Grants of up to $10,000 are now available to local governments and school districts in the state that are making technology-based innovations that improve citizens’ lives. The Government Innovation Grant Awards program is designed to spur and reward technology-based innovation by offering incentives to North Carolina local governments engaged in innovative, replicable endeavors.
Grants of up to $10,000 are now available to local governments and school districts in the state that are making technology-based innovations that improve citizens’ lives. The Government Innovation Grant Awards program is designed to spur and reward technology-based innovation by offering incentives to North Carolina local governments engaged in innovative, replicable endeavors.
The grants program is a joint project of the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Local Government Federal Credit Union and the North Carolina Local Government Information Systems Association.
“North Carolina’s local government information technology leaders are the most innovative in the country,” said Mike Smith, dean of the School of Government. “This awards program will recognize their daily efforts at improving the lives of North Carolinians and will make their important contributions more visible.”
Local governments and K-12 school districts may submit applications for quarterly awards. Deadlines for 2011 applications are July 15 and Oct. 15, with winners to be announced Aug. 1 and Nov. 1, respectively. The application is available at www.cpt.unc.edu/giga.html.
All quarterly applications will be automatically eligible for annual awards of $10,000 (one award) or $2,500 (two awards). Annual awards will be announced at a banquet in early 2012.
An annual e-publication, “State of the State of Technology,” will include information about all submissions—a broad overview of innovation in North Carolina—and will include promising technology practices for local governments to model and implement.
Website: www.sog.unc.edu
School of Government program contact: Shannon Tufts, (919) 962-5438, tufts@sog.unc.edu
School of Government media contact: Ellen Bradley, (919) 843-6527, bradley@sog.unc.edu