The Technology Initiative Grant program (TIG) emerged from the combination of a longstanding need to provide some assistance to the large percentage of persons who LSC funded programs can't fully represent and a new resource- the communication and information capacities produced by the technological revolution. Most legal needs surveys in the United States indicate that no more than 20% of low-income people with civil legal problems are able to get help. The unprecedented powers of the personal computer and of the World Wide Web can broaden the reach of the valuable work conducted by legal services practitioners.

Seeing this potential, Congress authorized funding for the Technology Initiative Grant (TIG) program beginning in 2000. TIG funding has provided LSC with a remarkable opportunity to explore new ways to serve eligible persons and to help build legal aid programs' capacities. It has supported projects to develop, test and replicate technologies that improve client access to high quality legal information and pro se assistance. It has also helped programs develop their technological infrastructure generally.