One of the aspects of Connected Tennessee and Governor Bredesen's Trail to Innovation is the creation of a Statewide Steering Committee. This committee is comprised of public and private partners representing all sectors from across the state, specifically including corporate partners.

The overall objective of the Steering Committee is to provide an environment for interactions that support and generate statewide and regional economic development and measures that benefit the public. More specifically, Connected Tennessee is trying to improve the way that we use broadband and technology across the state. This group will be able to help Connected Tennessee identify barriers that need to be addressed, discuss work currently underway that could be utilized in other areas and formulate methods for increasing broadband adoption and utilization of existing and new technologies.

On March 26th, Connected Tennessee held its fourth Steering Committee Meeting at the William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower in downtown Nashville. State telecom leaders, public officials and leaders in business, healthcare and education were in attendance. The goal of the meeting was to provide an update on the Broadband Data Improvement Act as well as a Connected Tennessee update before dividing into breakout groups. The breakout groups were representative of five key sectors (Business Development, Economic Development, Education, Government and Healthcare) and were charged with identifying a sustainable goal to be achieved by each group by the end of the year to reach a higher level of broadband penetration and adoption throughout the State. Michael Ramage also shared an in-depth report on the status of Internet speeds in Tennessee before dismissing the group to enjoy refreshments. The next Steering Committee Meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 19, 2009.