US Ignite and Spectrum Select St. Petersburg, Florida for Smart Gigabit Program

US Ignite, a non-profit organization seeking to accelerate the smart city movement, and Spectrum have recently announced the selection of St. Petersburg as a Smart Gigabit Community, with the St. Petersburg Innovation District serving as the convening partner.

The Innovation District's participation in this project was made possible by a grant from Spectrum. This announcement reportedly marks the beginning of a smart cities collaboration between Spectrum, a leading broadband communications company and the second largest cable operator in the United States, and St. Petersburg, as well as the first joint initiative between Spectrum and US Ignite.

“I want to thank the St. Petersburg Innovation District for working so hard to not only explore smart city technologies, but to be a leader in growing our startup ecosystem,” said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. “I am particularly grateful to US Ignite as well as Spectrum for choosing the Innovation District as a partner for this incredible venture. As a Smart Gigabit Community, the Sunshine City will be able to provide the very best tools to entrepreneurs, helping them build great companies and create real solutions for St. Petersburg.”

US Ignite launched the Smart Gigabit Communities program with the National Science Foundation in 2015, and the project now includes twenty seven member communities. Each participating community in the program receives access to a low-latency and fast network with local cloud computing and storage capabilities that support highly interactive and visually immersive experiences not possible on today's commercial Internet.

As the latest addition to the Smart Gigabit Communities program, the St. Petersburg Innovation District said it aims to use its newfound resources to develop advanced applications and services that address local needs such as infrastructure, workforce development, public safety, education, and community health.

“We are thrilled to welcome Spectrum and the St. Petersburg Innovation District to our Smart Gigabit Communities program as we continue to develop new opportunities for public-private collaboration,” said William Wallace, Executive Director, US Ignite. “We strongly support the Innovation District's mission of developing St. Petersburg into an environment that fosters job growth, economic development, and learning and inspiration by bringing innovative people and organizations together, and we are confident they will be the catalyst for many exciting technological developments in St. Petersburg.”