This week we had the opportunity to hear from Rick Usher the Assistant City Manager of Kansas City, Missouri about the efforts he and others went through to bring Google Fiber to Kansas City. It was an informative webinar and Rick even brought on a special guest to give her point of view.
#FiberELGL
Rick started off the presentation with the above video to show the impact of Google Fiber after one year in Kansas City. Then the Mayor Pro Tem of Kansas City, Cindy Circo, to share her perspectives on working with Google and the impact it’s had on the community. Cindy was a City Councilor when fiber was brought to the city and she spent 20 minutes answering questions from the webinar attendees with Rick to get our learning started.
From there Rick went to his presentation and gave advice for working with Google and other fiber companies as well as what kind of changes they have seen as Google Fiber has spread through the community. Rick talked about the city’s innovation district and the small businesses that the new high speed internet has helped. See more of what Rick had to say from the tweets below and watch the webinar from the recording.
Watch the webinar:
Bringing Google Fiber to Kansas City with Rick Usher
Keep up with news about Kansas City from their Twitter accounts:
- City of Kansas City – @KCMO
- Rick Usher – @RuKCMO
- Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Circo – @CindyCirco
- The Bi-state Innovation Team – @KCDigitalDrive
The Takeaways
We’re about to get started with the #GoogleFiber webinar with @RuKCMO follow along with the hashtag #FiberELGL
— Ben Kittelson (@benkittelson56) July 17, 2014
#ELGL ready to go and learn about @googlefiber #FiberELGL pic.twitter.com/zViKI4f2vY
— Midwest ELGL (@MidwestELGL) July 17, 2014
.@KCMO has less ROW restrictions than most in country. KC has a 5 day turnaround for permit issuance, says @RuKCMO #FiberELGL
— ELGL (@ELGL50) July 17, 2014
Working to get @googlefiber is an example of a new kind of economic development “Getting gov’t out of the way.” – @CindyCirco #FiberELGL
— Ben Kittelson (@benkittelson56) July 17, 2014
“The free market is out there working for us.” #fiberelgl
— Ian T. Davidson (@Ian_T_Davidson) July 17, 2014
Who says #localgov is slow? #KansasCity turned around ROW permits in 5 days to implement #GoogleFiber. #FiberELGL
— Ben McCready (@BenMcCready1) July 17, 2014
“We knew on the front end that what we did for @googlefiber we would have to do for other providers.” – @CindyCirco #FiberELGL
— ELGL (@ELGL50) July 17, 2014
First RFI for @googlefiber was framed as an “experiment” says @RuKCMO. KC helped turned fiber into a business. #FiberELGL
— ELGL (@ELGL50) July 17, 2014
Great interaction between @RuKCMO and @CindyCirco. Refreshing to see this between electeds and staff. #FiberELGL
— Kent Wyatt (@kwyatt23) July 17, 2014
To date the @googlefiber project has laid 7,000 miles of fiber in @KCMO and its neighbors #FiberELGL
— Ben Kittelson (@benkittelson56) July 17, 2014
After 6 weeks of negotiating with @googlefiber @RuKCMO commented “I don’t think we’re being punk’d.” The deal was that good. #FiberELGL
— Ian T. Davidson (@Ian_T_Davidson) July 17, 2014
3 keys to successfully using @googlefiber. #FiberELGL pic.twitter.com/bBgAsTtqWN
— ELGL (@ELGL50) July 17, 2014
.@RuKCMO discussing “Hacker #1” and relationship with @FastCompany. #FiberELGL pic.twitter.com/GGPcOH8DV8
— Kirsten Wyatt (@kowyatt) July 17, 2014
.@googlefiber cousins get together in Google Hangout. #FiberELGL pic.twitter.com/vklvxl0xsm
— ELGL (@ELGL50) July 17, 2014
KC has launched “Innovation Partnership” process. Small start ups can partner with city without extending RFP process. #FiberELGL
— Kirsten Wyatt (@kowyatt) July 17, 2014
Pic of @googlefiber going thru KC city manager’s driveway. #FiberELGL pic.twitter.com/rheMSOfQS6
— Kent Wyatt (@kwyatt23) July 17, 2014
How to make #localgov #innovative? Stop asking for ideas in an RFP and provide open data so innovators can bring ideas to #City. #FiberELGL
— Ben McCready (@BenMcCready1) July 17, 2014
Check out the #FiberELGL hashtag or tweets from @ELGL50 where @RuKCMO shared earlier about how #GoogleFiber came to KC.
— Kansas City, Mo. (@KCMO) July 17, 2014
Hat Tip to @RuKCMO and @CindyCirco for sharing @KCMO experience with @googlefiber. ELGL members can re-watch it in our webinar library.
— ELGL (@ELGL50) July 17, 2014