INDUSTRY

Louisiana's participation in an exclusive high-speed network of supercomputers got a boost this week from Governor Kathleen Blanco, who pledged that the state would dole out 40 (m) million dollar over ten years to the project. The Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, known as LONI, will link researchers and supercomputers at seven universities around the state to the National LambdaRail, which is a massive, fiber-optic computing network around the country. Baton Rouge was designated as the Southeast region's access point between Houston and Jacksonville, Florida, for the LambdaRail. The idea behind the project is that researchers could use the super computer clusters to develop new projects in areas like science and health care, obtain grant money and put Louisiana on the forefront of technology and research.