Download The Montgomery Cyber Connection Announcement

NEWS RELEASE
For Release Jan. 20, 2016 11 a.m.
Melissa George Bowman
Director, Marketing & Communications
Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce
[email protected]
Office: 334-230-8300 ● Cell: 334-207-3197
Griffith Waller
Public Relations Specialist
City of Montgomery
(334) 625-2726 (office) (334) 235-0871 (cell)
[email protected]
Montgomery aligns defense, public and private partners to create the state’s
first Internet Exchange – One of only Four in the Southeast
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The Capital of Dreams may soon become known as Alabama’s Cyber Capital now that
the City of Montgomery, Montgomery County, the State of Alabama and
Maxwell/Gunter AFB and the new Cyber College of the Air Force have aligned to form
the Montgomery Cyber Connection that will fuel economic development, research
and innovation for the entire state.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Today the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce joined the Montgomery County
Commission, City of Montgomery, and business and military leaders to announce the Montgomery Cyber Connection,
an initiative that will connect every person, business and device to the rest of the world at the speed of light. The
Montgomery Cyber Connection will have a significant economic impact on not only the River Region, but also the entire
State of Alabama.
“We cannot overstate the significance of the Montgomery Cyber Connection to expanding industry in the River Region
and putting Montgomery on the map thanks to the foresight and expertise of Dr. Bronner and our military leaders and
neighbors at Maxwell Air Force Base,” Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said. “This partnership and initial investments
made by the city, the county, the Chamber and several local business leaders are the first steps to unleashing a wave of
economic development that may rival Hyundai.”
Driving the Montgomery Cyber Connection is the Montgomery Internet Exchange, located in the Retirement Systems of
Alabama’s Dexter Avenue Datacenter. Montgomery is one of only four sites in the Southeast with an Internet exchange.
The Montgomery Internet Exchange will speed content delivery to those in the River Region and beyond by storing it
closer to home, rather than pulling it from exchanges located in other parts of the country. Additionally, the Montgomery
Internet Exchange will benefit from a partnership with Akamai Technologies. Akamai, a global leader in content delivery
network services, will store servers at the RSA Datacenter. Akamai chose to locate in Montgomery because of the global
significance of the new Cyber College at Air University and because of local public and private partnerships in support of
the military.
The Montgomery Cyber Connection will link Alabama’s universities in research collaboration, support the new Air
University Cyber College mission to strengthen national defense, and stimulate business development and tech startups. In
addition to the tremendous statewide impact for economic development and innovation, the Montgomery Cyber
Connection will boost the Montgomery metro economy and improve quality of life for area residents. The Montgomery
Cyber Connection opens up a new vertical industry target and job growth potential for the River Region. According to
key partners in the effort, the MGM Cyber Connection can have the economic impact of landing a new Hyundai, which
creates more than $4.8 Billion in statewide impact annually.
The Montgomery Cyber Connection was created as a result of partnerships among government, military, business and
university leaders. More information is available at www.mix-al.net.
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