Business Facilities - August 2008 - (Page 12)

COVER STORY Economic Development 2.0 into the sky, an emphatic declaration of its status as Canada’s premier telecommunications hub. In September, Toronto will launch its second annual TorontoTechWeek (TTW), bringing together the region’s information and communication technology professionals, and further cementing the city’s status as a trendsetting, wired community. Held at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, one of the most intriguing events of the week is entitled Future Forward: Internet 2010, a seminar that will discuss how different the Internet may look just two years from now and how corporations can anticipate and prepare for the technological turns of tomorrow. TTW began in 2007 as an initiative of ICT Toronto, an alliance of IT professionals from the private and public sectors. ICT Toronto’s vision is for the city to be acknowledged globally by 2011 as one of the five most innovative, creative, and productive locations in the world for information and communication technology research, education, business, and investment. This industry is one of greater Toronto’s largest private sectors, with a core of 3,300 firms and 148,000 employees, making it the third largest ICT sector in North America behind San Francisco and New York City. ICT Toronto recently 12 AUGUST 2008 published a comprehensive report Toronto Hydro Telecom’s extensive that outlines 13 recommendations, 280-mile fiber optic network which, 17 actions, and 17 progress markers combined with One Zone, allows for that detail the steps needed to further the connectivity speed, synchronicestablish the city’s wired reputation. ity, and mobility needed to meet Staying ahead of the tech curve is Toronto’s lofty high-wire ambitions. a hallmark of Toronto’s digital identity. Its new eCity program proposes ATLANTA, GEORGIA Atlanta is a city so digitally four pillars—eService, eGovernment, e-Business, and eFounda- diverse, so entrenched in the Internet tion—that uphold Toronto as a digi- age, it can let its numbers speak for tally enabled city, integrating themselves. Forbes has ranked the information technology with city city as the most wired in the United services. From online licensing of States in both 2007 and 2008. pets through Toronto Animal Ser- JiWire ranks it sixth for number of vice’s ePet program to a user-friendly wi-fi hot spots. Forty-six percent of Web-based system that enables the Southeast’s high-tech employmunicipal government candidates to ment is located in metro Atlanta file electronically their campaign’s (with a population of nearly 5 milfinancial statements, various services are accessible to city CNN’s satellite dishes residents via the Internet. in Atlanta And the Internet is widely available thanks to Toronto’s One Zone wi-fi network. One Zone is Canada’s largest wi-fi zone, encompassing the entire core of downtown Toronto. The region also is served by SunTrust Banks, Inc., one of Atlanta’s many wired business facilities PHOTO CREDITS: GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

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Business Facilities - August 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots Corporate Moves: Florida Economic Development 2.0 Everything's Big in Texas Aerospace Sites: Poised for Takeoff The Nebraska Advantage Metro Spotlight: Cullman, Alabama Special Focus: Louisiana Industry Focus: Financial Centers Advertiser Index Inside LiveXChange

Business Facilities - August 2008

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