FCC Cybersecurity Pilot Participants Selected
The Federal Communications Commission has officially selected the participants for its Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot, the three-year program exploring the use of Universal Service funds to improve school and library defenses against cyber attacks. A total of 707 participants — 645 schools and districts, 50 libraries, and 12 consortia — will receive up to $200 million to help offset the costs of eligible cybersecurity services and equipment, as well as provide the FCC with data to better understand the funding's use and efficacy.
The $200 million budget uses reserved, unused universal service funds to ensure that gains in enhanced cybersecurity do not come at the cost of undermining E-Rate success in promoting digital opportunities for all and basic connectivity, the FCC emphasized in a news announcement. Pilot participants represent all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and several Tribal lands. They also come from a diverse set of large and small, and urban and rural schools, libraries, and consortia from various geographic areas with differing cybersecurity experiences and needs, the FCC said.
A complete list of participants is available on the FCC site here.
Participants will be required to conduct a fair and open competitive bidding process for the eligible services and equipment to be funded by the pilot. They will also provide additional cybersecurity information to serve as a baseline for evaluating the pilot's performance goals, as well as extensive reporting on their cybersecurity readiness before, during, and after their participation in the program.
"Making sure our students have access to all the opportunities of the digital world has been a cornerstone of my time at the Commission. It is also vitally important that this access is cybersecure," said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, in a statement. "This issue touches every state in every region of our country, including on Tribal lands, and that range of experience is reflected in the participants announced today. Through this program, we will be able to provide our federal, state, and local government partners with actionable data about the most effective and coordinated way to address the growing cyber needs of schools and libraries."
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Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].