Electronic Communications |
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28 September 2000
Text: U.S. Commerce Department on Advanced Technology AwardsAwards will boost community projects to improve access
The Department of Commerce September 28 announced financial awards totaling almost $14 million for communities with innovative plans to use new information technologies in a way that will better their communities. The Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) awards will be distributed to 35 community groups selected from 662 competing applications. The federal funds will be matched by an additional $18 million raised by private organizations and local governments. "The awards I am announcing today highlight how innovative applications of information technology can make a community a better place to live," Commerce Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said in announcing the awards at the Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. The Angelou School is receiving a $395,000 grant to open a neighborhood technology center where local citizens can have Internet access and learn computer skills. The projects planned by all the award-winning communities can be found at the Web site of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which administers the TOP program: http://www.ntia.doc.gov NTIA administers the TOP program. Following is the text of the press release:
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
September 28, 2000
Commerce Secretary Mineta Announces $13.9 Million in Matching Fund Awards to Non-Profits for Innovative Uses of Advanced TechnologiesWashington, DC -- The grants, provided by the Department's Technology Opportunities Program (TOP), will be matched by contributions from the private sector and state and local organizations. "It's important to note that these awards are not 'federal' initiatives all of these projects come from the community," pointed out Mineta. "They reflect a fundamental approach the program has always taken to issue a broad challenge and then let local communities identify their own needs and propose their own creative applications of technology." The Federal funds will be matched by $18 million raised by the grant recipients from their project partners and sponsors. Mineta announced the awards while speaking at the Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. The school is home to the See Forever Foundation, a non-profit organization that received a $395,000 award from the TOP program to develop ShawNet, a community network that will use information technology to help residents of a low-income inner city neighborhood solve local problems, such as creating access for the elderly and training teens in computer skills. "The awards I am announcing today highlight how innovative applications of information technology can make a community a better place to live," Mineta said. "This year's grant recipients are leading the way in developing local initiatives moving from digital divide to digital inclusion." Mineta added, "My enthusiasm today is tempered only by my frustration that TOP does not have the funds to support more of the excellent applications that we received." President Clinton has proposed increasing TOP's appropriation to $45 million in his FY 2001 budget request. After a thorough peer review process, the 35 awards were selected from a field of 662 applications. In addition, this year's grants bring the benefits of new technologies to underserved areas across the country. Twenty-two grants will involve remote rural areas, and nearly half of the projects will ensure that distressed, urban communities have access to digital opportunities. Examples of the variety of applications that illustrate the promise that information technologies hold include:
"I am particularly excited to see that this year's TOP grantees will continue to push the envelope and explore the potential that emerging technologies hold," said Gregory L. Rohde, assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which administers TOP. Noting that NTIA was able to fund only a small percentage of the applications, Rohde called on the private sector to support many projects that were proposed. Information on all of the applications TOP received can be found on the NTIA web site, www.ntia.doc.gov. "More than a third of these technologies will employ either broadband or wireless technologies, which I believe will open up new worlds of possibilities," Rohde said. "The grants also represent a diverse array of cutting-edge broadband technologies." For example:
Project descriptions for all of the FY 2000 grants are available at the NTIA web site, http://www.ntia.doc.gov. Representatives of the 35 grant recipients will be honored later this fall at TOP's annual Networks for People conference, to be held in Crystal City, Virginia on October 30-31. (Note: conference information available on TOP web site, http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/top TOP is administered by the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). NTIA serves as the principal adviser to the President, Vice President and Secretary of Commerce on domestic and international communications and information issues and represents the Executive Branch before the Congress, other Federal agencies, foreign governments and international organizations. end text
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