BlogJunction Pennsylvania » Broadband Stimulus

Candidates Sought for Google Policy Fellowship

Library Development — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:20:57 +0000

The ALA Washington Office is participating in the Google Policy Fellowship program for the summer of 2011. Google Policy Fellows work in diverse areas of information policy that include broadband, net neutrality, free expression, open access to information, domestic and international copyright policy, online privacy, and open government. Read the District Dispatch post here. The deadline for applications is January 17, 2011. Selected students will spend ten weeks this summer working at a diverse range of organizations.

FUNDING RESOURCES 2010.10.18

Library Development — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:05:26 +0000

Edna McDonnel Clark Foundation
As one of the inaugural intermediary grantmakers for the Social Innovation Fund (SIF), EMCF will grant $10 million in SIF funds and $10 million in matching funds from their endowment to 8-10 high-performing, youth-serving nonprofits in 2011. These grants, which will generally be multi-year and for a minimum of $2 million annually, will provide upfront growth capital to help recipients build their evidence base and their organizational capacity to prepare for greater public and private investment that can propel them to scale and sustainability.”
DEADLINE: Oct 25 letter of intent (webinar on Oct 19th)
MORE INFO

Invitation to Discuss the National Broadband Plan

Library Development — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:45:25 +0000

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is inviting the public to discuss the digital adoption and inclusion recommendations of the National Broadband Plan at the 20th meeting of the National Museum and Services Library Board on June 18 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
A representative of the Federal Communications Commission will discuss the recommendations.
IMLS will also present findings of Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries, the first, large-scale study of who uses public computers and Internet access in public libraries. The study was conducted by the University of Washington and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The meeting will take place at the IMLS offices, located at 1800 M Street, NW, 9th Floor, Board Room, Washington, DC 20036.
Board members will lead discussion on a range of other issues including:
* IMLS’s partnership with the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration to encourage collaboration between public libraries and the workforce investment system to help job seekers.
* IMLS’s 21st Century Skills initiative. As part of its mission to help libraries and museums meet the educational, economic, civic, and cultural needs of communities, IMLS released Museums, Libraries and 21st Century Skills, a publication that is accompanied by an online assessment tool and a matrix. The ongoing project supports libraries and museums as they develop programs for technology literacy, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, environmental literacy, and global awareness.

MORE INFO

Stimulus

Library Development — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:39:00 +0000

March 11 2010

Investing in Innovation Grants
AMOUNT: $335,000 avg per year
DEADLINE: April 20 2010
MORE INFO

BIP Application Guide

New rules for the Dept of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service BIP stimulus application.
Guide:
Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) Round 2 Application Guide

Monitor www.broadbandusa.gov for latest Stimulus info

Stimulus Application Extensions

Library Development — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:26:44 +0000

March 3, 2010

Some Stimulus application deadlines have been extended:

Extended:
NTIA BTOP Comprehensive Community Infrastructure projects: March 26^thRUS BIP infrastructure projects: March 29^th
Not Extended:
NTIA Public Computer Centers: March 15th
NTIA Sustainable Broadband Adoption: March 15th

BIP: Broadband Initiatives Program
BTOP: Broadband Technology Opportunities Program
NTIA: National Telecommunications Information Administration (Department of Commerce)
RUS: Rural Utilities Service (US Department of Agriculture)

More Info

Two Stimulus Grants Awarded in PA

Library Development — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:25:50 +0000

February 19, 2010

Two Broadband stimulus grants were announced for PA yesterday:
$28.8 million awarded to the Commonwealth/Office of Administration to help fund a middle mile project to expand broadband infrastructure in northern PA and
$99.6 million to the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research (KINBER), a coalition of Pa colleges, universities, health care organizations and economic development entities (PennREN).
Round One awards are still being made.
Here’s the Press release

Broadband Stimulus Recorded Workshops Available

Library Development — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:26:18 +0000

February 15, 2010

Videos and slide presentations from the Broadband Stimulus workshops for Round 2 are now available:

Funding Resources 2010-02-04

Library Development — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:39:43 +0000

STIMULUS

WEBINAR “BTOP & BIP: How to Connect”
DATE: Friday, February 5^th 1:30-2:30pm EST
REGISTER

Recordings of the NTIA and RUS webcasts/workshops were to have been available for reference 3-5 days after streaming but have not appeared so far. Monitor the site.

Important documents related to filing a Broadband Stimulus application with the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) or the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) are available here.

The application window opens on February 16 and closes on March 25^th.

NTIA Secretary Strickland has encouraged all those who did not receive an award in the first round, to re-apply.

Feedback on last round’s applications will not be made available. Beside difficulty due to the volume involved, significant changes have been made from the first round that comments from that round would not be helpful for the second. Because of changes also in the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA), it is suggested that the new NOFA be read before applying.

Applicants are also advised to look for partners here

A blogger offers tips from the workshop.

On January 15, 2010 RUS and NTIA announced the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the last round of broadband stimulus funding.

The non-profit New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative has published analyses for the RUS and NTIA NOFAs as well as applications guides to help interested parties apply for broadband stimulus funding:
Read BIP Changes and other Details
Read BTOP Changes and other Details

Settles, Greg. “Ready, Set for Broadband Race Round 2” Daily Yonder.Com, January 26, 2010 link (February 4, 2010).

Also, the American Library Association continues its site “Know Your Stimulus,” with the important links and a section entitled “Lessons Learned.”

RUS AWARDS from Round One:
The USDA Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced awards of $313.5 million for broadband programs. Pennsylvania was not included.

The Department of Agriculture’s–Rural Utilities Service (RUS)–has issued a list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP).

Funding Resources 2010-01-21

Library Development — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:10:14 +0000

MISCELLANEOUS

Twitter

Did you know that Bill Gates is now on Twitter? People can see his messages . He will be tweeting about his funding programs. Instead of going to the site above, you may join Twitter and get his messages as they happen!

Consider joining Twitter and you can follow tweets from people talking about a range of subjects you may find interesting! Did you know you can also search for topics on twitter? You can follow topics by using the hash tag # followed by the topic name. For example, if you want to follow tweets about the Broadband Stimulus program, enter #BTOP in the Twitter search field!

It is amazing how fast info flows on Twitter! Be the first to know!

Funding Resources 2010-01-21

Library Development — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:10:14 +0000

STIMULUS

Broadband Round One

More awards have been announced from Round One; the notice did not include any for Pennsylvania. Round One awards are being announced on a rolling basis.

Broadband Round Two

The second funding round for the Broadband Stimulus program has been announced for the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunciations Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) broadband programs.
Main Broadband page
Fact Sheet
Workshops to be held

Find a Partner

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) have launched BroadbandMatch, an online tool which will help potential applicants find partners in order to share expertise and create stronger proposals.