Matt Mead on Technology

Diversify Wyoming economy with petaflop supercomputer

Expand state teleconferencing & state cloud computing

I was pleased to announce last year that, for the first time, we managed, through cloud computing, to get state employees on the same email system. This cloud computing system provides for greater collaboration. Cloud computing makes our email a stronger tool by providing, for the first time, an easy method for every state employee to email any state employee and for the public to do likewise.

The backbone of IT technology is broadband. When I took office, the state's major broadband provider had only two towns in Wyoming capable of high speed gigabit broadband. Thanks to a public-private partnership, this company expanded this capability to an additional 18 Wyoming communities.

Additional $52 M in highway funding

The highways, especially, are important for business, personal, and tourist travel. I support additional supplemental appropriations this year for highways.

Highway construction needs a reliable source of added funding (on top of those sources that now exist like gas taxes and federal funds). The recommended $52M in supplemental funding this year makes reasonable progress on highway construction. Those dollars should be used to do what is needed most in 2011.

Recruit mega data centers: we have the weather & the land

I support funding to recruit mega data centers. In Wyoming, we have what those centers need. We have the natural advantages:
• we have a favorable weather climate with a low number of required cooling days;
• we can produce abundant, relatively inexpensive electricity;
• we have relative safety from natural catastrophes such as hurricanes, and
• we have available land.

I supported the bill passed last year that exempted qualifying computer equipment from sales and use taxes. I thought last year's bill provided an attractive and appropriate incentive for businesses--and I would call for reasonable additions this year, like for computer software, to improve upon it.