In its quest to bridge the digital divide, the world's largest foundation has turned its attention to the technological needs of American Indian communities in the Southwest, the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal reports.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has started the Native American Access to Technology Program, which will evaluate needs in these communities and make grants accordingly.

The program's first grant has already been made. The Santa Ana Pueblo of New Mexico recently received a $175,476 grant over three years, for four computers and software, a Web server, laser printer, internal building wiring and a network hub, the Journal reports.

New Mexico is not the only state that will benefit from the grants. The program also will cover American Indian communities in Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

"We are starting in New Mexico and going clockwise," Jessica Dorr -- the grant program manager -- told the Journal.

The grants will not be limited to computers. One reason the Gates Foundation established the new program is so it could work closely with individual communities to determine their needs. For instance, Santa Ana Pueblo already has a computer lab, but the greatest need in the Navajo Nation is telephone lines, the Journal reports.

While other Gates programs have certain criteria that tribes could find difficult to meet, the new program will use simpler standards: The communities must want the equipment, be willing to maintain it, and have people willing to learn to use it, the Journal reports.

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