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On July 28, 1998 the Department of Commerce released “Falling through the Net II: New Data on the Digital Divide” which showed that although more Americans now own computers, certain groups are still far less likely to have computers or on-line access. The gap between the information “haves and have-nots” has been called the digital divide. Most alarmingly, the report revealed that the digital divide is growing. Other reports have commented on the implications of communities and individuals cut off from the benefits of the information age — such as the Benton Foundation's study, “Low-Income Losing Ground Bit by Bit: Low-Income Communities in the Information Age”. CTCNet maintains a list of additional studies and resources.
In 1999, Congress appropriated $10 million for a Community Technology Centers program to expand access to information technology and related services for residents of economically distressed urban and rural communities. President Clinton, in his FY2000 budget request, called for a significant expansion of the program (to $65 million).
The U.S. Department of Education in April 1999 solicited applications for the new $10 million community technology centers grant program. This program represents the first federal initiative specifically designed to fund projects to create and expand such centers. The FY2000 funding will allow for the continuation of the FY99 round of projects and support a significant number of new projects, up to 300 new grants (resulting in 500 new centers). The expected range of awards would be $75,000 to $300,000 for both competitions, and would support the expansion of existing centers (using the funding to create satellite centers) or the initial startup costs for communities that have no such centers.
The Department envisions funding CTCs that are diverse in the populations they serve and programs they offer, but similar in that they provide technology access to individuals, communities, and populations that typically wouldn't otherwise have places to use computer and telecommunications technologies.
For a detailed description of CTC benefits you might be interested in reading the NSF funded study, “Impact of CTCNet Affiliates: Findings from a National Survey of Users of Community Technology Centers” or “Community Technology Centers: Impact on Individual Participants and Their Communities”.
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