Thursday, January 16, 2003
EDPros have another reason to move aggressively to broadband and the Internet.
According to a new report by Nielsen/NetRatings, broadband access in the United States surged in 2002. The company Wednesday reported that the total number of U.S. users who accessed the Web via high-speed connections to more than 33.6 million in Dec. 2002.
While broadband saw its fortunes rising, narrowband connections began to lose ground in 2002, declining 10 percent during the course of the year to about 74.4 million users by the end of December.
Another industry report (the Shop.org and BizRate.com 2002 Online Holiday Mood Study) says that more than 80 percent of online retailers saw revenue increases of at least 10 percent this holiday season and 31 percent saw increases of at least 50 percent. The e-business growth comes despite the relatively dismal reports about holiday sales in real-world stores.
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Broadband access surged in 2002
