Schools partner with BDC for technology assistance

The Alleghany County Board of Education voted last week to enter into a contractual partnership with the Blue Ridge Business Development Center (BDC).

The agreement includes a pooling of equipment and personnel, a sharing of technology support services, materials and expertise.

During the board's March 5 meeting Alleghany County Schools Superintendent Duane Davis said the need for such an arrangement resulted from the school system's growing use of, and need for, high technology.

When Britt Shaw was hired as technology coordinator in 1996, said Davis, the school system had about 75 old Mac computers and three computers with network capability. "We knew we had to expand technology. We now have almost 800 computers we're using. There are networks in every school, labs in every school....

"If we don't solve the lack of support we're giving to Britt Shaw, the teachers won't have what they need in terms of technology."

Board members agreed. Chairman Charles Joines said, "One man cannot keep up with 700 computers; it's just impossible."

Davis said the BDC was established to raise the technology knowledge of citizens and thereby create jobs.

The BDC, initially known as the Blue Ridge Telecenter, opened at the beginning of last year. It was founded through a grant initiative of the N.C. Rural Internet Access Authority (RIAA), whose goal is to link all North Carolinians, particularly those in rural areas, to the Internet.

While the BDC would provide support services — such as computer maintenance and troubleshooting — the center would in turn be able to call on Shaw's expertise. Patrick Woodie, BDC interim director, said that expertise includes the ability to design and architect networks and systems.

Woodie was one of several BDC representatives who attended last week's school board meeting.

George Matuck, the BDC's director of technology services and resources, said, "Technology has advanced to the point that people can do their jobs in the mountains. We have to put the infrastructure in place for support of that. Our missing link has been the capability Britt Shaw has."

While the formal contractual agreement is new, there has always been somewhat of a relationship between Alleghany County Schools and the BDC. Woodie has characterized the BDC as a logical outgrowth of the work of the A. Anderson Huber Cyber Campus, which was established in 1997 at Alleghany High School.

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