Over
the past 3 years, over $1 million dollars in funding has been awarded through
154 grants in 74 communities across the state of South Dakota. The purpose of
the funding was to purchase equipment needed to increase usage and adoption of high-speed
Internet (broadband) services in order to improve economic opportunities and the
overall quality of life.
The
funding was made available through the South Dakota Broadband Initiative
(SDBI), a project managed by the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications
(BIT). This project provided opportunities for expert consultation, unbiased
technical advice, and the acquisition of much needed robust enterprise level equipment.
Grant
funds were used to purchase technical devices and equipment, such as networking
and wireless components, firewalls, and computers.
The
grant funding, was available for any Community Anchor Institution (CAI) such as
libraries, medical and healthcare facilities, K-12 schools, institutions of
higher education, public safety offices (fire, ambulance, police, etc.),
government offices (city, county, state, tribal, etc.), and other community
support locations (YMCA’s, United Way, Boys & Girls Clubs, etc.).
These
grant awards are quite diverse, and provide previously absent opportunities for
the awardees, their communities and ultimately its citizens. For example, city
and county offices are now offering secured public Wi-Fi at commission and
board meetings, schools and libraries have more computers, faster networks and
secured wireless access for students and patrons. Community centers have the
opportunity to offer more technology access to their members and visitors.
Some
South Dakota locations are difficult for providers to reach customers with high-speed
Internet. Now, if citizens live in these
very rural areas where their Internet capabilities are limited these grants
help provide a location where they can gather to utilize high-speed
Internet. These community anchor locations with publicly available, safe, and secure
high-speed Internet access make a huge impact in our communities.
SDBI
has created a document to showcase how each CAI utilized the grant funds. The
document summarizes the equipment purchased and how it will be used to improve their
community through increased usage and adoption of high-speed Internet services.
The document can be found on the SDBI website at http://broadband.sd.gov/Docs/Awarded_Grant_Usage_and_Summaries.pdf.
Break
down of the Community Anchor Institutions
|
#
|
Community
Anchor Institutions Improved
|
|
34
|
K-12 Schools
|
|
31
|
Libraries
|
|
16
|
Medical
& healthcare facilities
|
|
4
|
Public
Safety offices
|
|
4
|
Higher
education
|
|
42
|
Municipalities,
Government & Tribal Offices
|
|
23
|
Community
Support Locations
|
About the South Dakota Broadband
Initiative:
South Dakota’s participation in the State Broadband
Initiative is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce through
the National Telecommunications & Information Administration. The
purpose of the project is to identify high-speed Internet availability along
with facilitating the integration of broadband and information technology into
local economies. Broadband technologies can be a significant contributor and
competitive advantage to growing our rural economy in the 21st century. For more information, please visit http://broadband.sd.gov or
connect with us at facebook.com/Broadbandsd or @Broadbandsd.
About
the South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunications:
The South Dakota Bureau of Information and
Telecommunications (BIT) strives to provide a reliable, secure and agile
infrastructure, deliver valuable services through advanced technology solutions
and retain a highly skilled workforce to directly support clients and the
services they provide to the State of South Dakota. BIT provides a variety of
services, including: project management, technology integration, software and
hardware, hosting, email capabilities, voicemail and phone services, document
imaging, network storage, help desk support services, GIS, ongoing technology
maintenance and much more. For more information, please visit bit.sd.gov or connect with us
at blog.bit.sd.gov or
@bit_sd.