Today the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced its plans to expand its program that provides funding and expertise to help community and place-based foundations to invest in media projects that inform and engage their communities.

In a blog post today, Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen explained how Knight has committed to extending the Community Information Challengefor the next three years:

• Tailored seed funding for information projects.KCIC will continue to include an open contest, but it will also seek out projects in areas that Knight finds particularly timely, relevant, and that have a high potential for impact -- such as mobile and open government.
• Expanded technical assistanceKnight is expanding its "Circuit Rider" team of consultants, who advise and aid foundations at any project phase. The Knight Digital Media Center at the University of Southern California also will offer skills training tailored to funders.
• Learning networks.Knight will make some more targeted investments in projects from the first five years of KCIC which have fared best. In return, Knight will ask these projects and their funders to share what they have learned with their peers.
• Media Learning Seminar. Knight will continue to hold this annual winter gathering in Miami -- taking place today and tomorrow. This has become a key event where foundations explore trends and share learnings. (Watch the livestream, and follow the action on Twitter.)

Ibargüen wrote: "Our intention is not to simply sift through whatever ideas float in over the transom. Our intention is to actively seek out the best ideas and support them, wherever they may be. We're very pleased with the Community Information Challenge initiative, and with what we've accomplished together over the last five years. We need only look around the crowd at this week's Media Learning Seminar to see that what began as a notion -- the idea that community and place-based foundations had an important role to play in creating a better informed and more fully engaged citizenry -- is now a fact."