Back at the Blandin Broadband conference…

Robert Bell gave the keynote speech tonight. Much of it mirrored his talk earlier but here are some highlights.

Broadband economy brings out community opportunities. There is no such thing as the middle of nowhere. There are opportunities to leverage great quality of life and local expertise as economic potential.

What is an Intelligent Community? One that understands the challenges and rises to the occasion.

7 Habits of Intelligent Communities

1. Have leaders that convince people there is more to be won than lost from the Broadband Economy
2. Have big ambitions and an appetite for action (don’t study things to death – and I quote. Hmmm)
3. Do what it take to get broadband – but don’t fall in love with the technology
4. Create a sustainable model
5. Create and celebrate community champions
6. Work to build a culture of use
7. Plan for economic growth by reducing your emissions