Reporting from the 52nd floor of the Met Life Building in NYC….
Mingling with representatives of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities this morning as well as those working to achieve this status. In less than an hour, I have met representatives from communities in Finland, New Zealand, Canada, France, Estonia and Ohio. I have to say that I could barely understand the guy from Ohio!
The focus of today is innovation and employment – both the positive impacts of innovation: new products and new jobs. And the negative affects – obsolete products, failed companies and layoffs. Clearly, jobs and employment are high on everyone’s priority.
Here are some lessons from the intro session as provided by Robert Bell of ICF… To my delight, Blandin Foundation’s MIRC and BBC Communities have very similar examples in place!
Broadband
PanOULU in Finland – Created a shared wireless open access network with the City of Oulu, the University of Oulu, eight townships and two research institutions.
Toronto – Waterfront Toronto redevelopment project focused on next generation jobs – Goal: 40,0000 new jobs. Beanfield Metro Connect – 100 Mb residential, 10 Gb commercial connections. Open access network owned by Waterfront Toronto, built and operated by Beanfield Metro that are recruiting end-user providers. Public private partnership partially funded by the real estate developers. Part of the condo purchase agreement; also includes digital inclusion component.
Knowledge Workforce
Columbus Ohio
Metro High School on campus of Ohio State University, students are organized by their skill level rather than age. Kids can move through school at their own pace; some complete high school in two years. On campus experience enables college credits and internships.
Central Ohio Compact
Partnership with k12, colleges and local companies to provide students with certifications that prove job readiness. Example: Honda Motor Company
Also allows 4 year college to provide associates degree to those students that complete a two year program within the four year college environment – this rewards partial completion of four year degree program.
Columbus 2020
This is a strategy for developing talent pipeline in key industries, including soft skills. “We hire on hard skills; we fire on soft skills.”
Innovation
Triangle of innovation – business, education and government Taichung, Taiwan – The mechanical kingdom – Integrating digital technology into physical infrastructure – focus on their port operations. Use of RFID identifiers for drivers, trucks and containers.
Focus on “i-parks” focusing on business startups. University, business incubators, alliances on innovation and workforce. Enabling shared services around key industries. 400 manufacturers linked through shared ERP system.
Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn has a strong focus on e-goverment. This shared system includes access to government and banking services, enables e-signing and other applications.
They now have a focus to make Tallinn an internationally competitive economy around IT services.
Digital Inclusion
Taoyuan, Taiwan
Worked with the incumbent telecom provider to create 3500 Wi-Fi in public sector facilities, many of them free, including many in the many, many convenience stores. Applications enabling government services are plentiful. They have extended broadband to every village. They are creating digital opportunity centers with access, devices and training. There is a national computer subsidy and tutoring plan.
Marketing and Advocacy – Building the vision of change for the community!
Stratford, Ontario
Stratford has teams of community members who speak to various community groups, including Rotary and others. They have a shared community marketing effort using strong social media efforts.
Stratford now offers broadband and electric power as business attraction incentives rather than financial tools. They have also positioned themselves as the test bed for technology pilots by companies wanting to roll out applications across Canada.