[Archived] U.S. Conference of Mayors Presents City of Alexandria And Comcast with 2006 Excellence in Public/Private Partnerships Award

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	February 1, 2006 PIO# 027-06/rdo	Steven J. Mason, Public Information Officer, or Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300 Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300

U.S. Conference of Mayors Presents City of Alexandria
And Comcast with 2006 Excellence in Public/Private Partnerships Award

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) has presented the City of Alexandria and Comcast
with the 2006 Excellence in Public/Private Partnerships Award for the City’s Institutional Network, or I-Net. The award, which the USCM presented at its 74th annual winter meeting in Washington, DC, honors the City and Comcast for the long-term joint development of I-Net.

I-Net, which began in 1994, is a citywide fiber optic network that provides a variety of data, voice, and video communications capabilities to City government facilities, libraries, recreation centers, and public schools.

“We are proud to receive this award, but even more proud of the accomplishments it represents,” said Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille. “The I-Net is an outstanding example of what government and business can do together to meet critical community needs.”

I-Net, which is the first of its kind in Virginia, now connects nearly 100 municipal and school facilities and proves to be essential by providing direct high-speed connectivity that does not rely on the Internet. It also provides for secure remote access by City employees and contractors.

The network supports the City’s enterprise electronic mail, calendaring, and database systems; gives employees access to internal application servers and the Internet; and serves as a backup link for the City’s E-911 system and the primary link between the police and fire communications centers for the Computer Aided Dispatch system. The I-Net also provides in-classroom video services in public schools, which are used for communication between school sites and for distance learning and videoconferencing. An internal streaming video server supports digitized training videos, webcasting, and webconferencing.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of the nation’s 1,183 U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 or more. Each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor.

The Excellence in Public/Private Partnerships Award recognizes outstanding public/private partnerships to inspire other cities and companies to work together in improving the quality of life in American cities.

For more information on the award, call Erin Wenglekowski, USCM Manager of Member Services, at 202.861.6708. For additional information on the City’s I-Net, call Mike Herway, Director of Information Technology Services, at 703.838.4950, or e-mail mike.herway@alexandriava.gov.

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