Program History and Partners
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
State Broadband Data and Development Program
LinkWYOMING Team
Overview of LinkWYOMING Program
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
On February 17, 2009 Congress passed, and the President signed, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. A far reaching piece of legislation, the act provided funding for a host of economic recovery and technology programs.
Building upon the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA) of 2008, this act allocated substantial additional funding for broadband infrastructure development and effective new broadband adoption programs.
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State Broadband Data and Development Program
In addition to funding for broadband infrastructure, public computer centers and sustainable adoption programs, stimulus funds were made available for broadband mapping and planning. Below is a description of the State Broadband Initiative (SBI) program, formerly known as State Broadband Data and Development (SBDD):
- The SBI is a matching grant program that implements the joint purposes of the ARRA and the BDIA. The program provided grants to assist states or their designees in gathering and verifying state-specific data on the availability and location of broadband services. The data we collect and compile is also used to develop publicly available statewide broadband maps and to inform the comprehensive, interactive and searchable national broadband map that NTIA was required by the Recovery Act to create and was made publicly available February 17, 2011.
- The National Broadband Map publicly displays the geographic areas where broadband service is available. It is also searchable by address, showing the broadband providers offering service in the corresponding census block or street segment.
- Awardees were required to contribute at least 20 percent non-federal matching funds toward project costs. In addition, while the BDIA mandates that each state may designate only one eligible entity to receive funds under the program, each state's applicant was carefully evaluated and met the standards described in NTIA's Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for this program in order to receive funding.
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LinkWYOMING Team
In August 2009, EdLab Group, a non-profit organization formerly known as the Puget Sound Center for Teaching and Learning Technology (PSCTLT), submitted a grant application to the NTIA for State BDDP mapping work in the State of Wyoming. On November 9, 2009, NTIA announced its award in the amount of approximately $1.8 million. EdLab Group selected the LinkAMERICA Alliance to perform all mapping and planning functions related to the grant and work began immediately.
In summer 2010, NTIA announced they would accept updated grant applications from states to fund mapping and planning efforts for three additional years. An application was submitted for Wyoming's State Broadband Initiative (SBI), formerly known as the SBDD efforts on July 1, 2010, and the state was awarded an additional $2.36 million to fund LinkWYOMING's broadband data development and capacity building efforts for years 3-5.
Through a competitive process, EdLab Group has since added additional partners. All project partners work closely with the Department of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) and the Broadband Enterprise Architect on project deliverables.
- In Dec. 2011, EdLab Group conducted an RFP process to identify a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) partner. The University of Wyoming - Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center (WYSAC) was selected as the M&E vendor and will join the team in April 2012. WYSAC will assist the program team with design and implementation of an M&E framework--a research process to monitor the progress of regional and statewide broadband investment activities and evaluate the resulting outcomes and impacts.
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Overview of LinkWYOMING Program
Read a brief, two-page
overview of the LinkWYOMING Program (as of June 2011).
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