Evaluation of the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program. Case Study Report. Tri-State Network Demonstration Project, 94068. Starkville, Mississippi

摘要

The Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) grant was designed to significantly expand an interactive framework and technological infrastructure developed by the Tri-State Education Initiative (TSEI), an educational initiative established by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to support the simultaneous advancement of the educational, economic, and social/cultural goals of the people of the region. The network served a total of 30 school districts (5,600 teachers, 102,000 students) in the 9,800 square mile tri-state area. Conceived as an economic and community development project, the primary objective of the $600,000 TIIAP demonstration project was to implement a community-based advanced telecommunications infrastructure that would support economic development efforts focusing upon Tishomingo County and impacting the surrounding region. This objective was addressed through the provision of the following services: development of an expanded telecommunications infrastructure including infrastructure improvements in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee and expanded infrastructure improvements in Tishomingo County, Mississippi. The physical network included an advanced telecommunications system that provided two-way interactive video communications, two-way interactive data communications, Internet connectivity, voice-based information services, and a gateway to all existing Mississippi networks. The expanded infrastructure was used to develop and implement an integrated community incubator program through the Tri-State Resource Center (TSRC) located at NASA's Yellow Creek site in northeast Mississippi. The small business incubator provided Internet, fax/phone, conference, and other business support services$ and development of WEB, an interactive, wide-area network to facilitate communications among four economic development areas: leadership, applied lifelong learning and training, physical resources, and socioeconomic opportunity.