News

NJEDge.Net and MCNC highlight member events in November December 18, 2013

Two Quilt members in New Jersey and North Carolina are hosting great events this month.

New Jersey

Digital Reality: What is it? is the theme of this year’s NJEDge.net 2013 Conference at the Crowne Plaza Princeton in Plainsboro on Nov. 20-22. The event will bring together innovators in higher education, K-20 education and other technology support staff

NJEDge.Net supports its members in their institutional missions by providing collaborative resources and networked information services in support of teaching and learning; research and development; outreach and public service; as well as economic development throughout the state of New Jersey. In providing a broadband statewide network, NJEDge.Net establishes standards for interoperability, achieves economies of scale and supports new and emerging technologies to foster and support productive use of technology across the academic enterprise.NJEDge.Net ensures that its objectives and goals align with the missions of the membership and the overall NJ educational enterprise

Online registration is available.

North Carolina

Quilt member MCNC will host NCREN Community Day 2013 on Thursday and Friday (Nov. 21-22) at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library on the campus of NC State University in Raleigh. This year’s theme of “The Connected State” will highlight the continued growth of their user community and the leadership shaping broadband connectivity in North Carolina.

MCNC is a technology non-profit that builds, owns, and operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). MCNC annually recognizes and celebrates the progress and achievements from all over the NCREN community with this event.

It also is a very special one for MCNC this year as they celebrate the completion of theGolden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative through the Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP).

Event highlights will include a training session on values-based leadership featuring Don Welch, president and CEO of Quilt member Merit Network. Other presentations on the agenda include the growth rate of NCREN heading into 2014 as well as active discussions on Gig.U and the N.C. Next Generation Network, innovation through network connectivity, digital learning in North Carolina featuring former North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue, the state of rural broadband, bandwidth and public safety, and an update on the health of the network by MCNC staff. View the full program agenda.

More than 200 top government, education, and technology industry leaders in North Carolina and throughout the country are expected to attend. The event will be held at both the Institute for Emerging Issues and at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library.

Day-of registration remains available. Online registration will close Nov. 15.

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Registration for The Quilt Winter Member Meeting is now open! December 04, 2013

The Quilt will be holding its 2014 Winter Member Meeting at The La Jolla Shores Hotel in La Jolla California – February 4-7, 2014

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Rhode Island’s New High Speed, High Capacity Broadband Infrastructure is Completed November 01, 2013

Positions RI for Growth & Job Development


Providence, RI: OSHEAN today announced the completion of Beacon 2.0 – one of the biggest digital milestones to date for Rhode Island- a new 450-mile fiber optic cyber infrastructure that connects over 100 Community Anchor Institutions (CAI).

 

Senator Jack Reed, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Governor Lincoln Chafee, Congressman Jim Langevin, and Congressman David Cicilline all joined Governor Lincoln Chafee and OSHEAN at the Providence Public Library where representatives of Rhode Island and SE Massachusetts colleges, universities, major health care institutions, state and local government, libraries and schools celebrated the feat.

 

Beacon 2.0 is one of the most significant new local infrastructure projects. It equips Rhode Island and South Eastern Massachusetts with an unparalleled cyber infrastructure, laying the foundation to support students, expand businesses, and improve the overall ability of the state to better compete on a regional and global scale.

 

“This is a significant milestone for the state and surrounding region,” said OSHEAN’s President and CEO, David Marble. “Rhode Island now has an amazing asset that enables it to be on the cutting edge of digital technology capability. Its uses are widely varied and extremely valuable allowing us to connect, collaborate, and innovate in a variety of ways. The infrastructure in place now affords major advances in everything from virtual classrooms to telemedicine.”

 

Beacon 2.0 was funded with a $21.7 million federal stimulus grant and $10.7 million in private funds. Senator Jack Reed, working with other members of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation, spearheaded the 3-year federal initiative under a program entitled the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

 

“Thank you to OSHEAN and their community partners for making this advanced fiber-optic network a reality,” said Senator Reed. “With the completion of Beacon 2.0, more Rhode Islanders in schools, libraries, research institutions, and hospitals throughout the state can connect to new opportunities, and access and share information. We need to continue investing in our digital infrastructure to ensure that all Rhode Islanders have access to reliable, affordable broadband access so they can connect, compete, and succeed.”

 

“Beacon 2.0 will provide Rhode Island’s medical, educational, and other important institutions with high-capacity broadband, which is essential for growing our state’s economy,” said U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. “This is yet another example of Rhode Island’s leadership in cutting-edge technological innovations, and I’m proud to celebrate the completion of the project.”

 

The Beacon 2.0 network provides necessary cyber-infrastructure to support the state’s growing knowledge economy and the hundreds of industries and jobs it is expected to create.

 

“Cyber-infrastructure provides the fuel to grow our knowledge-based economy. Today, we celebrate the completion of more than 450 new miles of fiber optic network across all five Rhode Island counties, which makes Rhode Island one of the top three in the nation for broadband coverage,” Governor Lincoln D. Chafee said. “The result will be even more broadband capacity and digital literacy in Rhode Island’s schools, libraries, and hospitals. Broadband expansion is essential to fostering greater social, economic and political equality and narrowing income disparities throughout Rhode Island.”

 

Application examples include:

  • Video – Medical institutions are utilizing video capture and streaming for on-line learning and to deliver on-line certification training and testing.
  • Telemedicine – Healthcare Community Anchor Institutions are using the network for remote diagnostics and electronic medical records access.
  • Disaster Recovery – Community Anchor Institutions are utilizing the new network to create a disaster recovery platform for back up of critical infrastructure to a number of local and geographically disperse locations.
  • Emergency Management – Statewide coordination through an emergency management video system over the Beacon 2.0 infrastructure.
  • Access to the Worldwide Internet2 Research and Education Network – Internet2 is an exceptional community of U.S. and international leaders in research, academia, industry and government who create and collaborate to advance national and global research and education.
  • Cloud-based Digital Learning – High speed fiber connectivity allows access to a world of digital learning tools and learning management systems in the network for both Higher Ed institutions and K-12.

“Business, education, public safety, tourism – every aspect of our lives – is tied to technology. In order for Rhode Island to stay competitive on all fronts, and to attract the innovative, forwardthinkers who will grow our economy, we must make smart investments in technological infrastructure,” said Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI). “Information technology continues to be an industry with high-growth potential, and this successful grant program will lay the groundwork for new jobs, more efficient health care delivery and an improved, more modern system of education.

 

“When they have the tools they need, Rhode Islanders will outwork, outthink and outperform any of their competitors in this country or around the world,” said Cicilline. “The completion of this cyber-infrastructure project is connecting many diverse and vital institutions across Rhode Island so that men and women across this great state enjoy access to cutting-edge broadband infrastructure and the competitive advantage it provides.”

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