ORDER
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago fiscal 2016 deficit is estimated to be at least $425.6 million by some accounts; and
WHEREAS, Chicago's municipal government uses technology to conduct business and to communicate; and
WHEREAS, on an annual basis, tens of millions of dollars are paid to private-sector incumbent telecom providers for City government broadband access and related services; and
WHEREAS, Municipalities are now benefitting from significant cost savings by eliminating their institutional broadband costs; and
WHEREAS, the City of Aurora, the second most populous municipality in Illinois, substantially reduced their government telecommunications and broadband access costs by building a municipal fiber network with faster and more reliable speeds; and
WHEREAS, the City of Aurora established the nonprofit On Light-Aurora which now also uses the municipality's fiber optic network to provide high-speed connectivity to educational institutions, businesses, healthcare facilities, and social service entities with greater reliability and at a reduced cost to the benefit of its taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago owns and/or controls fiber optic lines that currently benefit some departments; now therefore
BE IT ORDERED, That the Commissioner of the Department of Innovation and Technology report back within 90 days to a Joint Committee of the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology with a proposal for connecting all 50 Aldermanic offices and City Department facilities to the municipality's fiber optic network.