BETHESDA, MD-- Information Technology Consulting Firm, Computech, Inc., has been awarded the contract to construct the National Broadband Map from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Federal Communications Commission. Born out of the necessity to provide businesses and consumers with access to information fundamental to survival, growth and future success, the publicly accessible, searchable and interactive National Broadband Map will serve as a tool for policy analysts to identify underserved areas and make informed, broadband funding decisions. 

The National Broadband Map will disseminate data on the availability, speed, location and type of broadband services, as well as the adoption and availability of broadband at community anchor institutions. The National Broadband Map aims to present this data in a straightforward manner with the support of geographic information systems, visualization techniques and a sleek user experience. It will appeal to the novice consumer looking for basic information about broadband availability in their area, as well as to advanced users looking to interact with sophisticated aspects of the site.

"The digital revolution has shifted vast amounts of information online and access to reliable, fast broadband has become vital to everyday functions," explained Larry Fitzpatrick, Computech's President. "We are seeing a dramatic increase in the use of geospatial techniques for making access to government data more useful and are proud to be early supporters of this transformation."

By developing the National Broadband Map on a layer of Application Programming Interfaces (API), developers and engineers will be able to consume the broadband data for their own mash-ups and applications. Computech's team will exercise its extensive experience in information technology solutions, particularly in the area of data visualization/analysis, user experience design, social media, geospatial analysis and mapping. 

Computech's partners in the National Broadband Map effort include, Stamen Design, an interactive design and technology studio in San Francisco, which will produce advanced visualizations of the broadband data, and TopCoder, Inc., a leader in online programming competitions, which will host a contest to produce a Mobile Application based on broadband data and APIs. The preliminary version of the National Broadband Map will go live February 17, 2011.

Computech, Inc. (www.computechinc.com), an information technology firm, develops, implements and maintains business-critical information systems for public/private organizations. Computech offers expertise in data-driven dashboards; auction/spectrum management; legacy system modernization; business process modernization; revenue-based collection systems; and change management.