PRESS RELEASE

Florida Department of Education

March 4, 2003

 

 

Pam Bryant

Assistant Director of Communications

(850) 201-7130

pamela.bryant@fldoe.org

 

 

Florida Department of Education outsources FIRN for improved services

TALLAHASSEE—The Florida Department of Education announced today the outsourcing

of the Florida Information Resource Network, now known as FIRN 2. Hayes E-

Government Solutions Inc. will manage this network, which has provided Internet access,

content filtering and other data services to Florida schools for 18 years.

 

In recent years, the enormous increase in the use of the Internet as an educational tool has

challenged FIRN’s capacity to meet the needs of Florida’s educational community. The

Department of Education will use a new approach to improve services through FIRN 2 that

will:

 

Increase funding for services through the E-Rate program, a Federal Communications

Commission activity that provides reimbursements to schools and libraries to obtain

affordable telecommunications and Internet access.

Increase available bandwidth to schools.

Eliminate extensive system downtime.

Allow the addition of new services.

 

Hayes has provided over 30 years of data solutions, networking and electronic project

solutions to government agencies. Its subcontractors include major worldwide

telecommunications companies.

 

“FIRN 2 will support a Web portal, parental access and the efficient customer service

outlined in Gov. Jeb Bush’s imperatives for technology in education,” said Ruben Lopez,

chief technology officer of the Florida Department of Education. “We are excited about

this development, and we are confident it will benefit education in Florida.”

 

To find out more about the FIRN 2 project, call the Department’s Office of Technology

and Information Services at (850) 921-9334.

 

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