K.Tek welcomed at Enterprise Village ribbon-cutting ceremony

Published: March 24, 2011

K.Tek Systems, Inc. welcomed at ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate sponsorship at Enterprise Village and partnership with the Pinellas Education Foundation.

CLEARWATER, Fla. – K.Tek Systems Inc., a leading global provider of Internet and Web based technology solutions, along with the During Foundation, announced today the opening of a K.Tek Systems Inc. office at Enterprise Village. Nearly 100 people attended an official ribbon-cutting ceremony honoring K.Tek Systems, Inc. as a new business, along with the St. Petersburg & Clearwater Bar Foundations and the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 12, 2011. K.Tek Systems Inc. joins the St. Petersburg Times, Bank of America, and Progress Energy amongst several other businesses that are members of Enterprise Village.

In collaboration with the Stavros Institute and the Pinellas Education Foundation, the Pinellas County School Board supported the K.Tek development team as they designed, tested and implemented an innovative solution introducing students to Internet based technologies, as well as, providing teachers with an alternative to the traditional “paper-based” curriculum. K.Tek Systems’ goal was simple – determine a way to introduce Internet and Cloud Computing into the classroom in a fun and simple manner. The team at K.Tek Systems Inc. took this as a challenge and successfully applied the company’s credo of the “fusion of business and technology” to pioneer creative methods which exposed children to various types of technology solutions while also teaching them that technology can be used as a tool to enhance profitability and communication in business.

K.Tek Systems helped prepare students and teachers in the weeks prior to their visit at Enterprise Village by creating an Internet based “Job Profiling System,” which asked students a series of questions that covertly score them into a category, of which, best fits the personality and matches the students with a job category and/or position that they would be best suited for. The students would then complete an online employment application via the “Job Application Board” which allowed students to choose their companies and review the particular job function they would like to fulfill while at the simulated economic village. In final preparation for their day at Enterprise Village, students were introduced to another K.Tek innovation; an Internet based Cloud Computing Application called the K.Tek Connect Internet Blog. This educational tool was custom built and infused into the curriculum. Students were required to write blog articles which were held in a database and then “suspended” until the teacher gave final approval for the article to be published. Teachers securely logged into the K.Tek Connect Internet Blog from virtually anywhere, and are able to view and manage the work of their students. The process allows for the teacher to continue to view the blog article, send it back to the student for editing, have it published, remain in suspended mode or even have it archived.

Once the student employees arrive at the K.Tek Offices at Enterprise Village, they are ready to fully utilize the skills they’ve learned during their introduction to Internet technology and Cloud Computing Systems. The student K.Tek employees spend time during their visit finalizing the K.Tek Connect Blog for publishing, as well as, meeting with each of the other businesses to determine their tag-line preference for advertisements that will be placed on the K.Tek Connect Blog. Perhaps the most exciting part of the day for K.Tek student employees at Enterprise Village occurs when they visit each business and conduct interviews on video as reporters. The taped interviews are edited when the students periodically return to the K.Tek headquarters in Enterprise Village. Once video production is completed, the student interviews are played on one of the K.Tek LCD screens throughout the day for everyone to see. This gives the K.Tek student employees the opportunity to showcase their hard work and gain first-hand insight into how technology is used to create video blogs.

Students are given blog access information as a unique souvenir of their day at Enterprise Village, and so that family and friends can view their articles and advertisements at their leisure online. An estimated seven million students, family, and teachers will view the K.Tek Connect Internet Blog globally as a result. This garners the school, students and other Enterprise Village businesses publicity and illustrates the true fusion between business technology.

K.Tek Systems continues to provide ongoing service to the Stavros Institute by providing “frontline” technical support for all visiting schools, as well as, the Stavros Institute staff on their Custom Content Management System. The K.Tek Internet Connect Blog is stored on and synchronized between the remote applications and databases located onsite at the Stavros Institute and at a K.Tek Systems location in Tampa. This “fault tolerant” system is redundant ensuring that if either system become unavailable for whatever reason, the students, teachers, schools and staff at Enterprise Village can continue working without interruption.

K.Tek Systems was honored to be selected to establish a technology program for Enterprise Village that brought outstanding innovation to the simulated economic student learning center. “By supplying and utilizing a variety of technologies at Enterprise Village, K.Tek Systems automated some of the more traditional systems into current, “paperless systems” that are relevant not only to the classroom environment but also better represents today’s world with regard to online newspapers, video, social media, and career assessment tools and online job boards,” said Kimberly During, CEO of K.Tek Systems and Founder of the During Foundation. K.Tek Systems Inc.’s achievements at Enterprise Village were further highlighted when Patricia Jeremiah, Director of the Stavros Institute noted the positive feedback she had received from parents impressed with the K.Tek Connect Internet Blog and their students work. “Many parents have even asked if K.Tek Systems offers a summer camp for students to learn more about technology,” said Jeremiah.

K.Tek Systems Inc.’s dedication to the community has awarded the design and development of Internet based “state of the art” technologies such as security, redundant hosting, cloud computing, separate teacher and student sites, and the Stavros Institute’s management and support system that directly impacts classroom curriculum. Business and technology are evolutionary and the future undoubtedly will bring with it new tools for educators and students alike. K.Tek Systems is enthusiastic about the continued development of Internet based technology and anticipates future collaborations with the Pinellas Education Foundation, Pinellas County School Board and the Stavros Institute to bring the learning experience of Enterprise Village to students both inside and outside the classroom.

About K.Tek Systems, Inc.

Founded in 1993, Clearwater, Florida based K.Tek Systems, Inc., is a leading global provider of full-service, Web based solutions including custom web design and development, Tampa email hosting and Internet application management. Additionally, K.Tek Systems offers strategic consulting, corporate Intranet and Extranet development, business systems and database application integration, custom software/Mobile Smartphone application development, e-commerce solutions, as well as content management solutions. Serving hundreds of customers internationally, K.Tek Systems remains steadfast in its commitment to create meaningful relationships by understanding clients’ unique business objectives, identifying their critical success factors and yielding total success by increasing growth, productivity & profitability. K.Tek Systems understands the dynamics of business and technology and prides itself on 98% client retention due to consistently delivering a high ROI by helping clients strategically position themselves competitively in today’s market. Together, K.Tek Systems’ proven leadership and expertise leverages the fusion of business and technology to provide thriving Internet and Web based technology solutions for any organization. For more information, visit www.ktek.com.

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