The TOP program, initiated in 1994, provides grants to non-profit organizations and state governments to help bring the benefits of information and communication technologies (ICT) to rural and underserved areas. By 2000, matching grants totalling US$135 million had been made. Applicants raised US$339 million as their share of contributions. As with the CTC program, requests for funds greatly exceed the monies available. For example, in 2000 US$12.5 million was to be awarded out of $270 million in requests. The consistent undergranting of requests year after year indicates that federal resources made available to help close the digital divide are greatly under-funded. TOP is intended to provide start-up money for innovative ICT projects. The closest parallel at the federal level in Canada is the CLN program, although the CLN is somewhat broader in mandate and scope for individual and community level capacity development.²⁶

The wide range of activities by TOP grant recipients underscores the diverse, myriad initiatives undertaken by communities and community organizations in the United States to meet needs and address digital divide issues. As in Canada and elsewhere, the types of activities undertaken by community groupsare only limited by imagination and resources. This range of initiatives is based on a response to the diverse needs of citizens, community groups and communities in the context of their immediate economic and social conditions. Like the CLN, the effectiveness of the TOP program is in part due to its flexibility in criteria for support. A few examples of TOP initiatives include linking domestic abuse centres; making local government more accessible to citizens; telemedicine for day care; smart cards to increase volunteerism; high speed DSL to low income homes; wireless access to remote areas; citizen access to interactive cultural products; linking NGO’s in communities; on-line education to rural areas; community services on-line for citizens; skills training and employment assistance for the unemployed.²⁷

²⁶ "Commerce Department gets 662 Grant Applications for Projects Aimed at Closing the Digital Divide", Press Release, Department of Commerce, April 6, 2000, http://www.ntia.gov/ntiahome/press/top40700.htm.
²⁷ "2000 TOP Awards", Press Release, digitaldivide@list.benton.org, September 28, 2000.