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News ArchivesOK-FIRST Wins Innovation Award OK-FIRST, a 1996 TOP-funded project that delivers lifesaving information to local emergency managers, was selected as one of five winners of the prestigious Innovations in American Government award. The awards program, which is administered by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and the Council for Excellence in Government and founded by the Ford Foundation, was established to identify and promote excellence and creativity in the public sector. Established in 1996 by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey at the University of Oklahoma, the program provides up-to-the-minute weather data via specialized computer technology. With access to this timely information, emergency management teams can close roads and bridges before they become dangerous, alert rescue crews about storm movements and take other proactive measures to ensure public safety during severe weather. "While we cannot control the weather, OK-First demonstrates that innovative thinking can help government respond to it more quickly," said Stephen Goldsmith, Faculty Director of the Innovations in American Government Program. "It's important that we continue to harness this type of public-sector creativity to improve the lives of American citizens nationwide." In a recent editorial, the Daily Oklahoman noted that, "In a state where weather forecasting is a sophisticated and respected science, the Oklahoma Climatological Survey should be commended for its contribution in protecting the public from severe weather." After highlighting a number of examples of OK-FIRST's role in protecting the public from hazardous storms and tornadoes, spillage of dangerous materials, and wind shifts associated with large fires, the editorial noted that not only had the project made it to the finals of the Innovations in American Government Award competition, but it had also achieved international recognition. Although TOP support ended a couple of years ago, the editorial went on, "the state Legislature wisely continues to appropriate funds to continue this valuable program." This year, the National Selection Committee chose only five winners, instead of its usual 10, out of nearly 1300 entries. TOP's 74 New Awards for FY2001 The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced the award of $42.8 million in Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) grants to 74 non-profit organizations, including state and local governments, across the country and in Puerto Rico. TOP grants, matched by $46.7 million in contributions from the private sector and state and local organizations, extend the benefits of advanced telecommunications technologies to underserved communities and neighborhoods. "We want these grants to demonstrate how the most up-to-date technology can assist the delivery of services to Americans of all ages and backgrounds, improving levels of public safety, public health, public information, homeownership and economic development," said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Nancy J. Victory. "Successful TOP grants recipients share best practices with other non-profit and public sector organizations."
New, Improved Digital Divide Network The new version of the Benton Foundation's Digital Divide Network has now gone public: www.DigitalDivideNetwork.org If you've visited the site before, you know the general layout, but you might want to check out some of the enhanced features. One of the most important is the new Digital Divide Database, a national directory of over 20,000 digital divide-related services around the country, including places where citizens can get free Internet access and IT training (public libraries, Community Technology Centers, HUD neighborhood network sites, PowerUp sites, TOP grantees, and Urban League centers, among others). Go to DigitalDivideNetwork.org and find the spot on the right-hand side labeled "Get Connected!" Type in a zip code and press the submit button. You'll then be brought to a map with little black circles on it, each circle with a number inside it. These circles represent the location of organizations offering a digital-divide-related service to the community. (a maximum of 30 circles will appear on any map.) If you scroll below the map, you'll see a numbered listing of each of these organizations, including contact information and their URL, when available. Click on an organization's name and a new page will open providing more information about the organization, as well as a zoomed-in street level map and an option to get driving directions to the organization. In the future, the database will be used to service a new Public Service Announcement campaign on broadcast and cable TV networks, funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the AOL/Time Warner Foundation, Univision, the Benton Foundation, and over half a dozen other organizations. The campaign will use English and Spanish commercials to encourage young people to get involved in community technology programs in their area. In order to make sure that everyone has access to the organizations listed in the database, the PSAs will include toll-free numbers with English and Spanish-language operators who will help callers identify organizations in their community that can offer them free Internet access and IT training. The website also includes a new search engine that provides access to archives of Digital Divide Network's news stories, feature articles, a calendar of divide-related events and relevant web resources. There is also an option to allow individuals to become members of the Digital Divide Network, with receive email regular updates on what's been posted recently to the website (including direct links to each new item, as well as articles, news stories, events listings, web resources, and recommend organizations, posted by Digital Divide Network members.
Colorado Arts Council Joins Virtual Chautauqua Virtual Chautauqua, a 1998 TOP grantee, recently received a grant from the Colorado Council on the Arts, along with several University of Colorado grants to assist project leaders with solidifying the sustainability plan. The project focuses on helping K-12 teachers use Internet tools to integrate performing arts into their curricula. New partnerships with the Western States Arts Federation and their artistsregister.com, rural Colorado schools, and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival are strengthening the project and improving the quality of offerings. Virtual Chautauqua's Africa "learning unit" is being translated into Spanish and will be linked by April. "Africa" was developed in the fall of 2000 by a group of University of Colorado students working with first grade teachers from an area bilingual Pre-K-2 literacy center. Virtual Chautauqua is an outreach project of the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more information, contact Mary Virnoche.
See Forever Student Technology Center See Forever, in the inner-city Shaw neighborhood of Washington, DC, recently held its grand opening of the Student Technology Center, which gives students at the Maya Angelou Public Charter School and residents of the Shaw community a place to learn and apply computer skills. Maya Angelou students will work with community residents and local businesses, giving classes on computer applications, the Internet, and web design. The school also has a unique "backpack learning experience" when students take laptop computers to senior citizens in their homes for teaching purposes. The Tech Center is a Power-UP site, where young people between the ages of 6 and 18 can use age-relevant computer programs to access online resources.
Gates Funds Digital Tribal Outreach The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing a $393,435 grant to the Tribal Connections project co-sponsored by the University of Washington and the National Library of Medicine. The collaboration will open access to electronic health information resources for Southwest Native American tribes. Tribal Connections provides assistance with computer network and telecommunications planning, equipment and training in the use of electronic health information. Sixteen Northwest tribes and villages have already benefited from the health information and resources provided by Tribal Connections. In 2000, the National Library of Medicine provided additional funding to extend this innovative model for health information outreach to four additional tribal communities in the Southwest United States. For more information on the project, visit the Tribal Connections website. Kapi'oloni's Telecon2000 Award On December 6, at the the 19th annual Telecon2000 Conference and Expo in Anaheim, CA, Kapi'oloni Medical Center for Women and Children won first prize for "Innovation in Technology - Telemedicine & Healthcare Sector" for the TOP-supported Fetal Tele-Ultrasound Project. The center was one of 281 nominees. Kapi'oloni Medical Center for Women and Children's perinatologists fly and drive all over the state to care for women with high-risk pregnancies. This new service permits Fetal Diagnostic Center to "see" high-resolution ultrasound images broadcast from neighbor island and remote Oahu locations. Tele-ultrasound provides 24/7 access to specialty care rather than itinerant clinics. Jana Hall, grant manager, presented the project at the conference in tandem with Dr. Hirata, who demonstrated real-time tele-ultrasound for the Anaheim audience. Falling through the Net,Part 4 The fourth in the Falling Through the Net series has been released by NTIA. Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion measures the extent of digital inclusion by looking at households and individuals that have a computer and an Internet connection. The report concludes that "Internet access is no longer a luxury item, but a resource used by many." The findings show that computer ownership and Internet access rates are rapidly rising nationwide, and for almost all groups. However, "there are still sectors of Americans that are not adequately digitally connected." Until everyone has access to new technology tools, the report goes on, "we must continue to take steps to expand access to these information resources." The full text (with accompanying charts) of the 122-page report is available from the NTIA website as an Adobe .PDF file. The site also has the report's Executive Summary (in HTML), as well as a statement by President Clinton. Education Grants for 2001 The Department of Education has posted its (http://ocfo.ed.gov/grntinfo/forecast/forecast.htm) grants forecast" listing virtually all programs and competitions under which the Department has invited, or expects to invite, applications for new awards for Fiscal Year 2001 and providing actual or estimated deadline dates for the transmittal of applications under these programs. The lists are in the form of charts — organized according to the Department's principal program offices — and include programs and competitions the Department has previously announced, as well as those it plans to announce at a later date. This document is advisory only and is not an official application notice of the Department of Education. The Department says it plans to provide updates to this document monthly, starting in the first week of October, 2000, and continuing through the first week of May, 2001. Models that Work Competition 2000 Two TOP grantees were recipients of (http://bphc.hrsa.gov/mtw/) Models That Work (MTW) awards on June 22, 2000, in Washington, DC. (www2.kumc.edu/telemedicine/telekid.htm) Tele-KidCARE, Kansas City, Kansas, and Every Block A Village, Oak Park, Illinois, were two of six awards given to community initiatives that provide health care services to residents of low-income areas. These communities have identified barriers to good health care, and have put strategies in place to address the problems. The MTW campaign then shares these strategies that provide economic dividends for struggling communities and families, while creating integrated delivery systems that are responsive to the needs of all Americans, regardless of their ability to pay. Tele-KidCARE brings health care to children by using technology to allow doctors to examine children online. In 1998, Kansas University Medical Center (KUMC), in partnership with the city school system, launched the country’s first telemedicine delivery system to the one place children go every day — school. When the school nurse and other school professionals identify a child who needs medical assistance, the nurse schedules a Tele-KidCARE appointment. The system transmits information to a doctor over specialized telephone lines using videoconferencing technology, with the parties communicating real-time. For example, electronic stethoscopes allow the remote doctor to hear lung/heart sounds, or an electronic otoscope can be used to examine ears, nose, and throats. Community involvement is the key to this project’s success — teachers, parents, and school nurses were participants in the planning since its inception. And, the project can be used in either rural or urban areas. Every Block A Village Online, working with West Suburban Hospital as part of a primary healthcare program, gives residents of an inner-city Chicago community access to the Internet to find health and safety information. EBV Online’s health-focused interventions include: Web TV Internet connection devices are placed in citizen leaders’ homes and local community sites. Many of the topics addressed on EBV Online focus on the needs of women, such as pregnancy, parenting, domestic violence, and the like. The program is easily replicable since creation of a website with local health information has become possible with easy-to-use software and low-cost domain registrations. Churches, libraries, community centers, and public schools provide good access points for community members. Since 1994, MTW has identified 26 Models and replicated their innovative service delivery strategies in nearly 40 communities across the country. MTW is a public/private initiative led by the Federal Government’s Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Primary Health Care, in partnership with 45 national cosponsoring organizations. For more information, call 1-800-850-2386. Two TOP Grantees Up for Stockholm Award Two TOP grant recipients — Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles and OK-FIRST are finalists for the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Award, presented to innovative information technology projects that are focused on people and society. Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles is a web-based neighborhood early warning system that integrates and maps public data (housing complaints, unpaid water bills, etc.) to pinpoint deterioration and reverse decline. OK-FIRST improves access to current weather information via instructional technology and provides a decision-support system for the state's public safety (fire, police and emergency management) agencies during weather emergencies. Both projects are finalists in the Public Services and Democracy category. In addition to Public Services and Democracy, awards are given in the categories of Culture and Entertainment; Environment; Equal Access; Health and Quality of Life; Education; and New Economy. Projects were evaluated on four criteria: Innovation; User Need; Sustainability; and Transferability. The Stockholm Challenge Award is a non-profit initiative of the City of Stockholm, Sweden, in partnership with the European Commission. Projects come from the private, public, and academic sectors. The Award is the successor to the Global Bangemann Challenge (1997 to 1999). In 2000, KORRnet, the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Regional Network of Tennessee, was the only project from the United States among 13 international winners. KORRnet’s CHIPs (Computers for Homebound and Isolated Persons) project won in the Equal Access category, which rewards projects working for equal access to the benefits offered by the new information technologies. Stories from TOP Update These stories have appeared over the past months in issues of TOP's printed newsletter TOP Update: To read any of these stories, click here. TOP Evaluation Guides Online Responding to many requests for technical assistance with
developing evaluation plans, TOP contracted for the development
of evaluation guides. The aim of these guides is to engage the user through the utilization of worksheet tools and exercises on how to integrate program planning, evaluation, and program implementation for greater success. For more details and electronic copies of the guides, please see the Research and Evaluation section of the TOP website. Medical Grants for Connectivity The National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health provides grants for Internet connectivity to any U.S. public, private, or non-profit institutions engaged in health administration, education, research, and/or clinical care. The institution can be of any size, from a small clinic to a hospital; groups or cooperatives of health-related institutions are also eligible to apply. For a single institution, support is available up to $30,000; a group of institutions may receive up to $50,000 to support development of a multi-institution network including extending existing connectivity to outlying sites, or otherwise furthering NLM's goal of expanding information outreach. Funds can be used to cover the overall cost of a connection to the Internet, including gateway or routers, associated communication hardware (CSU/DSU), the leased line and its installation, local area network user support staff, and Internet Service Provider fees. NLM has budgeted $600,000 for this program, however, expenditure of this amount is conditional upon the receipt of quality proposals. They estimate that they will make between 10 and 16 awards. Check out the NLM (www.nlm.nih.gov/ep/conrfa.html) Request for Proposals. A Letter of Intent must be received by the NLM by February 20, 2000, and a full proposal must be submitted by March 14, 2000. For further information, contact: Susan M. Sparks Dept. of Ed Tech Grants to Teachers The U.S. Department of Education announced $48 million in new grants. The grants are to be awarded to consortia of higher education institutions, state agencies, school districts, nonprofit organizations, and others actively working to transform teacher education programs into "21st century learning environments." The grants will be awarded on three levels. Application guidelines for the fiscal year 2000 competition are available and can be downloaded from www.ed.gov/teachtech, or via email at edpubs@inet.ed.gov. Eight regional application workshops have been scheduled to help prospective applicants better understand the Department's approach to implementing the competitive grant process. You may obtain a copy of the guidelines by mail by contacting the Education Publications Center:
ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398 The Digital Divide Network Goes Online The Digital Divide Network, a joint project of the Benton Foundation, the National Urban League, and a number of Internet, telecommunications, and software firms, is now online. Among the partners in the project are America Online, AT&T, Bell-Atlantic, Bellsouth, Gateway, Intel, iVillage, Microsoft, and SBC Communications. The site will coordinate information, strategies, and efforts targeting solutions to the Digital Divide. The partners intend the Digital Divide Network to serve as "a catalyst for developing new, innovative strategies to close the growing technology gap between rich and poor Americans." As a mechanism for consolidating Digital Divide initiatives, "the Digital Divide Network will emphasize collaborative and outcome-oriented projects with an eye toward establishing the right metrics for evaluation." The Digital Divide Network will feature:
You can subscribe to the Digital Divide email list by sending a message to: digitaldivide-request@list.benton.org and placing the following line (with no other text): subscribe digitaldivide yourname in the body of the message. Youth and the Digital Divide The initiative, called PowerUp, is designed to give underserved children access to technology and guidance on how to use it. Developed in conjunction with America's Promise — The Alliance for Youth, the initiative will leverage partnerships with public and private organizations to provide technology, trained personnel, in-kind support, and other resources to thousands of existing community centers and schools. PowerUP, which was established with a $10 million grant from the Case Foundation, will provide an initial $5 million in direct grants to community- and school-based centers that wish to participate in the program. PowerUp's chairman is Steve Case, CEO of America Online. AOL is also providing 100,000 accounts for participating centers. Founding partners in the project include Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Family Education Network, the National Urban League, Power Bar, Inc., Save the Children, Sun Microsystems Inc., and the United States Department of Education. Grants may be used for any activity or resource that is consistent with the program's goals. More information is provided in the program's guidelines. How TOP Grants Benefit Children How Access Benefits Children:
Connecting Our Kids to the World of Information, the
newest publication from NTIA, gives you a glimpse of the
potential that can be realized when young people are given
the tools to succeed. One of the projects featured in the report is the Vermont Arts Council's Millennium Arts Project, where kids use computers to go compose music and share their work with their peers, their teachers, and professional mentors. Through a link in the report, you can listen online to more than twenty samples of student compositions in MIDI format. A project in Crete, Nebraska, enables children to reach out to and learn from seniors through a TOP-supported online electronic network; another project in Rogers, Texas, empowers children to act as "agents of change" by involving themselves directly in the economic revitalization of their community. How Access Benefits Children is also available online in Adobe .PDF format and in hard copy from TOP. Technology Grants for New Housing The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) just announced a $1.5-million initiative to develop technologies that will help create a new generation of housing. The research initiative will support goals of PATH, a federal government and industry partnership established last year by President Clinton to develop, demonstrate, and deploy advanced housing technologies radically to improve the quality, durability, energy efficiency, environmental performance, and affordability of the nation's housing. Both NSF and PATH each are contributing one-half of the funding for the research effort. NSF, administrator of the award program, anticipates funding approximately 12 proposals, with awards up to $150,000 for two years, for fundamental engineering research in areas that address PATH concerns. Although collaboration among researchers and partnerships with industry or government laboratories is encouraged, awards are limited to U.S. academic institutions. The research initiative will focus a broad array of engineering sciences and technologies and interdisciplinary activities on the effort. Deadline for submission of proposals is January 27, 2000. Awards will be announced May 2000. Complete text of the award announcement is available on the NSF web site at http://www.nsf.gov/home/programs/recent.htm. PATH is administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to HUD and NSF, federal agencies participating in PATH include U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Labor and Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Housing Finance Board, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Private sector members include leaders of the home building, product manufacturing, insurance, and financial industries. For more information, please visit: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/nsf004/nsf004.htm. America Connects The America Connects Consortium (ACC) is a group of eight partners, working with community technology centers across the United States "to improve programs, support community development, and eliminate the digital divide." ACC serves the more than 400 centers of the U.S. Department of Education's Community Technology Centers program. Working with Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet) and the HUD Neighborhood Networks program, ACC reaches more than 1,200 community centers. ACC is led by the Education Development Center, and includes CTCNet, ICF Consulting, the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, the Alliance for Technology Access, CompuMentor, the Information Technology Association of America, and the (www.nab.com) National Alliance of Business, along with supporting organizations. ACC will be working to help centers create programs to "leverage powerful computer technology to improve academic achievement, teach new job-related skills, build small businesses, and empower the most disadvantaged Americans to become 'digital citizens.'" One of the resources available from ACC is an extensive literature review, Effective Technology Use in Low-Income Communities. The review covers areas such as Policy Studies on Access; Theoretical Considerations on the Societal Impact of the Digital Divide; and Patterns of Use, Content, Need, and Access. The document can be downloaded in PDF format from the ACC website. FY2000 TOP Grant Awards Announced Grant awards from the Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) for Fiscal Year 2000 were announced on September 28, 2000. Thirty-five awards, representing $13.9 million in Federal funds, were recommended to organizations in 27 states and the District of Columbia. "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. (see story below) Complete information, including project descriptions and contact information, can be found on the TOP website: www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/top/ Awards went to the following projects: (click on the name to see a full project description)
Indian Tribes Leapfrom into Info Age Both the New York Times (Sept 21, 2000) and the Washington Post (Nov 6, 2000) featured articles on a TOP project, the (http://4directions.org/SebaDalkai) Seba Dalkai Boarding School on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The tribe received funding from TOP to set up a two-way satellite Internet service. Starband Communications worked with the Southwest Navajo Nation Virtual Alliance and Northern Arizona University to create the connections. The service is the first commercial pilot project for Starband, which will begin selling satellite Internet service to the public later this year. The project brings modern communications to many remote locations on the Navajo Nation, including schools, Indian Health Clinics, public safety and tribal government departments. In addition, Microsoft Corporation contributed funds for software. Another Friend Is Gone We recently received word of the passing of Jesse Gregory of Knoxville, Tennessee. Jesse wasn't "important" – he wasn't a policymaker, or an innovator. He wasn't a major funder. He didn't create any projects, and he rarely left his modest house in Knoxville. Jesse was an "end user" – little more than a statistic in our world of abstractions and acronyms. But Jesse made those of us who knew him feel important, because Jesse constantly reminded us of why we actually do this kind of work, and why the work we do is important. He was the human face of information technology. He was a hero to the people who knew him. Jesse was just a guy who used to drive a truck until accidents and a series of illnesses took him off the road and into a tightly circumscribed world where all he really had to look forward to were increasingly gloomy days and an early death. But gradually his days became filled with light and joy, even though death did come early. Jesse was part of the CHIPS project (computers for home-bound and isolated persons) at KORRnet, the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Regional Network in East Tennessee. Because of his increasingly fragile physical condition, he was largely confined to a small house in Knoxville with his wife Susan, their two children, and a swelling army of cats who knew they could count on Jesse and Susan for unfailing love and attention. Natalie Bradley of KORRnet writes about Jesse that he was "a
beacon of light for all of us at CHIPS. He wanted so much to
give back, and Jesse showed me his award when I visited his home last year. He told me how he would pick up the phone and call anyone who hadn't logged on to a KORRnet discussion for a few days, just to see how they were doing and if they needed any help. He took things very personally. He even tried to get me to take a couple of his cats back with me to DC, figuring that since I had one already a couple more wouldn't hurt (and, what counted most, that he could trust me with them). He asked me to send him any shareware programs I found useful so he could play around with them and figure out how they worked, and then maybe share them with other KORRnet users. He scribbled notes constantly while we chatted and, when it was time for me to head for the airport to catch my plane, he made me promise to stop by on my next trip to Knoxville. I'll miss not being able to do that now. So, when you hear policymakers and entrepreneurs and educators, and other really important people, talking about the Digital Divide and the New Information Economy, or you're slinking onto Ameritrade for one more shot at outfoxing the NASDAQ, remember that the real reason we should care about this stuff is because there are people like Jesse Gregory logging on all over the world, connecting to one another and doing their part to keep real life going, even – thank God – in cyberspace. Don Druker Coming in January: The Digital Divide The Digital Divide, a new four-part series for public television from San Francisco's Studio Miramar, premiers on PBS on January 28, 2000. The series examines the role technology plays in widening social divisions in our culture. In contrast to "the ardor that usually characterizes reporting on digital technology," says executive producer David Bolt, "this series asks some hard questions about the social role of the computer." Among those featured in the series are Larry Irving, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and chief administrator of NTIA; B. Keith Fulton , Director of Technology Programs and Policy for the National Urban League; and Bart Decrem, founder of Plugged In. Each of the one-hour episodes looks at a different facet of technology's impact on young people in America. The first episode "Wired For What?" examines the role of computers in elementary schools and the questions now being raised nationwide about educational technology. In the second episode, "Fair Play", the producers look at the gender gap for middle school girls vis-à-vis digital technology. The third episode, "Virtual Equality", examines the distribution of digital technology along racial lines in America from the perspective of high-school students. And in the final episode, "Crossing the Divide", the producers follow young people as they graduate from high school and struggle to enter the new digital economy. The five producers — Debra Chasnoff, Helen Cohen, Sue Ellen McCann, Lorna Thomas, and David Brown — have won numerous film and television awards. Executive producer David Bolt was Director of Production for the George Lucas Educational Foundation at Skywalker Ranch, where he prototyped multimedia applications. He was Vice-President for Technology at the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC) and the Executive Director of the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC). In November, 1999, TV Books will publish a companion volume to the series. Studio Miramar has also received funding from the Ford Foundation and the Gates Foundation to conduct outreach to classroom educators across the United States. For further information, visit the Digital Divide website at: www.pbs.org/digitaldivide. Community Networking Conference The 3rd Annual Community Network Conference will be held at the Omni Southpark Hotel in Austin, Texas, December 11-12,2000. This conference is one of the key gatherings for everyone interested in using telecommunications technology for community development. Pre-conference events begin Sunday afternoon, December 10. Conference presentations are Monday and Tuesday, December 11 and 12. Sunday, December 10 - Pre-conference events:
Monday and Tuesday, December 11-12 - General Conference Program:
This Community Network Conference emphasizes practicality as well as possibilities, discussing today's real telecom choices for community social and economic development. Among the presentations will be the (www.afcn.net) Association for Community Networking "CN success" program tracks; Community Technology workshops from CTCNet; and extensive Rural Connectivity content, combined with announcements and assistance for Community Networking tools, grants and resources. The conference is jointly sponsored by:
For more information, contact: Gene Crick Internet Improves School Attitudes The Internet is a positive force in children's education, according to the findings of a new survey of parents and children from the U.S. National School Boards Foundation, with support from the Children's Television Workshop and Microsoft Corporation.
Also of note is a section on "Schools Can Help Bridge the Digital Divide." Rural Telecom Leadership Awards Do you know of a small community or rural region that is successfully employing telecommunications to create jobs, enhance citizen participation, provide critical health services, or engage youth people? If so, you should know about the AOL Rural Telecommunications Leadership Awards '00, a digital divide partnership of the National Center for Small Communities (NCSC) and the (www.corp.aol.com/foundation.html) AOL Foundation. For the second year, the AOL Rural Telecommunications Leadership Awards will recognize and promote outstanding achievement in rural community development, resulting from the deployment and use of advanced telecommunications. Five $10,000 winner awards and ten $2,000 finalist awards (new for 2000) will be presented at RuralTeleCon'00, the National Rural Telecommunications Conference to be held in Aspen, Colorado, October 1-4, 2000. Winner and finalists awards will be given in the following five categories (some new for 2000): Infrastructure Technology; Public Access, Skills and Training; Community/Economic Development, Job Creation; Health Information and Services, Enhanced Disability Access; Youth Development/Leadership All applications must be prepared online beginning May 8. Since this is a telecommunications leadership awards program, the application process is electronic. A printed and signed copy of the application must also be received by NCSC by Friday, July 14. Award finalists and winners will be announced on September 1. To be eligible for the award, community leaders must demonstrate that they have enhanced rural telecommunications, through a public-private partnership, in a community of 10,000 population or less. Applications can also come from regional public-private partnerships that serve a collection of communities (each with populations of 10,000 or less) so long as the project's leadership and support comes from the communities themselves. All efforts must show how enhancing rural telecommunications has invigorated the community or region in demonstrable ways. Projects must be already underway and significantly achieved. Unfortunately, the AOL Awards does not fund proposals to start new efforts. For more information on closing the digital divide, and to begin the application process, go to http://www.natat.org/ncsc/, and click on the flashing AOL Foundation logo.
Nancy Stark E-Commerce and the Digital Divide The United States Conference of Mayors and the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce have organized a National Economic Development Forum to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 30 - June 1, 2000. The theme of the forum is E-Commerce and the Digital Divide: Meeting the Challenge. Using this theme as a guide, the forum will cover topics ranging from "Technology Needs of Underserved Minority Populations" to "Improving Technology Infrastructure" to "Filling the Skills Void in a Knowledge-Based Community." Organizers anticipate over 1,000 participants, including economic development specialists, planners, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and elected officials to attend the three-day meeting as well as a number of high profile public and private sector speakers and presenters. Greg Rohde Named to Head NTIA Mr. Rohde served as a senior aide to Senator Byron L. Dorgan (D-North Dakota) for more than ten years as the chief policy advisor for all areas of jurisdiction under the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, including telecommunications and technology issues. He played a key role in many important legislative initiatives such as the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 (which provided a moratorium of state and local taxation on electronic commerce). Mr. Rohde began his career as a legislative assistant to then-Representative Dorgan in 1988, serving as chief policy advisor for health care, social security, and human resource issues on the a House Committee on Ways and Means. Born in Pierre, South Dakota, in 1961, Mr. Rohde's family moved to North Dakota when he was young, settling in the state capitol of Bismarck. He attended Colorado University, in Boulder, Colorado, and North Dakota State University, in Fargo, North Dakota, on a track and cross-country scholarship. He received a Bachelor of Science in Education, with majors in Philosophy and Sociology, from North Dakota State University in 1985, and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, in 1988. Urban Challenge Grants 3Com Corporation today announced that through its Urban Challenge program the company will donate a total of $1 million in network equipment, technology training, and consulting services to ten U.S. cities. The funds are earmarked to help the cities use networking technology to enhance education, government and health care services. "Urban Challenge is an innovative program to promote the concept of 'connected communities' and the benefits that will become available to residents in the nation's urban centers," said David Katz, global director of market development at 3Com Corporation. "We are developing close working relationships with strong mayors who can serve as brokers to bring together key constituents to build modern, high speed Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN). Working with government officials, 3Com is using innovative MAN networking technology to connect municipal facilities, including public schools, libraries, utilities, hospitals, and police and fire departments." The 3Com Urban Challenge, in collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, is designed to help mayors employ 3Com's networking technology and communications services to connect disparate educational, health care, and governmental facilities to each other and to the Internet. The program will enable mayors to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of government agencies, offer faster access to information and technology for city residents, and promote an improved learning environment for teachers and students in public schools. The deadline for Urban Challenge grant applications is October 15, 1999. To apply for an Urban Challenge grant of $100,000, city mayors can download an application from 3Com's Web site at:
The 3Com Urban Challenge program goes far beyond networking computers and connecting buildings to the Internet. One key benefit of the program includes 3Com's NetPrep program, an educational training program to prepare high school and college students for high-skill and high-paying jobs in computer network management, the fastest growing high-tech job category in the United States today. The program will help prepare both students and teachers for a future where network technology enhances the learning process both inside and outside the classroom. 3Com's NetPrep program is a vendor-neutral, standards-based curriculum that focuses on the design, implementation, management and integration of computer networks. The program is expected to reach 500 schools and 50,000 students over the next two years. Successful NetPrep pilot programs have already been implemented in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. NKLA Makes a Splash Nationally Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles (NKLA), a project of the Department of Urban Planning and the Advanced Policy Institute of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and supported by TIIAP in 1998 to help prevent housing and neighborhood conditions from deteriorating in the Greater Los Angeles area, has generated considerable interest at the national level. J. Eugene Grigsby, III, Professor of Urban Planning and Director of the Advanced Policy Institute, demonstrated NKLA and discussed University Community Partnerships at the Gore Family Reunion in Carthage, Tennessee, earlier this year. As a result of this presentation, he was appointed to a technology advisory group by the Vice President, who expressed considerable enthusiasm for NKLA's work. UCLA is now planning a major conference for late 1999 where university presidents, applied research faculty, and community representatives will discuss the role of new partnerships in addressing urban problems. Vice President Gore is scheduled to lead the event. The Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles project originated within the applied community-based research program at the UCLA's Department of Urban Planning. Under the direction of (www.sppsr.ucla.edu/faculty/richman.html") Dr. Neal Richman, NKLA provides tools for accessing property and neighborhood data and works with neighborhood residents, community organizations, and policymakers to mobilize support for community improvement in the Los Angeles area. La Plaza Telecommunity's AOL Award La Plaza Telecommunity, a 1995 TIIAP grantee located in Taos County, in northern New Mexico, has received one of four $10,000 (http://206.168.125.58/aolawards.asp) AOL Rural Telecommunications Leadership Awards for 1999. One of TIIAP's first Community Networking grantees, La Plaza partnered with the State Radio Communications Bureau (NMRCB) to develop a wireless demonstration project in the rural mountainous community of Questa, New Mexico (population 1700). In November, 1999, La Plaza and NMRCB began providing Questa with wireless, T-1 capacity connectivity. The impact of the project will be felt throughout the community, in education, health, business, ecommerce, and economic development. Because private telecommunications carrier USWest, citing high expense and the sparse population, had no plans to lay fiber optic cable in the remote rural areas north of Taos, La Plaza stepped in to become the ISP for Questa. The rudimentary service is delivered through a 56Kbps line and 8 analogue phone lines for 120 dial-in users, the school district, Village Offices, Health Clinic, and Youth and Family Center. To date, 2304 visits have been made to the free public access site in Questa. La Plaza sees the project as easily replicable in rural communities wherever state government has a microwave presence and would be willing to partner with a private ISP for access, education, and training. La Plaza is currently developing a similar project in Peñasco, another remote rural community 25 miles southeast of Taos. This project involves the Town of Taos emergency medical tower, sitting on a 12,000 foot mountain peak. The tower provides line of sight from La Plaza to the mountain peak, and from the mountain peak into Peñasco. Employing this wireless connection, La Plaza will be able to offer the same high-speed bandwidth to Peñasco that is now available in Questa. This project is in an Enterprise Zone and will also serve a career development and School-to-Work program developing multi-media business. La Plaza provides free public access in the Peñasco High School computer lab. Opportunities for Minority Institutions The Department of Commerce is organizing a conference on September 23, (http://osecnt13.osec.doc.gov/ocr/msi99.nsf/) New Directions: Building Relationships and Expanding Opportunities with Minority Serving Institutions. Both TIIAP and NTIA's Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) will be offering workshops at the conference — "Availability of Funding Opportunities" and "How to Prepare Competitive Applications." TIIAP will also have a booth at the Conference Expo. You can view the conference agenda, get hotel and travel information, and register online both for the conference, and for specific workshops, by clicking on the link above to the conference website. (Almost) Totally Free Internet Access NetZero,™ a nationwide, advertiser-supported ISP, will give you free, local-dial, unlimited Internet access in exchange for a little advertising space on your screen. After you download and run the 3.3 MB installation file, NetZero will use your modem to dial its homesite and walk you through the process of setting up a free password-protected NetZero account. After that, whenever you load NetZero, it will ask you what state you're calling from, provide you with a list of cities and local phone numbers, automatically dial the number you select, and establish your Net connection. It will also load your Web browser. The whole thing is completely free, but you have to put up with a small advertising window (which you can't minimize or get rid of). So you won't be able to run your browser full-screen; but, the ad window is pretty small (as these things go), making the the trade-off bearable. You'll also have to answer some basic demographic questions when you establish your account, so you should read their privacy policy statement carefully before registering. NetZero is not the only ISP offering this free service, and you may already have come across others that work as well or better. But, for the moment, this is the one we've tested and it appears to work pretty smoothly. If you can live with the questions and the advertising banner, NetZero may be a good way to save twenty or thirty bucks a month on ISP charges. Free Data Management Tool A company called Desktop Assistance has developed a database template — ebase — designed to "meet the communications and constituency building needs of nonprofit organizations." Features include:
Desktop Assistance describes itself as a company that "researches cutting-edge information and communications technologies, adapts them for use by nonprofits, and helps nonprofits use these technologies creatively." They focus on "building the human capacity of organizations to succeed using new tools." RuralTeleCon 1999 Early registration is $195 for the three full-day event. Registrations are now being accepted online at the RuralTeleCon website. Click on "Conference," then click on "Registration." Registration is limited to 350 people, so if you are planning to attend, it's a good idea fo register early. The conference will be organized around four themes: technology, applications, community, and policy. Along with the usual keynotes, seminars, topic panels, roundtable discussions, and peer-to-peer sessions, there will be what conference organizers describe as "seminar sessions for in-depth learning at both tutorial and advanced levels." There will also be the presentation of the 1999 AOL Rural Telecommunications Leadership Awards, one of which will be presented to TIIAP-grantee La Plaza Telecommunity (see above). For more information, you can contact Dr. J. Jeffrey Richardson, RuralTeleCon Chairman, or call him at (303) 620-4777 ext. 305. Registration and onsite information is available from Toni Black, Colorado Mountain College, (800) 621-8559 ext. 8365. Who Applied to TIIAP in 1999? A "Notice of Applications Received by TIIAP" was published in Part VII of the Federal Register (Vol. 64, No. 83, 30 April 1999, pp. 23518-23524). You can view the Notice online, or browse back issues of the Federal Register, at the Federal Register website. Or click here to view the document in Adobe™ format. The Telecommunications Act of '96 NTIA has produced an overview of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, covering everything from Universal Service, Local Competition, and the E-Rate, to Broadcast Ownership, the Communications Decency Act of 1995, and the V-Chip. It's a concise and useful summary of current legislation, FCC rulemakings, and issues likely to be taken up by Congress in 1999. To browse the overview, click here. Also, the Benton Foundation's Telecommunications Act of 1996 Home Page contains a wealth of resources, including an extremely useful hypertext version of the Act. Embrace Your OMB Circulars! We know how diligently you have been searching out and studying your Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars in preparation for submitting your TIIAP proposal. OMB Circulars are instructions or information issued by OMB to Federal agencies. These circulars are expected to have a continuing effect of two years or more, so they're worth having on file. To make things a bit easier, we have compiled a list of the circulars, most of which can be read online and/or downloaded, with links to each one on the OMB website. To scan the list, click here. OMB also makes several of its circulars available through
a fax-on-demand system. To access this system, call (202) 395-9068.
You can also obtain circulars in hard copy by calling (202)
395-7332.
Larry Irving to Leave NTIA Larry Irving, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Telecommunications and Information and head of NTIA, will leave the Department at the end of the summer. He will be succeeded by Gregory L. Rohde, Senior Legislative Assistant to Democratic Senator Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota. Irving was appointed by President Clinton in 1993. He played a major role in the Administration's efforts to bring about the most sweeping reform of U.S. telecommunications law in 60 years, the Telecommunications Act of 1996. He was also a key proponent within the Clinton-Gore Administration of policies designed to promote diversity in the commercial broadcast arena and to increase opportunities for minorities and women in the emerging digital economy. Secretary Daley, in accepting Irving's resignation, said: "Larry has been a tremendous asset to the Department of Commerce. He has been a master at crafting the Administration's telecommunications policy in a way that the resulting vast economic benefits will be accessible to Americans from all walks of life. I wish him well in his future endeavors." During his six-year tenure at the Commerce Department, Irving earned a reputation as an international leader in telecommunications and information policy. He worked to open foreign markets to the U.S. telecommunications industry, secure better protection for consumers, and open up advanced telecommunications services to rural and other underserved areas of the country. Irving's successor, Gregory Rohde has served as Senator Dorgan's chief policy advisor on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which includes technology and telecommunications issues. He has contributed to significant legislation including, the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Before joining Senator Dorgan's staff, he served as a Team Coordinator for the Health Care Financing Administration on the Transition team for the Clinton-Gore Administration. Mr. Rohde received a Bachelor of Science in Education from North Dakota State University and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Catholic University of America in 1988. TIIAP's Evaluation Report Is Here NTIA has just issued an Evaluation of the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program for the 1994 and 1995 Grant Years. Produced under a contract to Westat, a research and consulting firm in Rockville, Maryland, the Report focuses on the activities and achievements of TIIAP's FY94 and FY95 grantees. The evaluation provides the first comprehensive look at the impact of TIIAP's investment and the specific value added by the TIIAP funds. The Report's table of contents, Executive Summary, each of the seven chapters, and the appendices are all available for online reading or downloading in Adobe™ .PDF format. In addition, you can download all of the Report's sections in one compressed (.ZIP) file. We have also posted a number of Case Studies produced by Westat to accompany the Evaluation Report. Currently, there are case studies, viewable in Adobe™ .PDF format, for:
Next Generation Internet and Internet2 In his 1998 State of the Union Address, President Clinton urged that "we should enable all the world's people to explore the far reaches of cyberspace" by stepping up support for building the next generation Internet. To realize this goal, the (www.ngi.gov/) Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative was established as a multi-agency Federal research and development program to develop advanced networking technologies, explore revolutionary applications that require advanced networking, and demonstrate these capabilities on testbeds that are 100 to 1,000 times faster end-to-end than today's Internet. Complementing the NGI initiative, Internet2 is a collaborative effort by more than 120 American universities, working with partners in industry and government, to develop advanced Internet technologies and applications to support the research and education missions of higher education. Internet2 is a project of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID). The Federal NGI initiative and the university-led Internet2
are designed to complement one another:
To find out more about Internet2, contact UCAID at (202) 872-9119. NKLA on a Community Treasure Hunt The Microsoft Foundation has awarded $75,000 to 1998 TIIAP grantee the University of California at Los Angeles to support "MS.ANNA (Mapping System for Analyzing Neighborhood Assets) in South Central Los Angeles. Grant funds will be used to develop an internet-based software application and training program to help youth in Vernon Central conduct a community "treasure hunt," posting their discoveries on an electronic map. The Microsoft grant directly complements both the TIIAP-supported Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles project and other community activities supported by the Fannie Mae Foundation under its University-Community partnership program. "We hope that the development and pilot use of this new tool in South Central Los Angeles will in time be replicated by youth groups throughout the city," said Dr. Neal Richman of UCLA's Advanced Policy Institute and project director for Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles. "Thus, we seek to assist [Los Angeles youth] in building a new composite map of our city: I AM LA (Integrated Asset Map of Los Angeles)." Local Online Service Goes Statewide The Jones Center for Families in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a 1998 TIIAP grantee, uses networking technology to coordinate services to address long-term needs of families and individuals. The Center's community-wide social services network, the Client Referral Network, serves four counties in rural northwest Arkansas and is accessible online or by a toll-free telephone call. In an effort to develop a new paradigm for human service delivery to families in need, more than 60 offices in northwest Arkansas now share information about their human service referrals via the Internet. Instead of a traditional categorical, program-based, approach to service delivery, the Jones Center and its partners have developed an Internet-based collaborative of local service providers. The introduction of this new tool is changing the way human services are provided — from one dependent on eligibility and red tape to a seamless system based on personal need. The Arkansas Department of Information Systems (DIS) announced recently that the state is ready to expand the pilot project statewide, making Arkansas the first state to implement such an innovative approach to administering help to their citizens in need. In the future, the network is expected to include industry in order to coordinate job placement with the specific needs of industry. Eight other states are looking into the use of the Internet to increase communication with offices that are geographically separated and dependent on a variety of funding sources. To date, Arkansas is the only state to demonstrate that collaboration with diverse groups is both a feasible and cost effective means of effecting social change. YorkCan Uses PalmPilots to Gather Data PalmPilots, little hand-held computers, are being used to collect data from the 60-block area covered by the 1998 TIIAP grant to the York Community Access Network Technology Center. Volunteers are learning to use the little computers to go out into the community and ask relevant questions regarding shopping habits, perceived neighborhood needs, how many community residents businesses employ, what jobs are available, and what prospective employers look for in an employee. Heather Wisnom, project director, is confident the collected data will show a "wealth of skill and experience" among the residents in the downtown area of South George Street. "The information will be used to benefit the community — to improve the quality of life here," she said. Once the data is collected, five computers will be placed throughout the 60-block area for residents to use. They will be able to access information about housing, educational opportunities, child care, jobs, and other services. They will also be able to read and send email, send resumes to potential employers, and get information about community activities. Distance Learning and Telemedicine U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service is making $150 million in Treasury rate loans and $12.5 million in grants available for distance learning and telemedicine projects serving rural America. Three categories of financing are available: Grants ($7.5 million); Combinations ($5 million in grants paired with $50 million in loans); and Loans ($100 million). The program funds projects which are primarily "dynamic"; i.e., "systems which deliver critically needed educational and medical services in rural areas through structured interactive educational training and/or medical professional presence over distances." There is an emphasis on networks of multiple sites over a geographic area, rather than on standalone entities. Projects are also required to be self-sustaining. The filing deadline for 100 percent grant financing is July 9, 1999. The applications will be scored competitively, with a maximum award of $350,000. Combination and Loan applications may be submitted at any time during the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999, and will be processed and approved on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, including copies of the regulations and an application guide, call Lawrence L. Bryant, Chief, DLT Branch, at (202) 720-0413, or click here to visit their website. Computers Not Just for Science Anymore Computers just don't compute anymore; they communicate visually and with audio. And this is beginning to have great effect on the arts and how schools are teaching art. TIIAP's support of the (www.state.vt.us/vermont-arts/vtmap/) Millenium Arts Project, a program of the (www.state.vt.us/vermont-arts/) Vermont Arts Council, is a case in point. TIIAP funds are bringing arts-related computer technology into local schools across the state, and linking students with professional artists, writers, and musicians. The project seeks to increase public support for arts education, improve opportunities for students to learn the arts, and increase access to and use of technology as a tool for arts education. All of the activities are based on the assumption that high quality arts education discussions through on-line communities help students strengthen their performance in arts and other areas of learning. In a mostly rural state, using computers is a great way to bridge distances and reach more kids. Through online access, students can show their work to mentors around the state, artists and musicians who can offer insight and criticism to supplement that of their teachers. A watercolor, for example, can be photographed and then scanned into a computer where a number of expert eyes can take a look. "This project builds on a strong tradition of Vermont leadership in assessing student progress in the arts," said Dawn Ellis, education coordinator at the Arts Council. "By the time students reach high school, they will have compiled a rich, digitized portfolio of their best artistic creations over the years. By sharing work online, students, teachers, and artists join in a statewide discussion about what students should know and be able to do in the arts." Technology Excellence in West Virginia On February 16, 1999, West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood presented "Excellence in Technology" awards to the collaborators in the development of EqualNet, a TIIAP-supported online clearinghouse for business and information services. EqualNet is a partnership among four West Virginia technology organizations, including the West Virginia High Technology Consortium, in Fairmont, West Virginia. The goal of the project is to increase small business growth and provide community access to new technologies and technology training through Technology Opportunity Centers (TOCs) and computer training courses. To date, 18 TOCs have opened in nine southern West Virginia counties. "[EqualNet] provides the kind of information that anyone who starts a small business needs to have access to," said Sam Tully, Chief Technology Officer for the state of West Virginia. "It is important to remember that about 80 percent of the people who are employed in the state of West Virginia are employed in small business." In addition to TIIAP support, EqualNet also receives funding from the United States Department of Education. Grants for Community Technology The United States Department of Education's Community Technology Centers program is designed "to promote the development of model programs that demonstrate the educational effectiveness of technology in urban and rural areas and economically distressed communities." Community Technology Centers will "provide access to information technology and related learning services to children and adults." Three-year grants will be awarded on a conmpetitive basis by the Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education. State educational agencies, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, or other public and private nonprofit or for-profit agencies and organizations are eligible to apply. The Department will be conducting Application Workshops on May 7-12, 1999, in Dallas, Brooklyn, Chicago, and Los Angeles. There will also be a CTC Applicant Workshop Teleconference on Friday, May 21, 1999, between 2:00-3:00 p.m EDST. For more information on the teleconference, you can contact Will Saunders at (202) 205-5698 or send him an email at william_saunders@ed.gov. The deadline for proposals is June 14, 1999, with grant awards to be announced on August 31, 1999. OK-First a Semi-Finalist at Harvard ("http://radar.metr.ou.edu/OK1/OK1.html") OK-First, a TIIAP public safety grantee, has been selected as a semi-finalist in Harvard University's Innovations in Government awards. Sponsored by the John F.Kennedy School of Government, the awards highlight innovative government programs. OK-FIRST was one of the top 100 programs selected as a semi-finalist out of a pool of more than 1,600 applicants. Congratulations! And congratulations to OK-FIRST for a job well done during the recent May 3 tornado outbreak in Oklahoma, when OK-FIRST computers served 45,000 radar files in 24 hours for use by local public safety officials. $10 Million for HUBS Funding Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA), who represents portions of Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties, announced that $10 million in funding for the HUBS project was included in the FY 1999 Defense Appropriation Act as part of the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Next Generation Internet program. The funds are awaiting distribution by the Pentagon. HUBS (Hospitals, Universities, Businesses, and Schools) is an effort to create a high-speed, regional information technology infrastructure for the four-state region of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The $10 million marks a significant increase over its FY 1998 funding, which consisted of a $5 million grant from the Department of Education and a $2 million contract from DARPA's Next Generation Internet program. HUBS is managed by the Valley Forge Office of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). "One of the areas which HUBS will greatly expand", according to Congressman Weldon, "is the 'H' part of the HUBS project. To this end, it is anticipated that a significant portion of the HUBS' FY99 funding will be used for seed activities to create of a secured virtual medical data bank, one in which a number of health systems throughout the four states will be working together with HUBS, so that activities such as 'anywhere and anytime' telehealth in urban, suburban, and rural environments can be instituted." "This data bank will have a major role in ensuring the first responders to any disaster situation. . . . It will also play an important role in allowing the region's medical experts to track potential infectious disease breakouts while ensuring that the privacy and anonymity of patients are protected." Another area of increased activities in the HUBS project will be to enhance the HUBS information technology as a means to attract additional activities in the national missile defense (NMD) program to the four-state region. "Having world-class universities such as CMU, University of Maryland, University of Pennslvania, Drexel, Princeton and Rutgers, and defense installations such as Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, the Center for Composite Materials of the University of Delaware, the Applied Research Laboratory of Penn State University and the Communication and Electronic Command Center of Fort Monmouth, we have the technological strengths in our backyard", according to Congressman Weldon. Digital States in a Digital Age "The states have entered the Digital Age." This is the dramatic conclusion presented in The Digital State 1998: How State Governments Are Using Digital Technology, a new report by the Progress and Freedom Foundation. The executive summary — with tables and graphs — is posted online; a full copy of the report is available for purchase from the Foundation. The Foundation, a conservative organization founded in 1993 to study the digital revolution and its implications for public policy, argues forcefully that "state governments are recognizing the implications of the shift to an information-based economy and culture, which is being ushered in by digital technologies." The challenge for leaders in the states, the report concludes, "is now to learn from one another, and hopefully from [the report's] findings, to implement technology in a way that makes government more efficient and that better serves citizens’ needs." In the areas of Digital Democracy; Higher Education; K-12
Education; Business Regulation; Taxation; Social Services;
Law and the Courts; and Other Initiatives, The Digital State identifies
two major themes: The Importance of InfrastructureThe Digital State was prepared in conjunction with Government Technology magazine. Cindy Crandall, a Research Associate at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, was the primary investigator and overall project leader. Brad Lips, also a PFF Research Associate, was the project researcher; interns on the project were Karmo Kroos and Richard Reinsch. Dennis McKenna, CEO and editor in chief of Government Technology, provided input and advice, and with additional contributions from Cathilea Robinette. The report incorporates data and other input from a number of state chief information officers as well. An Online Assessment Tutorial A 1996 TIIAP-supported project, the Boston Public Schools, has developed an online ("http://hgseclass.harvard.edu/t525/staff/kirsten/") Assessment Tutorial. The site is designed to provide TIIAP teams with clear information and guided practice concerning upcoming project assessment. Users can easily find answers to frequently asked questions; to keep abreast of important TIIAP dates; familiarize themselves with School-to-Work, Project Based Learning, and Boston Citywide Standard frameworks; and complete the tutorial focusing on the packaging and presenting of their work. It's a useful model and definitely worth a look. Statistics, Statistics, Statistics
If you're looking for statistics on unemployment, wildlife, bankruptcy, substance abuse, banking, or aging, try logging onto (www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Documents.center/frames/statsfr.html) Statistical Resources on the Web. This incredibly useful resource is maintained by the (www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Documents.center/index.html) University of Michigan Documents Center. Recent additions (July, 1998) include the Africa Business Network (basic economic and investment data for individual countries in Africa, guidance on investment procedures, etc.); the Better Business Bureau (news reports on current scams, tips on common consumer issues, and advice to businesses on such things as handling of unruly customers); and VoteNet (including books, think tanks, political strategists and pollsters, issues research, etc.). Once you've logged onto the site, you'll be able to browse census information, data on income and government finances, information on telecommunications, statistics on births and deaths, population trends, or valuable information on more than 200 other topics. Have fun! Get Ready for Zeum!
Zeum will be presenting programs in the visual, performing, and media arts, with kids working on projects as diverse as video/audio production, webcasting, and animation. Zeum's interactive website allows you to take a virtual walk through their 34,000 square foot facility to see the many ways kids and teens can explore the visual, performing, and media arts. Included in the tour is:
a look at the dramatic, spiraling lobby which serves as a gateway to Zeum, as well as a way to view collaborative works between local filmmakers and youth; The Arts: On-Site and On-Line How can site-based arts organizations - museums and performing arts presenters - best employ new technologies and the Internet to engage K-12 students in learning and experiencing the Arts? A new website at the University of California at Berkeley attempts to provide some answers. The product of a year-long collaboration among the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, Cal Performances, and K-12 teachers from several schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, the site contains project descriptions, links to case studies, and a list of suggested "promising practices" for using the Internet to foster improved education and collaboration between arts organizations and schools. The information and recommendations presented are intended for use by K-12 teachers looking for educational resources on the Internet; museums and arts organizations creating educational electronic resources; performing arts institutions, museums, and K-12 schools planning collaborative educational projects using technology and the Internet; and the larger community of individuals and organizations wishing to make effective use of electronic educational materials. The project was carried on under the umbrella of UC Berkeley's Interactive University Project. If you have questions regarding the project, contact Richard Rinehart at the University of California. Mr. Rinehart is Information Systems Manager and Education Technology Specialist at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive and President-Elect of the Museum Computer Network, a former TIIAP grantee. Austin's Community Policing Partnership The Austin Free-Net recently signed an agreement with the Austin Police Department to build out its network to six neighborhoods in East Austin, Texas. The goal is to use information infrastructure to enhance community policing efforts in the city. A major objective of the partnership is to add to Austin Free-Net's existing community development work by providing places (both physical and virtual) where citizens can interact with the Austin Police officers serving their neighborhoods. The Austin Free-Net will install and maintain its network in six East Austin neighborhood facilities, providing public access to computer technology and the Internet. The Free-Net will also train officers in the use of the Internet. Cybercafes as Community Networks The latest issue of NetAction Notes carries an article on Cybercafes which may be of some interest to folks working | ||
The
report profiles eleven TOP projects and shows how kids across
America are using the Internet and other information age
tools to connect with and enrich their communities.
The
awards were announced by Secretary of Commerce Norman Y. Mineta
while speaking at the Maya Angelou Public Charter School in
Washington, DC. The school is home to the See Forever Foundation,
a non-profit organization that received a $395,000 award TOP
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.
always
asked for more ways in which he could help. There were so many
things that he did, so I will just name a few here. Of course,
many of us know Jesse as our Listserve ‘Greeter' and
you could always count on him to send a warm welcome to new
members. Jesse was also the Volunteer Coordinator, keeping
meticulous track of volunteer information through spreadsheets
he developed, and numerous phone calls and emails. Jesse also
won an award from KORRnet for all of the work that he had done
for CHIPS, and Jesse was extremely proud of this honor, displaying
it among his other honors on his living room wall."
Greg
Rohde's nomination to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce
for Communications and Information was confirmed on November
5th. The Assistant Secretary is responsible for formulating
policies supporting the development and growth of telecommunications,
information and related industries; furthering the efficient
development and use of telecommunications and informational
services; providing policy and management for federal use of
the electromagnetic spectrum; and providing telecommunications
facilities grants to public users.
The
3rd Annual National Rural Telecommunications Conference is
scheduled for October 10-13, 1999, at the Aspen Institute,
Aspen, Colorado.
For a behind-the-scenes tour of