================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 2 ISSN 1069-7799 January 6, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (103 lines) NTIA ANNOUNCES 1998 APPLICATION PROCESS FOR INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS _________________________________________________________________ NTIA ANNOUNCES 1998 APPLICATION PROCESS FOR INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS On January 5 the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the 1998 Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) grant competition in the Federal Register [see the Federal Register: January 5, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 2), page 357-365]. The TIIAP program has approximately $17 million in grant funds available this year. TIIAP was created in 1994 to promote the development, widespread availability, and use of advanced telecommunications and information technologies to serve the public interest. To date, NTIA has awarded $100 million in TIIAP funding to 332 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. TIIAP provides marching grants to state, local, and tribal governments; non-profit health care providers and public health institutions; educational institutions; museums; libraries; public safety providers; non-profit community-based organizations; and other non-profit entities. A typical TIIAP project will provide innovations in education, help create more responsive public institutions, enhance economic development in rural and disadvantaged areas, or increase access to health care. More than a dozen libraries were among the 55 recipients of the 1997 Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) awards totaling $20.9 million in federal matching grants to nonprofit entities in 38 states and the District of Columbia for fiscal year 1997 (see ALAWONs October 1, 1997 - v6, n86) and October 17, 1997 - v6, n88). TIIAP provides seed funding for innovative projects that demonstrate the benefits of telecommunications and information technology and helps extend their reach to underserved communities. Priorities in the 1998 grant round include funding projects which will serve as nationally significant demonstrations of how telecommunications and information technologies can be used to extend valuable services and opportunities to all Americans, especially the underserved. Two hallmarks of a successful TIIAP proposal are innovation and serving as a model. Because TIIAP is a program with a national focus, it expects each funded project to offer potentially new and useful insights into the use of network technologies. On January 15, NTIA will hold a short public briefing to introduce the 1998 TIIAP competition. The briefing will be held at the Department of Commerce, Room 4830, at 10 a.m. NTIA will also hold a series of regional "Outreach Workshops and Partnering Events" to discuss the TIIAP program, introduce the 1998 TIIAP grant round, and discuss program funding priorities and application requirements. The workshops are a key opportunity for interested parties to understand the TIIAP goals and application process and meet representatives of other organizations interested in the TIIAP program. The Outreach Workshops will be held on January 26, in Seattle, Washington; January 30, in Minneapolis, Minnesota; February 4, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; February 6, in Atlanta, Georgia; and February 9, in Dallas, Texas. The deadline for submitting applications is no later than 9:00 p.m., EST, March 12, 1998. For more information about successful TIIAP projects as well as the program itself, visit the NTIA TIIAP web site: www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/tiiap/index.html. Copies of the 1998 TIIAP Application Kit (containing the Notice of Availability of Funds and Guidelines for Preparing Applications) can be requested either online, by email to tiiap@ntia.doc.gov, telephone 202-482-2048, or by fax 202-501-5136. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================