After the hard years of pandemic, the Dublin Institute returned to its regular programming on September 29 for the Intelligent Communities and aspiring cities and regions in central Ohio. It was once called the Rust Belt, but the middle of this American state has become an innovation engine in both business and government. 

Private to Public

The poster child for this wave of change is Intel’s decision to invest more than US$20 billion in two new leading-edge chip factories on a 1,000-acre site just outside the state capitol of Columbus. But other projects loom large, including the Route 33 Smart Mobility Corridor: a 35-mile stretch of highway where public and private partners have installed a fiber network running from a data center on Dublin’s Dublink network through Marysville, the Honda America plant and to a Transportation Research Center. Along the fiber are short-range transmitters that will communicate with 1,200 test vehicles to provide real-world evaluation of connected vehicle applications, autonomous technologies and traffic management systems. This regional economic development project has attracted more than $200 million in state, local, and private investment.

Small Cities Taking Big Steps

The September 29 webinar featured speakers from three small central Ohio cities – Dublin, Westerville and Hilliard – as well as the Broadband Access Ohio nonprofit in which they participate.  If you want to learn how small cities can take giant steps to prosper in the digital century, these short videos are for you.

Dublin Fiber-to-the-Home Network - Doug McCullough, CIO, City of Dublin

Westerville Data Center & Smart City Initiatives - Michael Farrar, CIO & Brian Gorenflo, WeConnect manager, City of Westerville

Hilliard City Lab - Michelle Crandall, City Manager, City of Hilliard

Broadband Access Ohio - Geoff Andrews, Chairman

Webinar Group Discussion