Sky Harbor wins national technology award

The City of Phoenix Aviation Department was awarded the Public Technology Institute’s 2007-2008 Solutions Award for the Technology and Information Technology category for Disaster Recovery.

As one of the country’s most trafficked airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport officials and the Phoenix Aviation Department put disaster recovery measures high on its priority list. Starting in 2005, the two implemented a multi-year project to ensure business continuity in a disaster.

Starting in October 2007, the first phase of the plan went into effect, outsourcing real-time airport data storage to an offsite datacenter. Airport data was still collected and used at the airport, but through storage area networks mirroring and server redundancy, the airport network, domain services and Intranet would be backed up and immediately accessible.
“The steps we’ve taken in this project ensure that systems and data can be recovered in the event of a disaster. Our goal is to be able to continue to serve the community following a catastrophic event,” said Nancy Raabe, Acting Deputy Aviation Director for Aviation’s Technology Division.

In the near future, the Aviation Department will launch additional phase of the disaster recovery plan. Among the goals is further server clustering and creating more redundant off-site backup measures.

The Public Technology Institute also awarded The City of Phoenix’s Neighborhood Services Department for a program that uses multiple portable computer software and hardware to improve the quality of life in Phoenix neighborhoods. The program, called Neighborhood Revitalization Mobile Data Access, outfits city housing rehabilitation employees with laptop computers, docking ports and wireless printers.

The mobile technology improved efficiency of the department by giving employees fast access to permitting, utility and property information. With the fast-flow of information, city officials could easily work with contractors and homeowners looking to improve housing conditions.

Ty can be reached at ty@aztechnews.net.