiple committees tasked with a variety of topics and areas of expertise. One of the timeliest committees for today is the IT Standing Committee and I was recently appointed by NACo President Larry Johnson (Commissioner, DeKalb County, Ga.) as a member. NACo works as an advocate for counties at the Federal level of government and the IT Standing Committee helps to shape the policy that NACo advocates for. The main topics of discussion in the August meeting were Cybersecurity and Broadband Infrastructure, both of which are incredibly relevant for St. Mary’s County. Our county is a member of NACo and I’m proud to be able to represent us on this committee.
Do you struggle with broadband connectivity? Many of us do. In the grand scheme of things, it is a relatively new technology that has exploded in need and necessity for every day life. The best local source of information is the St. Mary’s County Broadband website that has been put together by our IT department. On this site you can find out the status of broadband expansion projects and check your address for future projects. You can even sign up to know when there are updates for your address!
Want to help on a national level? NACo has developed an app for our phones that allows you to test the speed of your 4G service (there are particular Federal definitions as to what qualifies as “broadband”–often rural areas or overly crowded areas are not achieving the advertised speeds). The TestIT app that they have developed lets you know the speeds you’re receiving and collects the speed data for a national database used to advocated for IT infrastructure and identify gaps in coverage. Check it out!
Reach out and let me know if there are any other IT areas that you would like to see advocated at a national level! I am by no means an IT expert, but I’m happy to pass along concerns and honored to be your voice on this committee!
