Ball State University will use a $600,000 federal grant in an effort to develop a high-speed broadband network for on- and off-campus research and development.

The funding has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and is expected to pass the Senate, according to a statement from Rep. Mike Pence. The news follows visits to Muncie by Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar and Pence to discuss the project with university and community leaders.

"Access to this broadband network should contribute greatly to the economic health of this community and the entire state," said Thomas Kinghorn, Ball State's vice president for business affairs and treasurer. "We are grateful to Senator Lugar, Congressman Pence and also Senator Evan Bayh for recognizing the project's potential and advancing the initiative."

Kinghorn also chairs the executive committee of Vision 2006, an economic development initiative for Muncie and Delaware County that draws together business, government and educational resources.

The grant will allow the community to establish a test bed for research and development of emerging digital technologies and digital content, Kinghorn said.

For instance, researchers in Ball State's Teachers College are developing educational materials that could be shared across a high-speed network, benefiting curricula in schools or employee training programs in businesses, said O'Neal Smitherman, Ball State's vice president for information technology.

Smitherman also chairs the infrastructure planning committee of Vision 2006 that conceived the broadband project.

The university is in the initial stages of testing a wireless network capable of delivering ultra high-speed broadband, much faster than a typical cable or DSL connection. The test results will guide efforts to create a network for Muncie and Delaware County.

"Educational offerings might provide the first content for a community-wide network, but the high-speed access should also encourage researchers and entrepreneurs to develop new products, services and businesses," Smitherman said. 

"Eventually, we hope the research and development test bed will prove that a high-speed commodity Internet is commercially viable and that we can take this technology to even the most remote areas of Indiana, providing a platform for high-tech business development."

Smitherman said the interdisciplinary cooperation of information technology staff and researchers working through Ball State's Center for Media Design sets an example for how the broadband initiative will work.

The project is dubbed "Digital Middletown," a digital age follow-up to the pioneering sociological studies performed by Robert and Helen Lynd during the 1920s and '30s in Muncie.

(Note to editors: For more information on this story contact Kinghorn at (765) 285-1033 ortkinghorn@bsu.edu, or Smitherman at (765) 285-4321 or hsmitherman@bsu.edu.) 

About Ball State University and the Center for Media Design

Ball State University, located in Muncie, Ind., is the third-largest public university in Indiana, with more than 18,300 students. Originally a private teacher training school when it opened in 1899, Ball State became a university in 1965. The 1035-acre residential campus in Delaware County is an hour's drive north of Indianapolis.

The Center for Media Design is an R&D facility focused on the creation, testing and practical application of digital technologies for business, classroom, home and community. The center is part of Ball State's iCommunication initiative, funded by a $20 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.