EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University will use a grant totaling nearly $1 million to help expand broadband access to underserved areas of Michigan.
MSU will receive $895,482 to expand almost 90 existing library computer centers and establish new centers to provide access for people in 15 underserved counties.
"This project is a tremendous opportunity to help our state significantly build its technology infrastructure, which is key to the future,” said Kurt DeMaagd, an assistant professor of telecommunication, information studies and media who is leading the project. “MSU students will gain valuable hands-on experience in helping to set up these crucial computing systems, while at the same time boosting these Michigan communities socially and economically."
The project will add approximately 500 new workstations at public computer centers throughout the state, and serve nearly 13,000 additional users per week.
Working with MSU on the project are the Michigan Department of Information Technology, Library of Michigan, other state and local government agencies, and regional broadband providers.
“MSU is proud to be leading this important outreach project,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “This will assist Michigan in extending the benefits of its technology infrastructure. More importantly it will serve as an economic engine by providing people in underserved areas personal connectivity, networking and myriad educational and economic opportunities.”
The sites were selected by targeting vulnerable population areas and then focusing on those libraries with the greatest need for additional computing capacity.
The expanded and new public computer centers will serve 15 counties that currently have limited broadband access and high unemployment rates: Chippewa, Clare, Gladwin, Gogebic, Grand Traverse, Huron, Leelanau, Marquette, Menominee, Oakland, Oscoda, Otsego, Sanilac, Tuscola and Van Buren.
This project builds on MSU’s prior experience in providing information and communications technologies in rural regions of Michigan and in developing countries such as Tanzania.
The grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.