The city of Burlington is showcasing its technology sector this week. It’s a concerted effort to update the region’s image and call attention to Burlington’s position as one of the top 100 locations in the nation for tech business startups.
BTV Ignite defines its mission as working to accelerate the growth of the technology and innovation ecosystem in the greater Burlington area. BTV Ignite Director Mike Schirling says during their first year of operation he’s found that technology has been missing from conversations about the region’s economy. “For the better part of three decades the number one export has been microchips yet our primary messaging remains agriculture, tourism, things of that nature. And while those are essential pieces of Vermont’s identity we think it's important as we look to find ways to grow our economy, to keep youth here, to improve our educational system and to find new ways to employ Vermonters that innovation and technology become part of the fabric of that conversation.”
Schirling notes that most businesses use some form of technology and Innovation Week hopes to highlight some of the emerging ideas and products from Burlington-based entities. “It can really be anything that is embracing some kind of positive change either on a large scale or a small scale. So examples range from Dealer.com, that’s at one end sort of reinventing the way people look to buy vehicles, to a small company like Thinkmd which is working out of the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies in Burlington that is building applications to revolutionize the way medicine is delivered in places where you don't have immediate access to health care professionals based on using an app to help diagnose something to help save lives.”
At the start of Innovation Week BTV Ignite created an Executive Fellows program to find new ways to engage and expand a variety of sectors.
University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine Technology Director Jill Jemison, one of BTV Ignite’s Executive Fellows, finds innovation to be a huge part of medicine and the expanded campus community. “All throughout UVM you have people that work on the front lines of innovation. These people live in a world of innovation and discovery. And so translating what they do in terms of science on a day to day basis and medicine on a day to day basis into the innovation ecosystem in Burlington is a natural extension. And UVM in general our students feel that that's who millennials are. They live and breathe it. So I think the innovation ecosystem in Burlington and the sort of change on campus and the exciting changes in medicine all come together at this time. It's an exciting moment and a lot of stuff is coming together. I think that's why UVM’s right at the forefront of the conversation.”
IBM Cloud Data Services team Developer Advocate Maureen McElaney is excited to be an Executive Fellow because she perceives Burlington as an up-and-coming tech hub. “I'm really excited to be involved with this program because it's bringing gigabit connectivity to our area and this especially affects people who live in rural parts of Vermont. So I want to help with bringing guidance and connections to the program with my existing networks. And you know really see Vermont become empowered through technology and find new ways to solve public issues and problems through better connection to the Internet and more services available.”
Innovation Week continues through October 22nd.
