Member Article

Smart Cities reach out in search of growth

With yesterday’s announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg – ‘20 more cities to get greater autonomy’ – the focus on enabling local economic growth is set to intensify.

This follows announcements of significant funding allocations to major cities for investment in digital infrastructure.

At the same time as Nick Clegg was speaking at the Mansion House, six miles east in docklands the first UK Study Tour for smart cities was launched at the FTTH Council Europe’s major conference.

The Study Tour in June will visit Chattanooga in Eastern Tennessee (the USA’s first Gigabit city) and then move on to New York for the ICF Summit – a global meeting of mayors and economic developers from around the world.

Chattanooga with its smart grid, gigabit Internet and countless growth-enabling inward investments is a prime global example of how to develop the local economy, boost jobs and improve public services.

Full details of the Study Tour (and a video of a recent ‘pathfinder’ visit) can be found here.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Brunnen .