Expert praises 'smart' Wanganui

SWITCHED ON: Yesterday's Chronicle front page story about families and businesses moving to Wanganui because of broadband connectivity. Photo/Stuart Munro

Robert Bell has high praise for Wanganui mayor Annette Main and council employees Marianne Archibald and Sally Patrick who met all their own costs to attend an Intelligent Communities Forum in New York last month.

Based in the Big Apple, the writer and researcher is co-founder of the Forum and co-author of the book Brain Gain.

He said the Wanganui contingent were the only attendees who paid their own way to the forum and that showed "personal commitment of the highest order".

In town last week to talk about his book, Mr Bell said Wanganui has made the list of 21 "Smart Cities" around the world because of the broadband connectivity here and the steps taken by council and local business to form partnerships.

"The challenge for Wanganui is to get prosperity to stay here ... to stop the best and brightest from leaving.

"It's just the start - the council are thinking about things in the right way and they have looked at the indicators."

It sounds good, but what is the Intelligent Communities Forum? What is a Smart City and what is Brain Gain about?

"An intelligent community is a triangle," said Mr Bell.

"It is one where local government, business and educators work together to create prosperity in the region."

The Intelligent Community Forum was born in 1995 when 400 people from around the world met in Toronto, Canada.

Named "Smart 95", the event was a think-tank to discuss how telecommunications and the internet was likely to impact on communities.

Almost 20 years later, the world has seen massive advances in digital communications and a worldwide recession. Some cities have emerged strong and prosperous against challenging odds. Brain Gain tells the stories of cities and individuals who have developed online learning services that boost skill levels to make people employable in the digital age.

Mr Bell responded to the recent report by NZ Institute of Economic Research economist, Shamubeel Eaqub which suggested that targeting resources to central North Island towns where populations were dwindling would be unwise.

"I think the opposite is true," Mr Bell said. "When there is good connectivity and transport in and out of an area, it means that a business can thrive there.

"The overheads are smaller and there is no need to base yourself in a big overcrowded city - it is about creating brain gain instead of brain drain."

Wanganui council digital facilitator Marianne Archibald said Mr Bell's presentation at the War Memorial Centre last week was well attended and people had a lot of questions.

"Robert's visit attracted a lot of interest and that is very encouraging," she said.

It was Mr Bell's first visit to New Zealand and he found Wanganui to be "extraordinarily beautiful and people who live here are very effective users of technology".