WHIN announced today that it was honored with the Digital Transformation Award at the 25th annual Mira Awards gala on April 26.

WHIN received the Digital Transformation award for its works in systematizing and accelerating digital transformation in agriculture and manufacturing in 10 northwest-central Indiana counties. WHIN’s “Living Lab” model harnesses the forces of technological change on behalf of regional growth and prosperity.

WHIN has received a $1M 2023 Build to Scale Grant from The U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA). The 2023 Build to Scale Program, totaling $53 million, is administered by the EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE). The grants foster technology-based ecosystems to advance the growth of connected, innovation-centric economies that accelerate technology and enable commercialization to increase regional and global competitiveness. There were more than 220 applicants with only 60 organizations selected for funding.

Just days after Indiana announced that it will receive over $868 million in federal funding to address rural broadband, the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN) hosted a roundtable on its broadband initiatives at the request of Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch.

The event had been in the works for some time, according to WHIN CEO Johnny Park.

“But the timing could not have been better,” says Park. “This was an opportunity to make the case for including broadband solutions that go beyond speed to addresses and include the innovations in virtual and AI-based wireless technologies that can make the rural broadband business model sustainable and able to keep up with the ever-growing needs of rural communities going forward.”