Summary: In 1985, the state of North Carolina jumped way ahead of most of the rest of the country. They asked a fledgling organization called the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, or MCNC, to connect up NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, NC A&T, UNC Charlotte and the Research Triangle Institute so they could share research and ideas over a safe network. Today MCNC is part of the most complicated project yet, figuring out how to get high speed access to every home in North Carolina. Everybody wants someone to find a simple, single, elegant solution. According to this week’s First in Future guest, Jean Davis, CEO and President of MCNC, that is not going to happen. At every stage of the state’s efforts to connect the state, somewhere in that mix has be MCNC. They have been adapting, sizing up the landscape, assessing what isn’t getting done, then figuring out how they can play in the changing landscape. It’s a perfect role for Jean Davis, a former IBM’er, Department of Commerce staffer and tech entrepreneur.
