Across our nation, Americans are beginning to use electronic networks at work, school, and home. Increasingly, people are realizing the advantage of using telecommunications and information technologies to redefine who they are and what they do. Electronic communications networks are bridging isolated regions with the rest of our country and the world, as well as strengthening ties within communities.
The public and nonprofit sectors of our economy can benefit greatly from new technologies, but often lack the initial investment capital, or cannot afford to engage in exploration of new technologies. They need proven models. The Department of Commerce's Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) is designed to address these needs. TIIAP promotes the widespread availability and use of advanced telecommunications technologies in the public and non-profit sectors. Since its inception in 1994, TIIAP has made matching grants to state and local governments, health care providers, schools, libraries, police departments, community- based non-profit organizations, and others to put the nation's information infrastructure to work in their communities. In the first four years, the program has awarded 332 grants, in all 50 states, totaling $100 million and leveraging $150 million in local matching funds.
TIIAP projects are using new information technologies and telecommunication services creatively to reinvent how children are taught, how diseases can be treated, how streets can be made safer, and communities made stronger. By demonstrating new applications of the technology, by identifying and overcoming obstacles, and by evaluating what works, each of these projects is helping to realize the promise of an advanced national information infrastructure that strengthens our economy and improves the quality of life for all Americans.
The projects produce a wealth of information about what works and what does not. The value of this lies in its wide dissemination. Last year, the Department of Commerce released Lessons Learned from the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program, a report that focused on lessons that TIIAP project directors were learning in their projects. The lessons covered topics that were common to many different types of projects, such as hiring technical staff, working with vendors, choosing technologies, and planning for sustainability. With this report, we turn to the projects themselves to show how the technology is being used and the resulting impact.
We have called this report Networks for People to emphasize the importance of the user. While the telecommunications connections enable communication at a distance and the rapid flow of information, they do not, in and of themselves, teach people new skills, treat patients, solve crimes, or help people find jobs. The physical infrastructure is but one, albeit very important, ingredient. In order to realize the opportunity that the infrastructure presents, we need to identify the people who will use the technology and who will benefit from it. We have to understand how it fits into our daily routine and how we can use it to improve our lives. This report offers profiles of how medical centers, schools and universities, police departments, social service organizations, state and local governments, Native American tribes, and others are using technology to touch the people in their communities. It shows how the elderly can receive better health care in their homes, how police officers can more easily locate suspects or track down stolen vehicles, and how residents of inner city public housing projects can participate more directly in their children's education.
This report is one of many ways that TIIAP is sharing the stories and the lessons that are being learned by the recipients of TIIAP awards. Additional information on the program and the projects is available from the TIIAP office and on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Web site http://www.ntia.doc.gov. Please share with us your reactions to this report write TIIAP, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20230, fax (202-501- 5136), or e-mail (netpeople@ntia.doc.gov).
Larry Irving
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of Telecommunications and Information Applications
Last Modified: 18 Dec 97