Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of State, in collaboration with Chenega Decision Sciences, LLC, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Department’s Modular Data Center (MDC), located within the compound of the Beltsville Information Messaging Center. The ceremony brought together Department employees, State of Maryland Officials, and private sector employees who together have contributed to the success of the MDC.

The MDC provides the ability to expand and contract data center capabilities based upon the needs of the Department. It also includes an innovative, adaptive cooling technology that helps reduce the carbon footprint of the data center while maintaining peak performance.

Through the “virtualization first” policy, the Department is focused on containing the physical footprint of IT. Fewer physical servers translate into significant environmental impact through containment of environmentally harmful materials, decreased energy costs per server, decreased packaging materials, and transportation services. This accelerates the Department’s ability to meet Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI) mandates.