Leadership: D-Mix Story

Author: Tom Ireland

April 2008

Simply put, the original intent of the Dayton Metropolitan Internet eXchange (D-MIX) -- when brought to us in 2000 by Jeff Almoney, then the chief technology officer for Reynolds + Reynolds -- was to establish a local Internet peering point.  Create a neutral electronic meeting place for local Internet users and organizations exchanging data.

Most Internet traffic was exchanged at high-profile locations in the United States (MAE East, MAE West, and Network Access Points) but with the exponential growth in Internet use business leaders began focusing on how to send data through the quickest, most cost-effective, secure and direct route to its destination.   To create a path where local Internet traffic could be exchanged without taking a wasted trip out of the Miami Valley, across the vast scope of the Internet, just to return to Dayton.

Support for and seed funding to launch D-MIX came from multiple sources. Montgomery County allocated $100,000 from their Economic Development and Governmental Equity fund to purchase the equipment.  The City of Dayton allocated floor space in their data center.  But soon manpower to lead the project became critical.  To fill the need Allan McLaughlin, then the chief technology officer for LexisNexis, established the Executive on Loan program in conjunction with the Greater Dayton IT Alliance.  Dean Marker in 2001 with Charles “Bud” Rahe following in 2002 were established as co-workers in GDITA offices to build awareness of and support for the economic development tool.  Phil Bergstedt from Reynolds + Reynolds came on board in 2003 with John Burkley whose time was contributed by NCR finished up the program in 2004.

The purpose statement for the D-MIX project was to facilitate economic development by creating a virtual collaboration environment that would enable rapid deployment of advanced network applications for all market segments including business-to-business, government, homeland security and emergency services, law enforcement, health care, and education. To offer local businesses and community-based services a high-speed low-cost inter-organization network connection to electronically collaborate and exchange large volumes of data.

As streaming videos and bandwidth hungry applications have become a normal part of our digital communication, the eight south suburban cities under the leadership of the Miami Valley Communications Council continue the original vision through their Miami Valley Regional Network.  During the October 2007 meeting the Greater Dayton IT Alliance Board of Trustees voted to contribute the D-MIX equipment to the Communications Council to continue the vision and mission of the original economic development intent.