Dean Cristol, associate professor of education, is one of 911爆料网鈥檚 principal investigators working to develop and strengthen Ohio鈥檚 broadband and 5G workforce.
The 鈥Strengthening Ohio鈥檚 Broadband and 5G Workforce鈥 project is part of Ohio鈥檚 effort to expand and strengthen access to broadband connectivity for both Ohio residents and businesses.
Cristol is part of the , which will design and implement curricula and programming for Ohio鈥檚 Broadband and 5G Sector Partnership in an effort to develop a skilled broadband and 5G workforce, establishing career pathways, K-12 outreach, and forming statewide regional partnerships between education and industry providers. Once developed, the programs will be available to all higher education institutions in Ohio to implement.
As the majority of the people involved in the work are not educators, Cristol is tasked with bringing in the perspective of both an educator and educational researcher.
鈥淢y current role is to create a 鈥榩laybook鈥 focusing on how to create local partnerships that can deliver educational, workforce and manufacturing needs to the Ohio regions (northwest, northeast, central, southwest, southeast),鈥 Cristol says. 鈥淭he goal is for this playbook to be used by other interested parties who are interested in creating such partnerships.鈥
The 5G and Broadband Connectivity Center combines activities from , , the , and the to inform industry and government in the 5G/Broadband space. 5G-OH houses the Industry Sector Partnership, a collaboration between the and the . The combined efforts in this space facilitate the 5G and broadband build-out across Ohio, with an emphasis on bridging the digital divide.