In addition to the breakfast taco, 300 days of annual sunshine, and bats galore, Austin, Texas is the newest home of Mozilla’s Gigabit Hive. Chosen from a robust list of amazing cities across the U.S., Austin rose to the top with it’s citywide digital inclusion plan, active developer community, and networked informal education landscape. The first two Mozilla Gigabit cities, Chattanooga and Kansas City, have already contributed 26 projects and pilots to the Gigabit EdTech ecosystem. We can’t wait to see how Austin’s Gigabit Hive community will help grow these existing projects while also contributing brand new ideas to our growing national network. 4k streaming between Austin and Chattanooga? A collaborative censor-based citizen science research project between Kansas City and Austin? The possibilities are endless.

As the third city in the Mozilla Gigabit portfolio, Austin’s educators and technologists will have access to $150,000 in grant funding, as well as support from a vibrant learning community we call Hive. This community will explore how Austin’s high-speed Google Fiber network can impact learning in classrooms, museums, and other learning spaces across the community. Austinite’s of all ages will become gigabit creators and beta-testers, exploring technologies like 4K streaming and immersive virtual reality that wouldn’t be possible on traditional networks.

Launching August 2016, the first round of grant funding will be open for Austin-based applicants to apply by October 18, 2016. Click to learn about the RFP process. In the meantime, stay tuned for meetups and other activities to learn more at Mozilla, Hive, and new Gigabit Community Fund grant opportunities. Sign up to receive additional information and invites to Austin events.

Interested in becoming a future Gigabit Hive city? We will be reopening the city application process in late 2016. Read more about the most recently funded projects in KC and Chattanooga.