MCNC celebrates 30 years of networking in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- MCNC, the non-profit operator of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), today announced that more than 200 educators, researchers, government officials, and business leaders from all over the state gathered to discuss the future of high-speed internet, networking, and the applications broadband enables during NCREN Community Day 2014 held at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library at NC State University.

For 30 years, North Carolina has set the pace for national research and education networking by leveraging NCREN, which provides true high-performance broadband connectivity for community institutions in K-20 public and private education, non-profit health care, public safety and many federal, state and private research institutions. Each year, MCNC recognizes and celebrates the progress and achievements from the NCREN community with this event.

"For three decades NCREN has provided the broadband infrastructure to connect our citizens to the path of success, but we can't just stop here," said MCNC Interim CEO Pat Moody. "The expanded NCREN of today continues to push the networking threshold forward by affordably and effectively removing the bandwidth restraints and connection barriers we previously experienced in North Carolina. Now, we can discover together what the next 30 years will look like."

On Wednesday, MCNC named Jean Davis as the new president and CEO of the organization starting Nov. 17. She is just the eighth CEO in this history of the organization since 1983 and is the first woman to hold to position.

MCNC also announced the winners of this year's annual NCREN Community Awards during the two-day event.

The Robyn Render Endeavor Award was presented to Mark Cooke, IT director at N.C. Information Technology and Services. The Empower Award was presented to Angela Bailey, director of NC Broadband, a division of the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Finally, Kathy Davis, eLearning specialist in the System Office for the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), was selected by her peers for the Community Choice Award.

Event sponsors include: (Zettabyte Sponsor) Cisco Systems; (Gigabyte Sponsors) AT&T, Dell and Presidio (Megabyte Sponsors) CenturyLink Business Solutions, Conterra Broadband Services, EMC Corporation, NWN Corporation and SunTrust Bank; (Door Prizes) BalsamWest, ECC Technologies, Financial Directions, Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, K&L Gates, Progressive Benefit Solutions, a Marsh & McLennan Agency, Raleigh Convention Center, and Wells Fargo Insurance.

The two-day event will be held at the Institute for Emerging Issues and the James B. Hunt Jr. Library.

About MCNC
MCNC is a technology non-profit that builds, owns, and operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). For more than a quarter century, a growing number of research, education, non-profit health care, and other community institutions have connected to NCREN to utilize this leading-edge broadband highway. Today, NCREN serves the broadband infrastructure needs of more than 450 of these institutions including all K-20 public education in North Carolina. The recent expansion of NCREN and its capabilities allows us to customize network services and applications for each of these institutions more than ever before as we also look to further enable private-sector providers to bring cost-effective broadband infrastructure to rural and underserved areas of North Carolina. Our business and partnering strategy gives our state a real competitive advantage and is driving the new broadband economy in North Carolina. Visit www.mcnc.org.

Photography
Photos from the event and this year's award winners are available on the MCNC website and Facebook Page.

Online Resources and Social Media

• MCNC Website: www.mcnc.org
• MCNC Social: Facebook, Twitter @MCNC, YouTube, Google+, LinkedIn
• Follow the event discussion using #Next30.
• Other Relevant Trending Hashtags: #NCREN #Broadband #NCPol #Telecom #Raleigh

Editorial Contacts
MCNC Communications Hotline: (919) 248.4105
Noah Garrett, NGC Communications, on behalf of MCNC: (252) 423.1277 or [email protected]

SOURCE MCNC

Related Links

http://www.mcnc.org