"NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds and declares the following:
     (a) The deployment and adoption of high-speed internet services and information technology has resulted in enhanced economic development and public safety for the state's communities, improved health care and educational opportunities, and a better quality of life for the state's residents;
     (b) Continued progress in the deployment and adoption of high-speed internet services and other advanced telecommunications services, both land-based and wireless, is vital to ensuring Washington remains competitive and continues to create business and job growth; and
     (c) That the state must encourage and support strategic partnerships of public, private, nonprofit, and community-based sectors in the continued growth and development of high-speed internet services and information technology for state residents and businesses, and do so through formalized and structured arrangements that ensure the protection of proprietary information maintained by telecommunications providers and internet service providers.
     (2) Therefore, the legislature resolves that it will create a comprehensive, statewide high-speed internet deployment and adoption strategy to improve technology literacy, improve access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet services, and to establish and sustain an environment ripe for telecommunications and technology investment statewide.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) After the broadband study authorized by the legislature in 2007 has been completed, the department of information services, in coordination with the department of community, trade, and economic development and the utilities and transportation commission, shall convene a work group to develop a high-speed internet deployment and adoption strategy for the state.
     (2) The department of information services shall invite representatives from the following organizations to participate in the work group:
     (a) Representatives of public, private, and nonprofit agencies and organizations representing economic development, local community development, local government, community planning, technology planning, education, and health care;
     (b) Representatives of telecommunications providers, technology companies, telecommunications unions, public utilities, and relevant private sector entities;
     (c) Representatives of community-based organizations; and
     (d) Representatives of other relevant entities as the department of information services may deem appropriate.
     (3) In developing the high-speed internet deployment and adoption strategy, the department of information services shall consider the following:
     (a) How to create a detailed, geographic information system map at the census block level of the high-speed internet services and other relevant telecommunications and information technology services owned or leased by public entities in the state. Development of this geographic information system map may include collaboration with students and faculty at community colleges and universities in the state. The statewide inventory must, at a minimum, detail:
     (i) The physical location of all high-speed internet infrastructure owned or leased by public entities;
     (ii) The amount of excess capacity available; and
     (iii) Whether the high-speed internet infrastructure is active or inactive;
     (b) How to work with telecommunications providers and internet service providers to assess and create a geographic information system map at the census block level of the privately owned high-speed internet infrastructure in the state, with instructions on how proprietary and competitively sensitive data will be handled, stored, and used;
     (c) How to combine the geographic information system map of high-speed internet infrastructure owned by public entities with the geographic information system map of high-speed internet infrastructure owned by private entities to create a statewide inventory of all high-speed internet infrastructure in the state;
     (d) How to use the geographic information system map of all high-speed internet infrastructure in the state, both public and privately owned, to identify the geographic gaps in high-speed internet service, including an assessment of the population located in each of the geographic gaps;
     (e) How the state might create or utilize a nonprofit organization to spur the development of high-speed internet resources in the state, which may include, but is not limited to, soliciting funding in the form of grants or donations; establishing technology literacy programs in conjunction with institutions of higher education; establishing low-cost hardware and software purchasing programs; and developing loan programs targeting small businesses or businesses located in underserved areas;
     (f) How to track statewide residential and business adoption of high-speed internet, computers, and related information technology, including an identification of barriers to adoption;
     (g) How to effectively build and facilitate local technology planning teams and partnerships led by local economic development organizations with members representing cross-sections of the community, which may include participation from the following organizations: Representatives of business, telecommunications unions, K-12 education, community colleges, health care, libraries, universities, community-based organizations, local governments, tourism, parks and recreation, and agriculture;
     (h) How to use the local technology planning teams and partnerships led by local economic development organizations to:
     (i) Conduct a needs assessment;
     (ii) Determine the appropriate type of technology needed to implement high-speed internet services in the area;
     (iii) Determine the hardware and software needed; and
     (iv) Write a request for proposals to meet the community's needs;
     (i) How to work collaboratively with high-speed internet providers and technology companies across the state to encourage deployment and use, especially in unserved areas, through use of local demand aggregation, mapping analysis, and creation of market intelligence to improve the investment rationale and business case; and
     (j) How to establish low-cost programs to improve computer ownership, technology literacy, and high-speed internet access for disenfranchised or unserved populations across the state.
     (4) By September 1, 2008, the department of information services shall provide a status update to the telecommunications committees in the house of representatives and the senate, outlining the progress made to date by the work group and the issues remaining to be considered.
     (5) By December 1, 2008, the department of information services shall provide a report to the fiscal and telecommunications committees in the house of representatives and the senate. The main objective of the report is to outline, based on the efforts of the work group, what legislation is needed in order to implement the high-speed internet deployment and adoption strategy, including a range of potential funding requests to accompany the legislation. Specifically, the report shall include the following:
     (a) Benchmarks, performance measures, milestones, deliverables, timelines, and such other indicators of performance and progress as are necessary to guide development and implementation of the high-speed internet deployment and adoption strategy, both short term and long term, including an assessment of the amount of funding needed to accomplish a baseline assessment of the high-speed internet infrastructure owned by public and private entities of the state in an eighteen-month period;
     (b) Ways to structure and appropriately scale and phase development and implementation of the high-speed internet deployment and adoption strategy so as to link to, leverage, and otherwise synchronize with other relevant and related funding, technology, capital initiatives, investments, and opportunities; and
     (c) A range of implementation options that would address the handling, storage, and use of proprietary and competitively sensitive data submitted by telecommunications or internet service providers, with consideration given to the potential of creating or utilizing an independent, nonprofit organization that would be charged with implementing the high-speed internet deployment and adoption strategy.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.105 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By January 1, 2009, the department, in consultation with the utilities and transportation commission and other relevant agencies, shall identify and make publicly available a web directory of public facilities that provide community technology programs throughout the state.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, "community technology program," also known as a digital inclusion program, means a program engaged in diffusing information and communications technology in local communities, particularly in unserved areas. These programs may include, but are not limited to, programs that provide education and skill-building opportunities, hardware and software ownership, internet connectivity, and development of locally relevant content and delivery of vital services through technology.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   Nothing in this act may be construed as giving the department of information services or any other entities any additional authority, regulatory or otherwise, over providers of telecommunications and information technology.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   If sections 1 through 4 of this act become null and void, the department of information services shall include high-speed internet adoption and deployment in its 2009-2011 strategic plan.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   If specific funding for the purposes of sections 1 through 4 of this act, referencing sections 1 through 4 of this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2008, in the omnibus appropriations act, sections 1 through 4 of this act are null and void."