Press Release  Healey-Driscoll Administration Announces $5 Million in IT Grants for Municipalities Through Community Compact

Boston — The Healey-Driscoll administration today announced that $5 million in grants have been awarded to municipalities to upgrade and improve their information and technology systems through the Community Compact program.

This funding comes from one of four Community Compact grant programs being run this fiscal year and will benefit 68 municipalities and school districts, including 13 first-time recipients.

The 52 grants being awarded total more than $4.95 million and will go toward improving cybersecurity and e-permitting, centralizing financial systems, implementing records management systems and infrastructure needed for hybrid meetings .

“The Community Compact program is an important tool for our administration to partner with cities and towns to advance best practices and meet the IT needs of the state’s 351 cities and towns,” said Governor Maura Healey. “These technology grants being announced today will help municipalities modernize their systems and better serve the people of Massachusetts.”

Since Fiscal Year 2016, the Commonwealth has offered grants to municipalities focused on driving innovation and transformation through investments in technology.  The Community Compact IT Grant program has provided 425 grants supporting over 300 municipalities/school districts projects totaling $24.2 million.

This year’s grants will support everything from cybersecurity, e-permitting and disaster recovery to GIS mapping tools, the purchase of hybrid meeting equipment and infrastructure, wireless networks, software enhancements, websites and records management.

“Whether it’s helping communities implement a records management system or ensuring the residents have virtual access to their local government, these grants demonstrate our commitment to helping cities and towns meet the needs of their residents. I’m excited to see this funding released so that municipalities can get started on this important work,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll.

The Information and Technology grant program is a competitive program focused on driving innovation and transformation at the local level via investments in technology. The goal is to make government more efficient, save taxpayer money, and make it easier for residents to interact and transact with their local government. Under this program, grants of up to $200,000 can be awarded to support the implementation of innovative IT projects by funding related one-time capital needs such as technology infrastructure or software. The FY24 program opened for applications on September 11, 2023 and closed on October 13, 2023.

“The Community Compact IT grant program is one example of how our administration is using its capital budget to support municipalities. The high-level of interest we saw in this program underscores the important work this funding will drive to ensure cities and towns can operate as efficiently as possible and be responsive to the needs of their residents,” said Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew J. Gorzkowicz.

The full list of IT grant awards can be found here.

In addition to the information and technology grants, funding has been made available through both the Fiscal Year 2024 budget and the administration’s capital investment plan to support each of the following Community Compact programs:

• Best Practices - $2 million
• Efficiency & Regionalization - $600,000
• Municipal Fiber - $5 million

The application periods for the Efficiency and Regionalization Grant Program and Municipal Fiber Grant Program open on Jan. 8, 2024 and March 11, 2024, respectively. 

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