Among the community and industry leaders participating in the launch of MCAN: Doug Hurley, CIO, University of Memphis

Dr. Shirley Raines, President, University of Memphis

Matt Kisber, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

Russell Ingram, President and Executive Director, MCAN

Dr. Don Bashford, department of structural biology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Rob Carter, EVP and CIO, FedEx Corporation

MCAN Launch Links Memphis to a World of Research

In one of the most visible collaborative initiatives ever in Memphis, the Memphis Coalition for Advanced Networking (MCAN) inaugurated its ultra high-speed fiber-optic communications network in June. The event at the University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology became a virtual who’s who of the Memphis education, technology, medical, bioscience, research, distribution, as well as local and state economic development and political worlds.

First at a special media briefing, and then at an official network launch and tour, leaders from each of the critical areas spoke about how important the new high-speed connectivity is to present work and future opportunity.

MCAN is the result of several years of work by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Memphis community. In 2008, the State of Tennessee granted a contract to Oak Ridge to create a high-speed link between Oak Ridge and Memphis. In 2009, Oak Ridge requested the participation of the Memphis community in designing and implementing that link. In response, founding members – the University of Memphis, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the Memphis Bioworks® Foundation – along with an array of other Memphis community leaders, formed MCAN to build and administer a 10-gigabit-per-second data network among the research institutions and between Memphis, the world’s fastest computer in Oak Ridge, and the national Internet2 research network. In early 2010, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development funded the joint MCAN/Oak Ridge project with a grant of $3 million.

MCAN is an independent, nonprofit corporation chartered to promote and operate leading-edge communications technologies that support education, research, public service, and economic development initiatives. In addition to facilitating scientific research, MCAN is designed to generate economic benefit from advanced networking applications. “The launch of this ultra high-speed research link creates intriguing potential for the Memphis business and entrepreneurial community,” said Russell Ingram, President and Executive Director of MCAN. ““Connectivity at this speed will allow development of novel technologies and applications that would otherwise not be possible, leading to new businesses and jobs.””

How fast is it? The 10-gigabit-per-second data network connection is 180,000 times quicker than dial-up or almost 3,000 times faster than broadband. Dr. Clayon Naeve, St. Jude CIO, explained that Medical data that previously would have taken more than three hours to transfer now may be downloaded in a matter of minutes.

MCAN is one of about 35 regional optical networks in the nation. It links into the Internet2 research network, a consortium of 200 universities, 70 leading corporations, 45 government agencies and 50 international partner organizations.