Government Technology

I Am Who I Say I Am


Vice President Al Gore announced the availability of $9.9 million in grants to help working families to take advantage of the Information Age. The money will bring computers and the Internet to community centers, public housing and libraries. Gore also urged Congress to provide full funding for the administration?s request for $65 million for Community Technology Centers. The House and Senate only provided $10 million, a cut of $55 million.

The grants are aimed at narrowing the digital divide by opening Community Technology Centers that might provide: workforce development and employment information; pre-school and family programs available at times when parents can bring young children to use age-appropriate software; after-school activities that will provide structured opportunities for students to use software that offers help on homework; and adult education.

Forty grants will be awarded over the next three years. Twenty-six were given to urban zones and 14 to rural areas. The Education Department?s Office of Vocational and Adult Education received a total of 750 center applications from all 50 states for FY99. For more information, read the press release and the FY99 Grant Award Abstracts listed on the release.


Government Technology
Public CIO
Emergency Management
Digital Communities