Lexington is playing host to government, business and technology leaders from across a 12-state region as the Broadband Communities economic development conference gets under way downtown.
The roaming conference, which previously has been held in Virginia, suburban Chicago and Massachusetts, brings together professionals and innovators across a spectrum of disciplines for discussions and presentations that look at increasingly important intersection of technology and economic development. The Lexington conference is sponsored by Broadband Communities Magazine and Fiber to the Home Council.
“What’s interesting about this, I think, is the KentuckyWired project, which is unique in the country, and how that will affect Lexington,” said Scott Shapiro, a senior aide to Mayor Jim Gray. KentuckyWired is a recently launched state program that aims to leverage private investment to bring reliable high-speed Internet connectivity to every county in the commonwealth.
The conference, which runs through Friday at Hilton, is focused on the needs of 12 states in the east-central region of the U.S.: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Shapiro said the goal is to share information and experiences to help communities improve broadband infrastructure, which he said is as important to economic development as more traditional assets such as highways, rail and airports.
“I hear from businesses all the time saying that they don’t have the connectivity they need,” he said.
More information on the conference can be found at www.bbcmag.com/lexington/index.html