The National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies has received a $500,000 congressional appropriation for 2010 through the U.S. Department of Education for initial launch costs.
The center, established in 2008 through amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965, will provide grants and contracts for research-and-development programs that will explore how advanced technologies can support formal and informal learning at the K-12, higher education, and corporate- and government-training levels.
The center will be an independent, nonprofit organization led by a board of directors to be chosen by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. In addition to public funding, the center will be open to accepting private funds. Projects will be selected through a peer-reviewed decisionmaking process.