This video helps municipal and county leaders see their communities from a new perspective: the perspective of a network builder or ISP. It offers straightforward advice on making their communities better targets for broadband investment – and making sure the network supports growth, quality of life and digital equity.

A presentation by Agustin Argelich at the ICF Top7 Conference in Binh Duong, Vietnam.

Brian Snider is founder of a very unusual network builder, Lit Fiber. The company plans and develops broadband networks for municipalities and counties – and does it through creative public-private partnerships that share risk and ensure that the needs of the community’s people come first.

In this video interview, ICF co-founder Robert Bell and Brian explore how Lit Fiber developed its unique approach. They also drill into the seven principles for success in network development, which were the subject of a recent ICF report, Building Success for Your Municipal Network, available free from ICF.

During Better Together, the 2023 Top7 Announcement Conference, regions and communities shared lessons learned in developing regional collaboration, identifying programs to serve their communities as they exist today while simultaneously charting a future of greater scale, integration and economic vitality.

The journey of the Regional Municipality of Durham and its constituent communities in partnering in the development of these outlying suburbs of Toronto, including launch of a formal Intelligent Community development program for the Region.

Learn about this impressive rural community in ICF's Competitive Advantage series!

In short use cases, ICF’s Intelligent Communities share their struggles and successes at building out broadband infrastructure and turning broadband and digital services into effective drivers of economic growth and transformation.

Small businesses employ most people in most places. They are also slower adopters of digital technology than their larger peers. How can local government gain their attention, motivate their engagement and equip them with the skills they need for success in the digital economy?

Connectivity by itself adds little value – it is what people do with it that counts. Learn from communities that have leveraged their broadband assets for business retention and attraction, market differentiation, talent attraction for remote work and regional partnerships.

The city of Prospect has worked closely with the federal government and NBN Co to educate and support local businesses as well as residents. Together, they have implemented the “Next Generation” Digital Economy Strategy, which outlines projects and initiatives to encourage outside investment and local business use of digital technology. The city completed stage one of the strategy in 2016, launching the new Network Prospect brand and website (www.networkprospect.com.au) at the annual Tourrific Prospect Street Party. The Network Prospect website serves as a one-stop shop, promoting local businesses, investment opportunities, and economic development initiatives for the whole region. Hundreds of Prospect businesses have signed up for the site’s business directory, creating a network of local businesses with increased visibility to the community and abroad.