The DPLA is pleased to announce its participation in US Ignite, a public-private partnership comprised of communities, universities, federal agencies, local and state governments, corporations and non-profits that aims to “promote US leadership in developing applications and services for ultra-fast broadband and software-defined network.” By creating a single, national gigabit broadband network, the Partnership will be able to provide participating communities and campuses with ultra-fast broadband services. In this endeavor US Ignite has brought together a network of stakeholders: developers and engineers to create such technologies and the communities, schools, and institutions that are intended to benefit from them.
Beyond the single broadband network the Partnership seeks to foster the development of applications and digital services for “advanced manufacturing, medical, monitoring, emergency preparedness, and a host of other services,” thus transforming the way communities function. Not only will these applications and services transform the ways in which communities function, they will serve as an incubator for innovation, job creation, and emerging markets.
Mozilla, a non-profit global community and developer of the web browser Mozilla Firefox, has launched the Mozilla Ignite challenge, inviting “designers, developers, and everyday people to brainstorm and build apps that take advantage of the next generation networks…in areas that benefit the public—like education, healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, public safety, and clean energy.” The DPLA will participate in the challenge, with hopes to enrich and expand its programmatic access to online records of books and other multimedia objects. The competition, hosted by Mozilla and the National Science Foundation, will initially focus on brainstorming and planning and later move into application design and development, culminating with a $500,000 award.
For more information on US Ignite, see the White House press release.