History

The initial seeds for WinstonNet were planted through an initiative of Wake Forest University to implement a high speed network between its two campuses. In 1995, the University began its plan to embrace Information Technology through the adoption of its ground-breaking laptop computer program. One of the cornerstones of the plan was to provide electronic access to the developing resource known as the Internet. As part of that plan, the University deployed 26 miles of fiber optic cable linking the two campuses together.

Dr. John Anderson, Vice President of Finance and Administration at Wake Forest University saw the potential for extending the technology initiative beyond the two campuses to include the Winston-Salem community more generally. Throughout 1995, Dr. Anderson coordinated a series of meetings between government, civic and educational institutions to create a vision of Winston-Salem as a technology-rich community. With the active support of Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce an informal working group was created to begin discussing opportunities for collaboration.

During 1996, plans for inter-campus networking between the Hawthorne and Reynolda campuses of Wake Forest University coalesced through the further extension of the fiber optic ring. The first official WinstonNet meeting was held on April 9th, 1997. In this meeting a group of representatives from local government and educational organizations discussed ways in which to begin transforming Winston-Salem into a technology friendly community.

In March of 1998, WinstonNet sponsored a demonstration of the potential benefits for an inter-networked world at Cook Middle School. Senator Lauch Faircloth (R-NC), Representative Richard Burr (R-NC) and a number of local dignitaries saw advanced technologies such as video collaboration and multimedia teaching tools. This demonstration served to enhance the understanding within the community that cooperative technology efforts between civic, educational and governmental organizations could bring significant benefit to Winston-Salem.

One of the most important supporting events for WinstonNet came during 1999, as WinstonNet was awarded a grant in partnership with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools through the U.S. Department of Education STARS Schools program. This grant was sufficient to provide equipment necessary to connect the WS/FCS and WinstonNet to the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). The connectivity to the Internet for WinstonNet was at an almost unheard of rate of 155 Million Bits per second, making Winston-Salem one of the most connected cities of its size in the country.

WinstonNet was officially incorporated as 501 C 3 in 2001 as part of the Idealliance, headquartered at the Piedmont Triad Community Research Center.

Original members of WinstonNet included: Forsyth County Government, Forsyth Technical Community College, Idealliace, Wake Forest University, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce, Winston O Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Winston-Salem City Government and Winston-Salem State University. As 2001 progressed, the network was enhanced to include ultra-high speed (1 Gigabit per second) connections between the members over the fiber optic network.

In March of 2002, WinstonNet became North Carolina's first Regional High Speed Networking Hub (GigaPoP). This was accomplished as the speed of the connection from WinstonNet to the Internet through NCREN was increased to 622 Million Bits per second. In being the first community connected to NCREN in this manner, WinstonNet served as a model for the development of regional networking initiatives in North Carolina. Through its implementation as a GigaPoP, WinstonNet members received access to the Internet 2 network.

The vision for WinstonNet continued to advance as Winston-Salem grappled with important economic development issues. The transition from a region with a strong manufacturing tradition to one in which services and technology would predominate placed strong demands on education, training and workforce development. WinstonNet extended its vision to embrace that change. Leveraging its base in networking excellence, WinstonNet developed a three-pronged strategy for helping Winston-Salem make the transition to the economy of the future. The first initiative was to address the digital divide in our community by providing community computer access in recreation centers and churches. The second initiative was to begin preparing the workforce for the next generation of network-based super computing technologies. The final initiative was to continue to enhance the network in Winston-Salem by deploying next generation wide area wireless technologies as they became available.

On June 12th, 2003, WinstonNet dedicated its Computer Lab project at the Carl H. Russell, Sr., Recreation Center. Over the next twelve months, the community lab project was extended to include 30 sites with free computer access for children and adults. Forsyth Technical Community College and Wake Forest University provided the leadership and resources necessary to develop and implement the project. In 2004, Winston-Net received grants from Microsoft Corporation and from Cisco, Inc to make the software and hardware available to complete the labs. By the end of 2004, there were 41 computer labs operating in city recreation centers, churches, libraries, a homeless day shelter and a YMCA.

Supercomputing initiatives continued to develop during 2003 and 2004 as well. Winston-Salem State University hosted several conferences on Supercomputing that attracted researchers from around North Carolina to discuss grid related computing technologies. One of the most innovative demonstrations of supercomputing technologies was held in November of 2003 as WinstonNet participated with the Alban Elved Dance Company to demonstrate real-time supercomputing in support of the arts.

In June of 2004, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao visited the Piedmont Triad Research Park to recognize Forsyth Technical Community College's participation in a $5M grant for supporting educational activities related to Biotechnology. Also, in 2004, Targacept, Inc, joined WinstonNet and began a cooperative program to demonstrate state-of-the-art grid computing technologies in partnership with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. Finally, in 2004, discussions began on the development of a WinstonNet Supercomputing Center as construction began on several new buildings in the Piedmont Triad Community Research Park.

WinstonNet continues to advance its mission to support technology initiatives in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Throughout its history, WinstonNet has provided vision and leadership within the community on issues related to technology. It continues to focus on providing modern and equal access to technology resources to all citizens of Forsyth County.