Editor’s note: The Skinny blog is written by Rick Smith, editor and cofounder of WRAL TechWire.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Tracy Doaks, the new chief executive officer at MCNC, took over just in time to see demand for broadband soar across North Carolina in the midst of COVID-19. And MCNC’s statewide NC Research and Education Network is a crucial fiber highway to deliver connectivity for education, health as well as government services. So how’s she doing three months in to the job?
In a Q&A, Doaks talks with The Skinny about the MCNC challenge, its mission, and how she feels career experiences prepared her to replace Jean Davis as CEO as of Aug. 1.
Rick Smith, WRAL TechWire’s editor and a cofounder, writes The Skinny.
- Demand for broadband continues to grow, especially with the pandemic – how is MCNC helping to meet those needs?
Remote learning has been a huge focus for us. When the students went home that meant our consulting team was busy helping school administrators, teachers, and students to ready laptops and Chromebooks for remote access and helping get VPNs configured correctly.
This shift to remote learning has helped us see what our community was doing well and where the gaps were. We’ve also been busy with helping school districts manage cyber attacks, mitigating and assisting in malware and ransomware incidents. From the higher education perspective, our teams continue to work with colleges and universities to enable their technology to be ready for hybrid on-campus/off-campus learning; and as you can imagine, we’re getting daily requests for more Zoom licenses.
The other equally important concentration is healthcare. Telehealth is one of the largest users of our network, and we have been very busy provisioning service to new sites in addition to upgrading bandwidth to existing sites. It seems COVID-19 has sparked real conversations about the dire need for telehealth in our rural areas.
This crisis is an important reminder of the power and purpose of MCNC. We work alongside our clients to adapt our products and services to meet their needs and jump right in to help wherever we can.
Tracy Doaks
- Any plans to expand the fiber backbone at this time? If so, when and where?
MCNC continually looks at opportunities to expand our fiber footprint. We focus on filling in gaps in our middle-mile fiber infrastructure, with an emphasis on more effectively provisioning high-speed bandwidth for our clients. We want to partner with others where appropriate, such as the Facebook project in the western part of the state, to meet common goals.
MCNC works with existing providers to obtain middle-mile fiber to benefit those same members, and this is how we were able to complete a recent expansion between Sanford and Farmville connecting 25 member institutions. More to come as we continue to work with others on these kinds of efforts.
- Is MCNC seeking to get more partners involved in last-mile network delivery? Please explain?
I see MCNC’s role as more of a convener in these types of discussions. I am relying on my relationships to bring more partners to the table for productive discussions. Everyone is trying to solve the same connectivity problem, be it rural or urban connectivity.
MCNC image
However, no one solution exists to solve the last-mile delivery issue. Furthermore, multiple technologies will be required along with many types of service providers and partners. In keeping with our mission to support economic development in North Carolina, we will look for opportunities to help enable fiber and backhaul services for these initiatives in support of last-mile delivery.
- Why did you decide to take the MCNC job?
I have been part of the MCNC family for several years. I know what its mission is and excited to be a part of it. As an executive in state government the last four years, broadband and rural connectivity has been a priority for the entire state. In my mind, this role is a natural evolution for me – it combines my love of community, non-profit organizations, and technology for the greater good. My personal journey has led me here.
- What do you see as your mission as CEO?
My mission is to continue to lead this amazing team in support of our clients – K-12, higher education, community colleges, the telehealth community, research and so much more. My mission is also to ensure MCNC “survives and thrives” during and post COVID-19. This approach will mean expansion of services like cybersecurity as well as potential new services that our clients and stakeholders need.
- How did your background prepare you for the job?
My career encompasses almost all of MCNC’s core business verticals, which was the perfect preparation for this role. Having experience as a technologist, a healthcare and education leader as well as a state government executive has led me to this role. When you think about who MCNC serves, I have been a part of all of those communities in some form or fashion for many years.
[Doaks was chief deputy state and chief services officer for the N.C. Department of Information Technology then became state CIO and secretary. She also has worked at Duke Medicine, the N.C. Department of Revenue, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, and Accenture.]
- Does your experience in state government better position MCNC to work with state agencies?
I do believe my experience puts me in a great position to work with agencies. Although my career has led me in and out of state government, I have a total of 20 years in public service. Many of the agency heads, CIOs, COOs, CFOs, and others have been folks I have known for a long time and we may have started out together in other roles. In addition, collaborating with the governor’s office (several governors) and legislators has been commonplace in my career. This background just proves – MCNC is exactly where I was meant to “land.”
- Can we expect any changes in MCNC’s mission? If so, what might those be?
Ask me again in a year. For now, MCNC’s mission to provide a world-class network and value-added services for our clients remains the same. I can’t imagine that we will decrease our laser-like focus on education, research, higher education, healthcare, nonprofits, libraries, public safety, and others.
MCNC picks North Carolina’s chief information officer as new CEO
