Cybertelecom Federal Internet Law & Policy An Educational Project

Federal Funding: Department of Commerce

National Institution of Standards and Technology

• Advanced Technology Program
  • Eligible: US companies, universities, and other entities. Program: Competitive Matching Grants  Cycle:  Accepting applications Jan 10, 2001 - Sept 30, 2001.  Funding:  FY 2005: 142 million.   Average grant for fiscal year 2000 for a single company was $690,000, and for a joint venture it was $1,500,000. Contact Information:  Hotline 1-800-ATP-FUND (1-800-287-3863), Email atp@nist.gov, Fax: (301) 926-9524, Homepage: www.atp.nist.gov
  • "The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) bridges the gap between the research lab and the market place, stimulating prosperity through innovation. Through partnerships with the private sector, ATP’s early stage investment is accelerating the development of innovative technologies that promise significant commercial payoffs and widespread benefits for the nation. As part of the highly regarded National Institute of Standards and Technology, the ATP is changing the way industry approaches R&D, providing a mechanism for industry to extend its technological reach and push out the envelope of what can be attempted."
  • "The ATP views R&D projects from a broader perspective – its bottom line is how the project can benefit the nation. In sharing the relatively high development risks of technologies that potentially make feasible a broad range of new commercial opportunities, the ATP fosters projects with a high payoff for the nation as a whole – in addition to a direct return to the innovators. "
  • Examples of research supported by ATP includes DNA diagnostics, photonics manufacturing, and component-based software.  ATP has a whole area dedicated to supported information technology R&D.  ATP supports research, not product development.  Factors for consideration in approving programs include " innovation, the technical risk, potential economic benefits to the nation and the strength of the commercialization plan of the project. "
  • ATP Proposal Preparation Kit. Funding Announcement in Fed. Reg.
  • Commerce Secretary Don Evans Releases Recommendations to Improve the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), DOC 2/4/02
• Critical Infrastructure Protection Grants Program
  • Program: Competitive Grants. Eligible: Institutions of higher learning, nonprofits, commercial organizations, foreign organizations and governments, international organizations, and state, local, and Indian tribal governments. Cycle:  Annual.  Proposals due June 15, 2001. Funding:  approximately $4,500,000. Typical awards are expected to range from approximately $100,000 to $1,000,000 over a two year period, although proposals up to $1,500,000 will be considered, and proposals for small grants (any grant or cooperative agreement not exceeding the small purchase threshold, currently at $100,000) are encouraged. Grant Period: Up to four years, although shorter time periods are strongly encouraged. Contact Information:  Donald G. Marks; National Institute of Standards and Technology; 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8930; NIST North, Room 682; Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930; Tel. (301) 975-5342; E-Mail:  CIP@nist.gov.
  • "The primary objective of the CIPGP is to fund research to provide commercial solutions to those IT security problems central to critical infrastructure protection that are not being adequately addressed . . . Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches and techniques that lead to or enable significant advances in the state-of-the-art of IT security applicable to commercial critical infrastructures. Integrated solution sets embodying significant technological advances are strongly encouraged over narrowly defined research endeavors. We encourage proposals involving cooperation among academic and commercial groups. In order to provide satisfactory infrastructure security, additional research must be conducted on the unique infrastructure security problems. The United States Government has sponsored considerable research in the area of computer security for military and intelligence systems. Some of this research applies to the critical infrastructure problem, but much remains to be done. The new grants program, administered by NIST, will target infrastructure IT security issues applicable to civilian and commercial systems."  Critical infrastructures include communications networks and Internet based systems that are critical to the economy and the government.  Identified areas of concern include "telecommunications, energy, banking and finance, transportation, water systems and emergency services."  Fed Reg Notice
  • NIST Launches New Information Technology Security Effort Oct. 2, 2001
  • Law
  • Law: Pub. L. 107-305, Cyber Security Research and Development Act, November 27, 2002 ("Enacted to enhance cyber security research efforts. Authorizes the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to award grants and establish programs aimed at enhancing computer security and related research partnerships.")

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

• BTOP Stimulus Funding

Public Telecommunications Facilities Program:

• Eligible:  public broadcast stations, non-profits organized for educational or cultural purposes, State or local government, Indian Tribe  Cycle:  Annual.  Application deadline Feb 15, 2001.  Award Announcements September 2000.  Notice of Grant Cycle December 2000.  Program: Matching Grants Funding:  FY2005 $21.8 Million. FY2001 $30 million available ($168 million requested in applications). Contact Information:    ptfp@ntia.doc.gov, 202.482.5802, 202.482.2156 fax, Address:  William Cooperman, Director, Public Telecommunications Facilities Program, Office of Telecommunications and Information Applications, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room 4625, Washington, DC 20230
• Federal Register Notice : NTIA has extended the solicitation period for applications for the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) replacement digital television translator projects. NTIA will accept applications for these projects until Monday, May 18, 2009.(Acrobat PDF, 58 Kb)
• Fed. Funding Opportunitity Notice: Public Telecom Facilities Program, NTIA 2/1/2005
• "PTFP supports the planning and construction of
            a) public (noncommercial) radio and television stations;
            b) distance learning telecommunications facilities using nonbroadcast technologies, such as microwave, fiber optic
            cable, satellite distribution, and Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS);
            c) public telecommunications services and facilities available to, operated by and controlled by minorities and women; and,
            d) projects which strengthen the capability of existing public TV and radio stations to service the public.
• "For more than 35 years, PTFP has played a major role in the development of public broadcasting throughout the United States. With the program's assistance, a public television signal now reaches about 95% of our nation's population and public radio reaches approximately 90% of the population. The program also funds radio reading services and descriptive video services for the disabled, and numerous distance learning facilities that provide instructional programming for students and professionals."
• According to Higher Education Information Technology Alliance March 11, 2002 Funding
• FY02    $45m
• FY03    $43.5
• 15 CFR Part 2301 PTFP Rules and Policies
• The Public Telecommunications Facilitiems Program (PTFP) issued its Notice announcing the FY 2002 grant competition. The application deadline is set for February 5, 2002,
• NTIA Public Telecom Facilities Program Fed Reg 1/29/02, NTIA 2/1/02

Technology Opportunities Program

• Program Eliminated for FY2005.
• Formerly, Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program
• Eligible:  State, local, and tribal governments and non-profit entities  Program:  Competitive Matching Grants.  Cycle:  Annual.  Applications were due March 22, 2001.  TOP Workshop Feb 2001.  Network for People 2000 Conference October 2000.  NTIA Announces TOP Awards Sept 2000. Funding:  $42.5 Million total; individual awards up to $900,000 (665 grant applications, requesting $366 million in federal funds were received).  Fed Reg Notice of Available Funds.  Contact Information:  Stephen J. Downs, Director of the Technology Opportunities Program. Telephone: 202/482-2048; fax: 202/501-5136; email: TOP@ntia.doc.gov.
• According to Higher Education Information Technology Alliance March 11, 2002 Funding
• FY00    $15.5 m
• FY01    $42.5 m
• FY02    $12.4 m
• FY03    $224,000 to close out program.
• "The Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) promotes the widespread availability and use of advanced telecommunications technologies in the public and non-profit sectors. As part of the Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), TOP gives grants for model projects demonstrating innovative uses of network technology. TOP evaluates and actively shares the lessons learned from these projects to ensure the benefits are broadly distributed across the country, especially in rural and underserved communities.
• "Since 1994, TOP has made matching grants to state, local and tribal governments, health care providers, schools, libraries, police departments, and community-based non-profit organizations. TOP projects demonstrate how networks support lifelong learning for all Americans, help public safety officials protect the public, assist in the delivery of health care and public health services, and foster communication, resource-sharing, and economic development within rural and urban communities. To date, TOP has awarded 456 grants, in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, totaling $149.7 million and leveraging $221 million in local matching funds. TOP projects are nationally significant demonstrations of how telecommunications and information technologies can be used to extend and improve the delivery of valuable services and opportunities to all Americans, especially the underserved. By serving as models that can be replicated in similar communities across the country, TOP projects extend their benefits far beyond the communities in which they take place, and provide economic and social benefits to the nation as a whole."
• Funded projects include the Austin Free-Net (public access to Internet and emerging technologies in Austin, Texas), San Francisco Early Childhood Information System Project (seeks to "integrate the effective use of information technology in ways that help San Francisco's poorest and youngest children"), and Beth Israel Medical Center (Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program).
• Anthony Wilhelm, A Decade of Technology Innovations Grant-Making: What Have We Learned Given at Rural Telecom Congress Oct 2004
• NTIA TOP Grants Awarded, NTIA` 10/6/03
• Dept of Commerce announces FY2002 Technology Opportunity Program Notice of Solicitation of Grant Applications - applications are due March 21, 2002, DOC 12/17/01
• NTIA TOP Notice of Available Funds Fed Reg 1/29/02, NTIA 2/1/02
• Hitch Your Wagon to a Star: Reflections on TOP, ComTechRev 2/1/2005
• Senate Appropriates Attempt to Restore CTC and TOP funding, Wash Post 7/19/02
• White House spurns tech programs left over from Clinton presidency (TOP), MSNBC 2/28/02
• White House Slashes Technology Grant Program, Reuters 2/4/02
• Digital Divide' Plan in Peril (TOP & CTC), Wash Tech 2/4/02

Economic Development Administration [Link no longer works]

• "Created by Congress pursuant to the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended by the Economic Development Administration Reform Act of 1998, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) provides grants for infrastructure development, local capacity building, and business development to help communities alleviate conditions of substantial and persistent unemployment and underemployment in economically distressed areas and regions. Public Law 105-393, signed on November 13, 1998, authorizes EDA for five years.(Since 1965, EDA has invested more than $16 billion in grants across all programs, including local public works and special initiatives such as responding to natural disasters and defense conversion, and has generated more than $36 billion in private investment. EDA's public works investments generate $10.08 million in private sector investment and $10.13 million in local tax base for every $1.0 million of EDA funds."