2011 Tech Day in Kentucky

Winners of the 2011 ConnectKentucky Tech Day awards were honored Friday, April 29, at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI, OH— ConnectKentucky honored the Commonwealth’s technology leaders for the fifth time at its 2011 Tech Day on April 29 at The Great American Ball Park before the Cincinnati Reds hosted the Florida Marlins. The event was sponsored this year by CBTS and Humana.

ConnectKentucky honored the following winners of the annual awards:

Small Business Technology Award: Innovative Workflow Technologies, a developer of software for the healthcare industry that is fast becoming a leader in the burgeoning field of healthcare technology by focusing on the needs of rural hospitals and community hospitals. Northwest Kentucky Forward nominated Innovative Workflow Technologies.

Large Business Technology Award: GSI Commerce, for being a leading provider of e-commerce and interactive marketing services, offering a broad solutions suite designed to power each aspect of a client’s online business and effectively integrate with other channels. Northern Kentucky Tri-ED nominated GSI Commerce.

New and Emerging Business Technology Award: Cuddle Clones, LLC, which makes soft and adorable plush versions of people’s pets. Customers upload pictures of their pet to Cuddle Clone’s website and in return receive a high-quality, plush replica. Cuddle Clones was nominated by Van Clouse at the University of Louisville.

Secondary Student Technology Award: Chance Johnson, a 9^th grader at LaRue County High School, for leading a school project of providing Wi-Fi Internet in the downtown square area of Hodgenville. He helped name Project SMART (Share More Accessibility – Route Technology) and has been involved in talking to community leaders, distributing flyers about the project, researching technology, and partnering with Lincoln National Bank to provide Wi-Fi for the downtown Hodgenville square area. Johnson was nominated by Doris Jean Holleran, coach of the LCMS Community Problem Solving Team.

Postsecondary Student Technology Award: Emily Crawford, a student at Northern Kentucky University, interviewed representatives from regional non-profit organizations and formed a detailed snapshot of how the organizations utilized technology, including what technologies the organizations needed and how these technologies could better drive organizational success. Emily’s leadership, professionalism, and understanding of technology significantly contributed to the success of the project.  David Hirsch with the Center for Applied Informatics at Northern Kentucky University nominated Crawford.

School District Technology Award: Jackson County Public Schools, for Project Café (Computers are for Everyone). Parents applied for 18-month, low interest loans to purchase (at discounted rates) a new home computer, Microsoft Office software, and 18 months of DSL access. Knowing that many parents were uncertain about what type of computer to purchase, the school district selected the appropriate model for the parents and provided free training for parents and students. Norma Thomas, district technology coordinator for Jackson County Schools, nominated Jackson County Public Schools.

Postsecondary Institution Technology Award: The Communication Technologies Department of Western Kentucky University was honored for its leading-edge use of broadband technology to expand and enhance the educational opportunities provided to students across the Commonwealth. By providing hundreds of video conferencing courses per year, thousands of students across the Commonwealth are able to access classes that would otherwise be unavailable.

Government Leadership in Technology Award: Kentucky Regional Extension Center, which is assisting more than 600 primary care providers choose an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, develop a positive workflow, determine usage gaps, and connect to the Kentucky Health Information Exchange. In 2009, Congress passed legislation to create an infrastructure of Regional Extension Centers that would assist healthcare providers implement EHRs. In 2010, the University of Kentucky's College of Medicine was awarded a Federal grant for the establishment of the Kentucky Regional Extension Center.

“These annual awards offer us an opportunity to publically acknowledge the people, companies, and organizations working to improve the quality of life for Kentuckians through technology,” said ConnectKentucky Executive Director René True.

The annual Tech Day event also featured several speakers, including David Couch, associate commissioner, Office of Knowledge, Information and Data Services, who spoke on the technology readiness of Kentucky schools; Al Lind, vice president for Technology and eLearning for the Council on Postsecondary Education, who spoke about broadband and higher education; Phil Baughn, executive director of the Commonwealth Office of Broadband Outreach and Development, who spoke about the office’s efforts to expand broadband in Kentucky; Tom Koutsky, Connected Nation’s chief policy counsel, who gave an update on national broadband policy; and keynote speaker Robert Andrews, director of Security Services for CBTS, who spoke about current Internet security trends.

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Click here to view presentations from Tech Day 2011

Tech Day at the Cincinnati Bell Pavilion at the Great American Ball Park

René True, Executive Director, ConnectKentucky addresses Tech Day participant

Keynote Speaker Robert Andrews II, Director of Security Services, CBTS

Al Lind, Vice President for Technology and eLearning for the Council on Postsecondary Education, provides update on broadband technologies in higher education.

Tom Koutsky, Chief Policy Counsel for Connected Nation, provided an update on national broadband initiatives.

Chance Johnson receives Secondary Student Technology Award with David Couch, Associate Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Education; Doris Holleran, LaRue County Public Schools; and René True.

Emily Crawford receives Postsecondary Student Technology Award from René True and Al Lind.

Bob Kinzig of GSI Commerce receives Large Business Technology Award from René True.

Brandon Montgomery and Leighann Hargis of Innovative Workflow Technologies receive the Small Business Technology Award from René True.

Jennifer Graham and Erich Squire of Cuddle Clones receive the New and Emerging Business Technology Award from René True.

Kristina Feathers and Stephanie Strinko of the Kentucky Regional Extension receive the Government Leadership in Technology Award from René True and Al Lind.

Edwin Craft, Todd Hughes, Jason Owen, and Tamela Smith of the Communication Technologies Department of Western Kentucky University receive the Postsecondary Institution Technology Award from Al Lind and René True.

Lisa Brewer-Mills and Rhonda Thompson of Jackson County Public Schools receive the School District Technology Award as Jodi Gabbard of Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative Corporation, René True and David Couch look on.