Dataseam announced eleven district technology leaders representing nine Kentucky school systems participated in training supporting Apple technologies for their Kentucky K-12 districts.
The week-long training was developed by Dataseam in concert with Kentucky K-12 technology professionals to respond to the diverse enterprise-level technology environment Kentucky districts support. Successful participants earn Apple desktops bringing new and advanced curriculum opportunities preparing students for the future workforce. The cohort collectively earned $340,000 of new technology for their schools.
School technology professionals support one of Kentucky’s largest employers, public education. Training opportunities through Dataseam help experienced technicians improve skills alongside newer employees to Kentucky’s K-12 district technology programs. Due to Dataseam’s efforts, Kentucky has the largest cohort of Apple-certified Systems Engineers in the United States.
“I was first introduced to Dataseam as a Morehead State University summer intern working in my hometown Magoffin County Schools”, states Neil Arnett, Pikeville Independent Schools. “I expanded my skills and have taken advantage of opportunities available through Dataseam. I am now serving as a district Chief Information Officer and after 20 years, part of a team guiding the next generation of technologists and systems engineers supporting teachers and students statewide. It’s been rewarding to participate in training this week with folks who are where I once was.”
Computers earned by participating schools link statewide to form the DataseamGrid. This virtual supercomputer environment drives University of Louisville’s Brown Cancer Center drug discovery, reducing cost and time of therapy development and increased competitiveness for federal funding. To date, the DataseamGrid has supported 30 research teams and a critical resource cited for $80 million of additional federal funds, creating a $200 million impact for the Commonwealth.
The University of Louisville funds the Dataseam Scholars program, providing 4-year scholarships supporting STEM and STEM-education disciplines to students from participating schools.
CIO Kevin Fugate participated in the training representing Dataseam’s newest partnership, Bullitt County Public Schools. “This has been a good opportunity to expand my knowledge and earning new technology diversifying the technology platforms we make available. As an eastern Kentucky native where much of Dataseam’s growth began, I am glad to bring this opportunity to our district and have computers support both University of Louisville cancer drug discovery and impact student instruction.”
“Dataseam’s initial mission was to support Kentucky-based university research. Research is the impetus for workstations districts earn, allowing double duty for the same public funding. The Apple operating system environment moves drug discovery applications from traditional high-performance supercomputing environments directly to the DataseamGrid efficiently and cost-effectively”, said Brian Gupton, Dataseam CEO. “The recent training cohort was nearly all new program participants, picking up where their districts began together back in 2005. It’s meaningful work seeing them continue the statewide effort.”
Download the press release HERE.
