Several colleges and Universities in Colorado have received up to $7 million total in computer equipment, services and cash from the Colorado Institute of Technology in a program that seeks to advance Colorado's efforts in technology education and research and to establish the state as leader in technology innovation. $300,000 of the awards is in cash, the balance in equipment and services donated by Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Hitachi Data Systems, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems. "As the state of Colorado seeks to remain competitive in an increasingly advanced global economy, it is imperative that our system of higher education have the necessary equipment and resources to build the skilled workforce we'll need now and in the future," said Larry Penley, president of Colorado State University, one of the recipients of a grant. "The Colorado Institute of Technology, through this program, is providing vital support that will better enable us to meet that need for our students and our state." In this first of two rounds of grants in the Colorado Institute of Technology (CIT) Equipment Program, grants were made to programs that will support the development of a statewide grid computing initiative, along with new curriculum in bioinformatics, homeland security, digital media, and various other technology areas for students in the colleges and universities of Colorado. "The response, both in terms of submission of proposals and enthusiastic support of CIT sponsors, to this inaugural phase of the CIT Equipment Program has been very strong," said Midge Cozzens, CIT president and chief executive officer. "The programs that will use CIT sponsor equipment are designed to accelerate the economic recovery in Colorado's technology industry in two key areas: workforce and innovation." Submissions will be accepted in the second phase of the program starting April 30, 2004. "Sun's support of CIT in the form of cash and equipment is aimed at making tangible and measurable improvements to the technology environment for Colorado companies and helping develop the Colorado workforce," says Terry Erdle, vice president of marketing and strategy, Sun Services. "Together, Sun and CIT are driving innovative educational programs that can lead to economic success." "Hitachi sees its investment in the CIT Equipment Program returning value to the technology sector and Colorado's economy at large," says (HDS spokesperson). "Higher education is frequently identified as a key to the future of Colorado's economic growth. With this program, institutions receive state-of-the art products that inspire innovative results," he said. The higher education institutions who will receive equipment and funding as a result of this round of grants are Arapahoe Community College, Colorado State University, the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, University of Colorado at Denver, the University of Colorado System, and the University of Denver. The primary objective of the CIT Equipment Program is to support the development of new curriculum in various technology areas for students in the colleges and universities of Colorado. Areas of particular interest to CIT are areas related to global telecommunications, enterprise systems, digital media, bioinformatics and homeland security. A second objective is to provide seed equipment and software for start up research projects in the initiative areas. A copy of the Call for Proposals for the CIT Equipment Program is available at http://www.coloradoit.org/edu/proposals.asp , or by calling John Louviere, at 720-567-4008. The due date for the second round of submissions is April 30, 2004.