Franklin County’s innovative approach to the use of technology in improving government services and efficiency has been recognized with one of the Commonwealth’s highest honors. Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine awarded Franklin County the prestigious Technology Award for Excellence during his remarks at the 10th annual Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium (COVITS) in Williamsburg on Monday. Only eight projects statewide received this coveted prize.
The award came in the category of Innovative Use of Technology in Local Government for the County’s wireless broadband project. Franklin County’s winning project utilized a public-private partnership between the County and B2X, a private sector wireless Internet service provider. The partnership built a redundant, wireless mesh network that expanded the County’s wide-area network to all remote county offices including fifteen fire and rescue stations. This enabled the County to provide better emergency services response to the outlying areas of the community and to streamline government operations County-wide. In addition, the project brought high-speed internet options to citizens throughout the community, many for the first time. The project targeted those rural areas that were identified as most lacking in broadband availability. The partnership made innovative use of existing County infrastructure and utilized creative financing to expedite the network build-out while limiting the investment of the County’s general funds and impact on taxpayers. The availability of high-speed internet service is a prerequisite to many businesses looking to locate in the area and is viewed as a major quality of life issue for citizens.
The Governor's Technology Awards recognize innovation and ‘big picture thinking' put into action by government entities. In receiving the award on behalf of Franklin County, Director of Information Technology Sandie Terry said, “this award is very gratifying in that it recognizes the County’s efforts to deploy broadband services for Economic Development and quality of life enhancements in a very cost effective and collaborative way. This award demonstrates Franklin County’s leadership in the state in addressing the challenges facing local governments with innovative solutions.”
For further information on Franklin County, go to www.franklincountyva.org.
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