MCNC will host NCREN Community Day 2013 on Thursday and Friday 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). For more than 30 years, North Carolina has set the pace for national research and education networking by leveraging NCREN, which provides true high-performance broadband connectivity for anchor institutions in K-20 public and private education, non-profit health care, public safety, the North Carolina judicial branch of government, and many federal, state and private research institutions.

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 the Golden 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 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 250 top government, education, and technology industry leaders in North Carolina and throughout the country are expected to attend, and this is the first time the event has been held at NC State University.

Event sponsors include: (Zettabyte Sponsor) Cisco Systems; (Gigabyte Sponsors) ECC Technologies; EMC Corporation; Internetwork Engineering; NWN; Presidio and Time Warner Cable Business Class (Megabyte Sponsors) DukeNet Communications; K&L Gates and Mediasite by SonicFoundry; (Door Prizes) Wells Fargo Insurance and Assure Professional.

The event will be held at both the Institute for Emerging Issues and at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library.