Over the past two weeks, I have circled the state of MN conducting pre-application workshops for two new Blandin Foundation Grant Programs. It was quite a bit of fun because the workshop attendees were very interested in the programs and thought that the programs could help them launch some new and improved services.
The first program is the Open Network Feasibility Fund; this program will provide grants to communities to, as the name implies, study the feasibility of deploying an Open Network. A hallmark of the open network is that a network manager serves as a wholesaler to multiple retail telecommunications providers. There are many examples of this strategy in Europe; here in the USA, the best example is the UTOPIA project in Utah. A number of cities were extremely interested in this program as they have been considering their telecommunications options for some time and are ready to move forward in their analysis of how to improve their telecommunications services. The Foundation has committed $100,000 to this program. Individual communities can apply for up to $25,000 and multiple community applications can be up to $40,000.
Gary Fields is lead consultant on this program and is available to help communities through the application process. He can be reached at glfields@comcast.net.
The second program is the Light Speed Program. The purpose of Light Speed is to help stimulate the deployment of new broadband intensive applications that connect from a local institution to the home. Applications can be for up to $50,000. Many attendees were excited about the possibilities of this program, especially those in the health care and education industries. Technology is having a big impact on home health care and we had lots of interest from home health care providers, both for the elderly and those with disabilities. Better connections from health care providers to doctors’ home was also volunteered as an application that would provide great benefits to patients and for doctors’ quality of life. Educators were interested in using technology in new ways to reach new students or recover ones lost to home schooling. There was some exciting discussion about using mobile technology to reach students where they live – which is, wherever they are connected!
Bill Coleman is the lead consult on this program and is also available to help people through the application process. He can be reached at bill@communitytechnologyadvisors.com.
Both RFPs are available on the Blandin Foundation web site.
