Technology Conference to Bring Issues,
Ideas to the Forefront

Technology consumers, experts and entrepreneurs from across the nation will gather next week at the National Digital Policy Institute Policy Conference to discuss issues relating to Digital Policy in the Information Age.

Hosted by the Digital Policy Institute (DPI) at Ball State University on October 3-4, the conference will feature representatives and speakers from the private, not-profit and government sectors. Tech novices and industry leaders, including Sarah Briggs, executive director of Technology for Ohio's Tomorrow will attend sessions covering public policy issues, responses to new technology and tech-industry trends.

The DPI serves the academic community as an interdisciplinary association of faculty with a collective research interest in the structure of, and competition within, electronic communications industries. Register online for the 2008 conference here.

Americans "Hanging-up" Landline Phones

By the end of 2008, one in five American households may not have a home telephone line. That's the conclusion of a new study by Nielsen, which says that 17.1 percent of U.S. households (20.2 million individual households) already rely solely on cell phones.

As U.S. households look to reduce expenses, individuals are "hanging-up" their landline phone. While the average home phone line costs about $40 a month, the study found that people without a home phone line use 40 percent more minutes on their wireless phones, but only see a 10 percent increase in their cell phone bill, to $76 a month. The increase is nominal because a majority of the extra usage is free under typical cellular plans: nights, weekends and calls to other users with the same cell phone company.

Technology for Ohio's Tomorrow will continue to provide you with the latest technology updates from across the nation and in our own backyard. Read our blog and comment on the latest tech news. And visit our website to learn what you can do to foster an environment that will embrace high-tech jobs, investment, and emerging technologies to better prepare us for Ohio's Tomorrow.