1994年电信和信息基础设施援助计划评估

Telecommunications and InformationTelecommunications and InformationInfrastructure Assistance ProgramInfrastructure Assistance Program1994 and 1995 Grant Years1994 and 1995 Grant Years Study Conducted byStudy Conducted byStudy Conducted byStudy Conducted byWestatWestatWestatWestat forforforforU.S. Department of CommerceU.S. Department of CommerceU.S. Department of CommerceU.S. Department of CommerceNational Telecommunications and Information AdministrationNational Telecommunications and Information AdministrationNational Telecommunications and Information AdministrationNational Telecommunications and Information Administration Evaluation of the Telecommunications andInformation Infrastructure Assistance Programfor the 1994 and 1995 Grant Years Report prepared undercontract #50SBNT7C1049 Prepared by: Joy FrechtlingJohn LockwoodGary SilversteinLaurie SomersPaul Tuss Westat1650 Research BoulevardRockville, Maryland 20850 Prepared for: U.S. Department of CommerceWilliam M. Daley, Secretary National Telecommunications and Information AdministrationLarry Irving, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information Washington, DC NOTE: Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the authors, anddo not necessarily represent the official views, opinions, or policy of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Acknowledgments The evaluation study of the U.S. Department ofCommerce’sTelecommunicationsandInformation Infrastructure Assistance Program(TIIAP) could not have taken place without ourmany colleagues who have labored tirelessly tohelp create a clearly presented, well-organized,andthoughtfully analyzed report.Weareindebted toDiane Ward and Philip Cardillo,whoassisted in managing the overall mailsurvey effort. We are also indebted to LawrenceWang and Cassandra Swartz, who assisted inprocessingand analyzing survey data.Ourtechnical editor was Carol Litman.Our desktoppublishing specialist was Sylvie Warren. We must also give enormous credit to the 1994 and1995TIIAP projects that hosted site visits,completed surveys, and otherwise helped educateus about the rewards and challenges of developingand implementing a TIIAP project. Finally,we wish to acknowledge the essentialsupport, advice, and critiques we received from theNationalTelecommunications and InformationAdministration (NTIA) staff, particularly FrancineJefferson, who served as Project Officer on theevaluation study; Stephen Downs, the Director oftheTIIAP program,and Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, the Associate Administrator of the NTIA. Wewould also like to thank the followingWestat staff who served as site visitors: NicoleBartfai, Carin Celebuski, Barbara Kapinus, JohnLockwood, Joan Michie, Debra Prescott, BeckyRak Skinner, Katherine Sharp, Gary Silverstein,Laurie Somers, Nancy Speicher, and Paul Tuss. Executive Summary This report presents the findings of an evaluationofthe U.S.Department of Commerce’s Tele-communicationsand Information InfrastructureAssistance Program (TIIAP). Administered by theNationalTelecommunications and InformationAdministration,TIIAP is designed to helpcommunitiesmake use of new and emergingtechnologies.The evaluation study was designedto assess the activities and achievements of the firstgrant recipients, those receiving funding in FY94and FY95. nonprofitorganizations—schools,libraries,hospitals, public safety entities, and state and localgovernments—tomakeuseofinnovativetechnologies.Amajor goal is to bring thesetechnologies and their benefits to persons in theinner-city and rural areas and to other groups thathavedifficultyaccessingtheinformationinfrastructure.The program has the followingobjectives: •Toincrease awareness in the public andnonprofit sectors of the National InformationInfrastructure (NII) and its benefits;•Tostimulatepublicandnonprofitorganizations to examine the potential benefitsof investments in the NII;•Toprovide a variety of model NII-relatedprojects for public and nonprofit organizationsto follow;•Toeducatethepublicandnonprofitorganizationsaboutbestpracticesinimplementing a variety of NII-related projects;and•To help reduce disparities in access to, and useof, the information infrastructure. The results presented here provide a comprehensivelook at the impacts of the TIIAP investment, interms of the nature and degree of the effects on theorganizationsimplementing the projects,otherorganizations that were involved with the projects,the individuals and communities that were servedby the projects, and the specific value added by theTIIAPfunds.Bytargetingareaswheretelecommunicationshas been problematic(e.g.,because ofgeographic or economic barriers), theactivities supported by TIIAP have both increasedaccess to a variety of technology-based servicesand enhanced collaborations within and across avariety of communities. TIIAP funds projects that intend to improve thequality of, and the public’s access to, education,health care, public safety, and other commun