The agreement gives Cook County permission to draw fiber optic lines to extend along the CTA tracks. | File photo
The agreement gives Cook County permission to draw fiber optic lines to extend along the CTA tracks. | File photo
Cook County officials expect to provide faster service now that broadband connections are complete.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said that Oak Forest Health Center and Markham Courthouse are now both benefiting from the high-speed connection. A 10-gigabyte, fiber-optic cable connection will improve capabilities for county workers.
At Oak Forest Health Center, doctors, nurses and other specialists will be able to access patient records, test results and other data more quickly and with greater efficiency. Radiology reports can be viewed remotely twice as fast as previously possible.
Markham Courthouse will be able to incorporate the more prominent use of digital videos with increased speeds, said Cook County Chief Infortmaiton Officer Simona Rollins.
The upgrade comes from Cook County partnering with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The agreement gives Cook County permission to draw fiber optic lines to extend along the CTA tracks out to core sites within the county. These will then be connected to dozens of other county facilities throughout the entire region.
The network is secure, meaning all of the public safety records, personal medical records, and other proprietary information will still be protected. There is no cause for concern regarding any compromise of information, according to Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who called the upgrades an important step to creating a “strong broadband infrastructure for the 21st century."
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