The Alabama Supercomputer Authority (ASA), a state-funded organization that operates K-12 and higher education supercomputers and telecom services statewide, awarded GDIT a $152 million contract last month, the company said in a news release this week. GDIT will be responsible for delivering services such as high-performance computing, cybersecurity, enterprise network management, application development and hosting in a hybrid multicloud environment, the release said.
ASA Chief Executive Officer Debra Wallace said in a public statement that the agreement would help maintain broadband connectivity and other services for more than 780 educational institutions across the state.
ASA operates the Alabama Research and Education Network, which provides Internet access and supercomputer resources to the state's public K-12 and charter schools, public libraries and higher ed institutions. The authority strives to “advance Alabama through technology,” according to its website.
“This contract will enhance ASA’s ability to provide fast, secure and reliable access to research and education resources across the state of Alabama,” GDIT Vice President and General Manager for State and Local Government Scott Mack said in a public statement.
GDIT has partnered with ASA for about three decades, the release said. In addition to its responsibilities through the contract, the company provides disaster recovery, network design, technical support and application development for the state’s educational system, among other services.
This isn’t the first large contract with an education client GDIT has claimed in the past year. In June 2022, the U.S. Department of Education awarded the company more than $120 million to modernize the Federal Student Aid processing system from the mainframe to the cloud. GDIT in November also partnered with Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Dell Technologies and others to accelerate the use of 5G tools across state and local agencies.
