'Digital divide' targeted in e-Vermont project

Unlike Google's lottery-like "Fiber to the Communities" project, the e-Vermont initiative doesn't promise super-high-speed Internet to every home. But e-Vermont will deliver: This summer, 12 rural communities will receive financial and technical assistance to connect residents, businesses, schools and local government or strengthen the digital connections they already have.

The tantalizing suite of tools awaiting the finalists includes free laptops for students, custom-designed neighborhood forums and hot-rodded business and municipal networks. The catch: Communities must submit applications by April 30 to the Montpelier nonprofit Vermont Council on Rural Development, which developed the project in concert with Front Porch Forum, the Vermont Department of Libraries, Digital Wish, Vermont State Colleges, the Vermont Small Business Development Center and the Snelling Center for Government.