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In the September 27, 1996 Issue:

Department of Commerce Awards New Information Superhighway Grants


President Clinton recently announced the most recent winners of the Department of Commerce's Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) grants. TIIAP provides matching grants for non-profit organizations that "develop innovative applications of new information and communication technologies." Eligible non-profit organizations include: schools, libraries, community organizations, hospitals, and state and local governments.

In this round of funding, 67 institutions were awarded a total of $18.6 million in federal matching grants. According to President Clinton, "The winners of these grants are showing how the Information Superhighway can be used to help educate our children, fight crime, and expand access to worker training and health care in rural and urban America." Projects were selected on the basis of their ability to serve as models for future replication across the country.

In general, selected projects seek to use the Internet and other telecommunications services to address some of America's most significant social and economic challenges. Some specific examples include:

A complete state-by-state breakdown of the recently announced TIIAP awards follows:

State Total Federal Total
AK 2 $580,928 $1,423,409
AZ 2 299,458 656,328
AR 1 130,700 270,832
CA 6 2,103,175 8,345,982
CO 3 856,756 2,281,513
CT 2 400,422 812,643
D.C. 1 212,693 443,158
FL 1 47,738 97,738
GA 1 292,067 739,771
HI 2 299,647 714,779
IL 1 152,576 311,361
IN 1 140,000 335,180
KY 2 982,996 2,190,758
LA 2 94,045 240,162
ME 1 77,650 157,300
MD 1 104,499 217,853
MA 3 959,959 2,576,473
MI 1 650,000 1,300,000
MS 1 650,000 1,388,231
MT 2 397,509 887,206
NE 2 602,352 1,403,368
NV 1 250,000 507,690
NH 1 98,906 251,656
ND 1 400,000 2,033,375
OH 1 237,970 602,662
OK 1 549,910 1,691,397
OR 2 325,422 1,450,615
PA 1 147,441 301,573
SC 1 180,000 421,716
SD 1 375,000 850,171
TN 1 190,278 389,184
TX 3 768,705 1,659,308
UT 1 300,000 929,789
VT 1 91,445 258,424
VA 1 249,250 530,375
WA 1 235,434 474,499
WV 1 350,000 827,857
WI 1 37,505 78,945
WY 1 80,463 162,695

For more information or a complete listing of all awards, call NTIA at 202/482-5802, visit their web site at http://www.ntia.doc.gov, or contact SSTI at 614/421-7784.


NSF Names New Assistant Director for Engineering


Dr. Elbert L. Marsh has been named to head the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Engineering. Dr. Marsh will now assume responsibility for all engineering funding at the federal agency--in excess of $300 million in 1995.

Dr. Marsh has served as deputy assistant director for engineering since 1991. Before joining NSF, he worked as an engineer at the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He holds a B.S. for the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.


House Passes Space Commercialization Act


The House of Representative has passed the Space Commercialization Act (H.R. 3936). The bill, sponsored by Rep. Robert Walker (R-PA), is designed to make it easier for private companies to participate in space operations. The major provisions of the bill include: the NASA Administrator would be directed to prepare a market study that would examine the role commercial ventures may play in the International Space Station; NASA would be required, to the maximum extent possible, to acquire earth remote sensing data, services, distribution and applications, where cost effective, from the U.S. private sector; and, the government would be required to procure launch service from U.S. commercial providers, and to the maximum extent possible, plan missions to accommodate the space transportation capabilities of U.S. commercial providers.

The future of the bill is uncertain in the Senate. There is currently no Senate version of the bill, but it may be attached to the space authorization bill that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is currently drafting. A section-by-section analysis and other information regarding H.R. 3936 are available on the World Wide Web at http://www.house.gov/science/welcome.htm

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