IT Infrastructure
With strong support from local nonprofit organizations and the City of Troy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently received a Community Outreach Partnership (COPC) grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
HUD established the COPC program grant as an incentive for institutions of higher education to establish sustainable community partnerships and work actively on quality of life issues. The grant directly supports four overlapping projects, each designed to foster increased university engagement with the communit(ies) in which it is situated.
The group draws inspiration from three models: 1. the science shop movement in the Netherlands, 2. the community media and technology center movement, and 3. the community design center movement. All of these sprang from social movements for participatory democracy that have taken place over the past 30 years. All are structures designed to facilitate the production and exchange of knowledge, technique, and skills beyond those of designated "experts" through participatory and educative processes.Recognizing that access to information technology can serve to boost regional economic and cultural vitality, the team will unite in their four overlapping research projects to support organizing efforts within the community to build the "Troy Community Teleport," a community media and information technology center.