Tonight the Universal Access Awards will recognize South Floridians making a positive impact by using technology to increase people’s access to information. The awards are designed to bring greater recognition to the community’s innovators who support enhanced connectivity. Specifically they celebrate ways that groups, companies and governments are using broadband and other forms of technology to increase the community’s access to computing, the Internet and the digital economy. Tonight’s awards, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET, will be presented in six categories: healthcare, education, government, non-profit, corporate and individuals. The featured keynote speaker will be Francisco Moisés, the education industry general manager at Microsoft. Amanda Gonzalez, assistant vice president of marketing and public relations at Baptist Health South Florida will emcee the event, which is being held at the University of Miami’s BankUnited Center. Supported by Knight, the awards are part of the foundation’s Universal Access Initiative which supports projects in communities across the country to ensure digital access for all. Projects supported locally include the One Laptop Per Child Program at Holmes Elementary School and the Miami Dade Public Schools’s efforts to expand wireless connectivity at nearly 40 schools in the greater Miami area. Nationally through its Libraries Initiative, the foundation helps libraries in 27 cities become true digital community centers. Tonight’s awards will be presented by the South Florida Digital Alliance/Miami-Dade Broadband Coalition, which works to create technology infrastructure and services to advance economic development and individual empowerment in the community. The alliance, comprised of over 50 members, seeks to close the digital divide and to improve the quality of life in South Florida through technological collaboration and innovation. By Elizabeth R. Miller, communications associate at Knight Foundation