Internet2 Names Matthew Rantanen Winner of 2020 Rose-Werle Award

CLIC heartily congratulates Matthew Rantanen, Director of Technology at the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association, and CLIC Board Advisor, for being selected as a winner of the Internet2’s 2020 Rose-Werle award. Matt is known as the Cyber warrior for Tribal broadband.

In receiving this award, Matt was recognized for his leadership in extending high-speed broadband services and advanced technology to community anchor institutions on tribal lands. Under his leadership, the Tribal Digital Village Net has resulted in more than 650 miles of internet connections to 105 key tribal community and administration buildings, EPA departments, fire stations, law enforcement facilities, utility departments, libraries, schools, Head Start programs, and tribal homes. Matt also recently facilitated the connection of 14 Native American tribes in Southern California to the state-of-the-art research and education international Internet exchange, Pacific Wave, via CENIC. This new connection enables their tribal libraries, scientific research facilities, and cultural preservation institutions to collaborate with partners around the world.

The Rose-Werle Award is named in honor of Richard Rose (1947-2007) and James Werle (1971-2018), early leaders in the national Internet2 K20 Initiative, now part of the Internet2 Community Anchor Program (CAP), who tirelessly advocated for extending the Internet2 Network and advanced technologies to students, libraries and community institutions. The Award is given annually based on criteria such as commitment to the vision of the Internet2 Community Anchor Program, recognized innovation in the community, and leadership and mentoring qualities.