Mozilla launches fund to solve real-world problems with Chattanooga's gig

Less talking and more doing. That's what officials from technology company Mozilla promised today as the company launched a $150,000 fund to figure out ways to practically apply Chattanooga's gigabit Internet to solve real, local problems.

The Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund will give grants ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 to teams of Chattanoogans who promise to build projects that create tangible applications from Chattanooga's gigabit network. The projects must benefit Chattanoogans and must be focused on either education or workforce development.

The National Science Foundation donated $300,000 to Mozilla to launch the fund. That money will be split between twin programs in Kansas City and Chattanooga. The fund is an extension of Mozilla Ignite, a program kicked off two years ago to demonstrate the possibilities of the gig, said Ben Moskowitz, program developer at Mozilla.

"A lot of success was located in Chattanooga," he said. "But something was missing. We had a lot of good ideas an prototypes, but we weren't bringing them out of the lab and into the field."

The fund will bring together technology experts, educators and community leaders, Moskowitz said. Anyone can submit an application for a grant, and the application process will open in February. Work on the first round of funded projects will start as soon as March, Moskowitz said.

For more information, read the complete story in tomorrow's Times Free Press.

Upcoming Events