Community-based Internet services in the local area just got a boost, through a new Corporation for Public Broadcasting grant to support participation in the Civic Networking Initiative. CivNet will combine the efforts of UC Davis, Yolo County, the City of Davis, and the Volunteer Center of Yolo/Sacramento counties with those of the Davis Community Network to enhance the quality of Internet services to the region. Initially a joint project by Caltrans and UC Davis to illustrate the "smart community" concept, the Davis Community Network assists community and government organizations in using the Internet for communication, information-sharing, and community problem-solving. The $80,000 award will enable DCN and its partners to develop new areas of information services such as an Internet-based community volunteer management and recruitment system, an education and outreach program at regional training and demonstration centers, a document database linked to the World Wide Web that will provide online access to complex documents, and geographic information systems that will provide mapping information for citizens. UC Davis programmer and analyst Vicki Suter, with the campus information technology program, will serve as technical project manager for CivNet.