The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced that the South Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (SD EPSCoR) is a recipient of a $1,176,450 award through the Research Infrastructure Improvement Inter-Campus and Intra-Campus Cyber Connectivity (RII C2) program. The SD EPSCoR award was one of seventeen awards totaling $20 million.
"These are exciting and important investments," said Henry Blount, NSF EPSCoR Office Head, "Broadband connectivity will advance progress toward broader research and educational engagement at the frontiers of discovery and innovation in science and engineering. The execution of well-articulated plans for the development, deployment, and improvement of broadband connectivity is crucial to foster collaborative research. These awards will broaden individual and institutional participation, strengthen e-learning, develop the STEM workforce, contribute to the economic development of states, and help to facilitate participation in the computing-based intellectual future.
With RII C2 funding, four South Dakota higher education institutions will collaborate with SD EPSCoR to significantly upgrade their cyber connectivity. The collaboration includes three tribal colleges: Sinte Gleska University, Oglala Lakota College, Sisseton Wahpeton College and Augustana College. This award will improve each campus’ ability to utilize the internet within their campus boundaries and improve their ability to connect to other research and education communities.
“The SD EPSCoR program’s overall goal is building partnerships to increase the state’s research capacity and ability to compete for federal research and education funding in science, education and math,” said James Rice, SD EPSCoR Director. “Because we are a large state the ability to build partnerships and collaborations has to utilize the state’s internet infrastructure. This award will increase the ability of these 4 institutions to participate in these efforts.”
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