What's New

TOP Eliminated from FY2005 Budget

A message from Anthony G. Wilhelm, Ph.D., Director of the Technology Opportunities Program: As you may be aware, the Technology Opportunities Program did not receive an appropriation for Fiscal Year 2005. Hence, there will be no FY 2005 grant round. The shutdown of TOP does not affect existing projects from a financial point of view, because funds for awarded grants were previously appropriated in full. In terms of current grantees' reporting requirements, we will continue with the status quo until further notice. This means that TOP grantees must adhere to all conditions, deadlines, and financial and programmatic reporting requirements, as described in their award letters and the Grantee Handbook. We will give grantees ample advanced notice of any future changes in the frequency and kinds of reports we will expect as we downshift the program. Grantees who have questions or concerns on how to remain in compliance with the terms of their grant awards should not hesitate to get in touch with their program officer. For archival purposes, you can download our searchable database, which includes summaries of all funded projects, as well as many eight page narratives and final evaluation reports.

TOP's Awards for FY2004

2004 Grant Winners Demonstrate How Advanced Telecommunications Technologies Can Expand Economic Opportunity, Broaden Health Care Delivery, and Enhance Public Services

On October 4, 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced $14.4 million in TOP grants to 27 organizations in 22 states and the District of Columbia. The highly competitive grant program received 494 applications for the fiscal year 2004 grant round, requesting $277.1 million.

This year's grantees represent a variety of nonprofit organizations and public institutions, including hospitals, K-12 schools, libraries, universities, public safety agencies, community technology providers, and city and county governments. The innovative projects demonstrate an array of cutting-edge broadband technologies and advanced computing applications to expand economic opportunity, broaden health care delivery, and enhance public services. Through robust partnerships with the private sector and state and local organizations, grantees have leveraged federal funds with commitments in non-federal matching funds totaling $16.9 million.

Services provided by this year's grant winners using state-of-the-art telecommunications and information technologies include: economic development (web-authoring jobs for people with disabilities; certification for aspiring telehealth technicians; tech-enabled enterprise development for agricultural workers), telehealth (telemedicine for burn victims and children with mental retardation; simulation surgery), public safety (fire protection via wireless sensor networks; experimentation with new spectrum allocations; situational awareness to combat terrorism), and public service delivery (wireless tools to help case workers provide public services to the homeless).

• For information on each of the 27 grantees, including executive summaries of their projects and links to their websites, click here.
  

• For a map showing the geographic distribution of grantees and the additional states in which they are working, click here.
  

• For an inside look at how grantees are boosting economic opportunity through innovative uses of technology, click here.
  

• For information on the types of cutting-edge technologies with which grantees are experimenting to address social needs, including Broadband over Power Lines, Internet2, Voice over Internet Protocol, and emerging licensed and unlicensed wireless broadband standards, click here.
  

Wilhelm Speaks at the FCC and Rural Telecom

TOP Program Director Anthony Wilhelm recently spoke at the 8th Annual Rural Telecommunications Congress in Spokane, Washington, and at the Federal Communications Commission's symposium, "Exploring the Educational Power of Broadband." You can read his remarks in the Publications and Resources section of this website.

TOP Announces New Director

TOP is pleased to announce the appointment of Anthony Wilhelm, Ph.D., as Director. In his capacity as Director, Dr. Wilhelm will ensure that TOP-funded projects bring the benefits of digital network technologies to communities throughout the United States. TOP is a competitive, merit-based grant program that supports demonstrations of how new telecommunications and information technologies can provide educational, health care, or public information in the public and non-profit sectors.

Wilhelm joins NTIA after serving as vice president for programs at the Benton Foundation, an organization dedicated to harnessing the potential of advanced telecommunications and information technology to strengthen communities. Prior to his tenure at Benton, Wilhelm spearheaded research on Hispanic use of telecommunications and technology as director of information technology research at the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, a think tank based in Los Angeles.

Recently, he was named a finalist for the World Technology Award for Media & Journalism, an award given by the London-based World Technology Network. He is also on the advisory board of Intel's Computer Clubhouse Project. He has published numerous books, articles, essays and op-eds in the mainstream and academic press, including his latest book, forthcoming from MIT Press, entitled Digital Nation.

He received his Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate University's School for Politics and Economics and his B.A. and M.A. in Government from the University of Virginia.

Sign Up for TOP's Email List

TOP maintains an email list, Get Updates, to provide interested parties with updates and other information about the program. This helps us streamline our communications with our friends in the field, and reach out more effectively and quickly. A link to Get Updates appears in the footer of every page on this website.

Take a moment and join TOP's email list.

Got a Question? TOP's Got Answers!

TOP's new Frequently Asked Questions page is now online. Check it out by clicking on FAQ in the footer of any page on TOP's website. If you have an additional question that is not covered by the FAQ page, please call or email TOP.

See also NTIA Press Releases for additional information and updates on NTIA and TOP activities.