(The Center Square) – A new round of grant funding is headed to Massachusetts schools and towns.
The Community Compact Municipal Fiber grant program is directing $4 million in grant funding to 32 cities, towns, and school districts throughout Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey said Thursday. Rural communities will benefit from the funding to aid the construction and completion of municipal fiber networks.
“Massachusetts residents rely on local government to deliver core services daily, and information technology plays a significant role in making that happen,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “This grant program is one of the many ways we partner with cities and towns to better serve residents, and we are proud to be able to help them improve their municipal broadband infrastructure.”
According to a release, the funding will help projects realize central management of IT infrastructure, with an emphasis on an enterprise approach to network monitoring, cybersecurity, records management, and backup and recovery.
“The Municipal Fiber Grant Program is an important tool to help rural and small towns close the digital divide,” Executive Office of Economic Development’s Director of Rural Affairs Anne Gobi said in a statement. “We are excited these grants will help communities in our state connect and improve networks for municipal organizations that provide important services to residents, such as schools, libraries, emergency response units, and police stations.”
According to a release, the program uses competitive grants to close existing digital gaps in municipal networks. The awards focus on municipality-owned infrastructure and assisting with reaching goals with fiber networks, including cybersecurity protections, expanding remote work, and meeting residents’ expectations.
“The grants announced today will help municipalities build out their fiber network, which will empower these communities to leverage other technologies that make local government more efficient and cost effective,” Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew J. Gorzkowicz said. “We are pleased to be able to distribute funding that will help more than 30 cities, towns, and school districts with these important upgrades that may otherwise be unaffordable.”
According to a release, the town will utilize $300,000 in grants to connect municipal buildings, the school district, and radio towers in Freetown. Berkley will use $200,000 to connect city-owned facilities to high-speed fiber optic communication.
According to a release, Middletown will use $335,000 to allow Danvers, Essex, Hamilton, Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Middleton, Rockport, Topsfield, and Wenham to place redundancy into the North Shore fiber optic network. The project will allow for fiber optics to be utilized for data transmission.
“Closing the gaps that exist in municipal networks with the installation of fiber is a critical component to enhancing a network’s cybersecurity, backup, and recovery capabilities,” Technology Services and Security Secretary Jason Snyder said. “I applaud the grant awardees for taking advantage of this funding opportunity and providing leadership in municipal cybersecurity to support the residents they serve.”
