Mozilla will provide $150,000 in funding, and also grow the local maker community, to spur gigabit innovation in Texas’ capital.

When you couple lightning-fast Internet with innovative projects in the realms of education and workforce development, amazing things can happen.

That’s the philosophy behind the Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund, our joint initiative with the National Science Foundation and US Ignite. The Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund brings funding and staffing to U.S. cities equipped with gigabit connectivity, the next-generation Internet that’s 250-times faster than most other connections. Our goal: Spark the creation of groundbreaking, gigabit-enabled educational technologies so that more people of all ages and backgrounds can read, write, and participate on this next-generation Web.

As we just announced at the Gigabit City Summit in Kansas City, we’re expanding our gigabit work to the city of Austin, TX in August 2016. Selected from a list of contenders from across the country, Austin stood out due to its existing city-wide digital inclusion plan, active developer community, and growing informal education landscape. Beginning this fall, Mozilla will provide $150,000 in grant funding to innovative and local projects and tools that leverage Austin’s Google Fiber network. Think: 4K streaming in classrooms, immersive virtual reality, and more.

(In the existing Mozilla Gigabit cities of Chattanooga, TN and Kansas City, projects include real-time water monitoring systems, 3D learning tools for classrooms, and specialized technology for first responder training. Read more about those projects here.)

Mozilla is also investing in the makers and educators who make Austin great. We’ll help create Gigabit Hive Austin — a network of individuals, schools, nonprofits, museums, and other local organizations passionate about teaching and learning the Web. Hive Austin will be one of 14 Mozilla Hive networks and communities across four continents that teach web literacy and 21st-century skills.

Mozilla will open the first round of grant applications in Austin this August, and accept applications through October 18, 2016. Applicants and projects don’t have to be from Austin originally, but must be piloted locally. Click here to learn about the RFP process.

This spring, Mozilla is also providing $134,000 in new gigabit funding in Chattanooga and Kansas City. Funds will support projects that explore gigabit and robotics, big data, the Internet of Things, and more. Learn more.

Over the next two years, Mozilla will be expanding its Gigabit work to two additional cities. Interested in becoming a future Gigabit Hive city? We will reopen the city application process in late 2016.