The city of Burlington has joined a national effort to develop next generation internet technologies and create an infrastructure for the city that will promote technological enterprises.
Burlington becomes the 26th city to join US Ignite, an initiative of the White House office of Science and Technology Policy to increase technological competitiveness.
Mayor Miro Weinberger announced the city’s initiative, dubbedBTV IGNITE, at the headquarters of Dealer.com in downtown Burlington.
Mayor Weinberger attended a June US Ignite App Summit and shared a video from that meeting showing some of the types of apps being creating through the program.
US Ignite Executive Director William Wallace notes their mission is to generate 60 next-generation internet applications that will have a transformative impact on the nation’s economy. Burlington was selected as the newest community because it has four unique assets to take advantage of the next generation of the internet.
Interim Burlington Telecom Director Stephen Barraclough notes that Burlington was one of the first communities to build a fiber optic network, which is the technical base for the initiative.
An advisory group has been formed to focus city efforts on specific technology areas including: enhancing the existing technology infrastructure in the community; identifying and enhancing the city’s core capabilities regarding which next-generation applications can be built; and recruiting new tech businesses and workers.
