FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 29, 2018
Contact: James Hallinan (505) 660-2216
Las Vegas Police Department, Bloomfield Public Library, CNM, Doña Ana County, Torrance County, Village of Edgewood and Village of Questa awarded technology funds
Albuquerque, NM – This afternoon, Attorney General Hector Balderas awarded over $220,000 in settlement funds to public institutions across New Mexico for their technology proposals to better serve New Mexicans. The dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) litigation stems from a multi-state lawsuit challenging price-fixing for DRAM that resulted in over-charging for DRAM-containing equipment like computers and printers. The lawsuit alleged a conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain, and/or stabilize the prices of DRAM chips that allegedly resulted in overcharges to consumers and government purchasers of DRAM or products containing DRAM. DRAM is an electronic component that allows for storage and retrieval of electronic data.
“Over $220,000 in settlement funds will be invested directly in technology projects around New Mexico from the Four Corners to the East Mountains, from northern New Mexico to our southern border,” said Attorney General Balderas. “Investing in technology, especially in our rural communities, will improve the services provided to taxpayers and spur local innovation.”
New Mexico’s proposed cy pres distribution, approved by the court, represents its portions of the settlement for harm to local government entities and colleges. A previous settlement distribution was mailed to consumers who overpaid for DRAM-containing equipment. Governmental entities were encouraged by the Office of the Attorney General to apply for a share of the settlement funds. The proposed projects were required to use leading edge technology and software to significantly impact and/or enable new and improved government operational capabilities. The court-mandated division of approximately $220,000 is as follows:
- $141,000 political subdivisions
- $82,000 colleges and universities
Attorney General Balderas presented checks this afternoon to the following institutions for their proposals:
- City of Bloomfield Public Library—$12,279.33 for updated equipment/cabling and Wi-Fi installation enabling the city library for optimal use of the existing fiber optic loop
- Doña Ana County—$30,000 for development of a web application to handle the intake, processing and public dissemination of Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) requests.
- Las Vegas Police Department—$28,029 for an electronic evidence management system. This will include software licenses, installation and unlimited training.
- Torrance County—$42,525 for public access stations at customer service counters; implementation of online archival search program and marriage licensing software; and improvements to the emergency operations center CPU.
- Village of Edgewood—$12,000 for state-of-the-art equipment and wireless technology to provide free Wi-Fi in two public parks and a large open space.
- Village of Questa—$16,348.72 for website redesign for access to records information; public meeting software and equipment to provide more accurate and timely delivery of information.
- Central New Mexico Community College (CNM)—$80,267 for Blockchain utilization and development; training up to ten Deep Dive Coding instructors; implement Production Blockchain services cloud or infrastructure architecture; provide a development and production environment for service to government agencies.