Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito announced that the state of Massachusetts awarded $3.5 million in funding through its Community Compact Cabinet Information Technology grant program to 70 different municipalities.
The awards bring the total impact of the program from Governor Charlie Baker and Polito’s administration to $19.2 million distributed over 749 grants aimed at helping communities more efficiently and innovatively upgrade their tech infrastructure.
“Technology systems support so many of the critical services that Massachusetts cities, towns, and school districts provide to residents,” Baker said in the release. “We are proud that our administration, through the work of the Community Compact Cabinet, is continuing its partnership with local communities to enable another round of innovative IT improvement projects.”
Among the municipalities awarded include Pittsfield, Mass., which is receiving its third award through the program in the past five years. The municipality was awarded $99,750 in this round of funding to build out a downtown public Wi-Fi. The municipality has previously been awarded grants for infrastructure changes to allow for telephone system consolidation in 2017 and for implementing wireless infrastructure for internal and public use in 2019.
Other municipalities awarded in this round of funding include:
- $114,503 for East Longmeadow to bolster their cybersecurity infrastructure and improve disaster recovery capabilities
- $100,000 for Plymouth to implement an online permitting system
- $73,478 for Athol to implement network security across all town buildings
- $60,000 for Hopkinton to implement a records management system
- $48,615 for Revere for network systems integration
- $25,000 for Leicester for cloud-based software for EMTs and paramedics
“Since the beginning of the grant program, our collaboration with cities and towns across the Commonwealth has led to hundreds of transformative technology investments, from public safety systems upgrades to establishing online permitting,” Polito said. “As the Chair of the Community Compact Cabinet, I am pleased to announce and congratulate the 70 municipalities receiving awards in this year’s round of grants.”
The Community Compact Cabinet also announced that the application period for its Municipal Fiber Grant program will be open from March 15 to April 15. That competitive grant program will allow municipalities to apply for funding to close “critical gaps” in existing municipal networks.
