May 18, 2005

Ann Arbor, Michigan (May 18, 2005) – Cyberstate, a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Michigan become a world leader in developing and applying information and communication technologies (ICT) that improve the health, economic well-being and educational achievement of every Michigan citizen, has a new name – CyberMichigan. The new name better reflects whom CyberMichigan specifically serves – Michigan citizens.

CyberMichigan has had a long-standing relationship with Altarum (www.altarum.org) and has now formalized itself as an Institute within Altarum. CyberMichigan continues to maintain its own Board of Advisors and has welcomed the guidance and support of Michigan’s leaders in the government, healthcare, business, education, and nonprofit communities who serve on its Board.

Originated in 1998 through the efforts of Michigan’s business, government and philanthropic communities, CyberMichigan is a policy research, analysis and advocacy organization. Its mission is to inspire and promote new levels of objective research, analysis, collaboration and entrepreneurship in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) so as to make the promise of ICT realizable to every Michigan citizen. CyberMichigan focuses on four application areas in which these technologies have the greatest potential for impact – healthcare, entrepreneurship/economic development, government, and education. CyberMichigan fosters cross-sector collaborations and undertakes programmatic initiatives to meet its three overarching goals:

Increase citizen access to, and familiarity with, ICT tools and resources
Continuously explore and demonstrate how ICT tools can be optimally applied in the healthcare, entrepreneurship / economic development, e-government, and education domains
Support ICT entrepreneurship throughout the state of Michigan

“CyberMichigan is at an exciting period in its development,” said Karen Bantel, President of CyberMichigan. “We are in a stage of expansion as we deepen our application expertise into two areas critical to Michigan’s future – healthcare and entrepreneurship/economic development. We look forward to making significant contributions to the state’s evolution in those areas, and are very appreciative of our many partnerships facilitating this goal.”

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