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UTSA Receives $750,000 Grant to Help Bridge Digital Divide The University of Texas at San Antonio has received nearly $750,000 to coordinate a collaborative effort to provide increased Internet access and user-training for all residents living in the 12-county Alamo Area region. Made possible by a $500,000 Texas Telecommunications and Infrastructure Fund grant and an additional $240,000 in local matching funds, the collaborators will work with the recently formed Alamo Area Community Information System (AACIS) to increase the use of computer technology, particularly the Internet, among minority groups, the elderly and the poor. Initial efforts will focus on San Antonio and Bexar County. In addition to developing an interactive, Web-based home for a community information network that includes access to local health, human service and educational resources in local communities in the 12-county area, plans call for increasing public awareness about the locations of existing computers available to them, such as those found in libraries. Training will be provided for new users with an emphasis on reaching senior citizens and those living in rural or economically depressed areas or communities with historically low literacy rates. "As we become a society that is more and more based on electronically shared information, access to computer technology will be essential to avoid the so-called 'digital divide' between different sectors of the population," said UTSA Sociology Professor Richard Harris. Harris is directing the project, which involves more than 20 key public and private entities. AACIS was established in March of this year to consolidate and implement plans developed by two groups, the San Antonio Community Information System (SACIS) and the San Antonio Technology Network (SATNET). According to Harris, both envisioned providing residents of Bexar and surrounding counties with ready access to information related to healthcare, education, city, public and social services. After several planning and policy meetings, the two groups agreed that their missions were too similar to remain on separate tracks and merged their efforts, Harris added. Efforts to build the initial prototype of a community information system were launched a year ago. A database with community information has been designed, built, managed and hosted by the Alamo Area Council of Governments. Plans to fully implement the community network component of this project are under way and will continue for at least two years. Harris and his collaborators are looking for local funding to sustain the community information system and network. To view the prototype, visit their Web site. Send
your comments and items to: UTSAToday@utsa.edu.
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