Concern have been raised by CIOs of municipal governments that the application deadline of 14th August for the initial round of grants from the US stimulus package for broadband related projects will not give them enough time to plan.
Based on previous meetings with the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS), which are the two agencies that are administering the release of the $7.2 billion in funding, most local governments expected there to be at least 60 to 90 days allowed for the plans for applications to be drawn up.
This latest deadline now means that just over 30 days are being given to local government before the agencies release their notice of funds availability (NOFA).
Alan Shark, the executive director of the Public Technology Institute, which is a peer industry organisation that serves the IT departments in local governments, said recently “There is extreme concern that there is not enough time to do a good job because there are a lot of pieces that still haven’t been figured out.”
Getting the necessary signatures of endorsements from state officials or other major players before the deadline expires is one of the key issues facing many local governments, although according to industry analyst there may also be difficulty in getting signatures from engineers involved in the projects as well.
Mr Shark commented saying “Some of the elements people are most frustrated by have been well known. It’s just that people thought they could wait until the NOFA actually came out. Those who waited for the NOFA to come out are at a disadvantage. We have been telling our members for the last three months to start contacting people in their states.”
Source – www.govtech.com