Incoming Grant Funding Provides New Tech Opportunities for Government

DeSoto County and the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization have been awarded federal grant funding from the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Transportation to improve broadband and infrastructure planning.

Regarding the latter, the Department of Transportation has allocated $2 million to the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization under its SMART METRO program to develop a digital twin of transportation, land use and infrastructure data to support scenario modeling and infrastructure planning.

According to the Department of Transportation’s website, “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) discretionary grant program with $100 million appropriated annually for fiscal years 2022-2026.”

As for developing a digital twin, the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization would use the funds to create a digital model of an object or system — in this case, using transportation, land use and infrastructure data — to reflect a physical object, such as specific scenario models, to help visualize future infrastructure planning.

Other funding, including $325,923, has been awarded to the state by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to expand broadband access across 10 communities in DeSoto County.

According to USDA documents, “IBT Group USA LLC will utilize the funding to identify, study and report on the existing barriers to broadband access in DeSoto County; design and engineer feasible networks to bring broadband access to areas that currently lack existing access to broadband services; and create a strategic plan for the county to target public and private resources to finance broadband facilities.”

More information about the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization and the state’s plans can be found online.