Civic Cloud Announced at Fletcher Free Library Press Conference Wed. 6/11

Burlington Leads the Way in Innovative Community Internet Applications: Celebrates 30 Years of Community Media with the Forward-Looking Civic Cloud Project

Press Conference Slated for Wednesday, June 11th at 11 a.m. at Fletcher Free Library's Community Room.

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On Wednesday, June 11th leaders in Burlington's community media and civic hacking movement will join local government leaders to announce the launch of the Civic Cloud — a platform for public, non-commercial Internet applications and digital creative works.

Marking the 30th anniversary of cable access TV and community media in Burlington, members of the Civic Cloud Collaborative look ahead to the next generation in public, educational, and government access to the Internet.

Civic Cloud Collaborative members representing CCTV Center for Media & Democracy, Big Heavy World, Code for BTV, Laboratory B, VCAM, and RETN will be joined by community supporters from The Generator, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington's Community & Economic Development Office, the University of Vermont, and Burlington Telecom.

Lauren-Glenn Davitian, founder of CCTV and national leader in community media: “The Civic Cloud is the first project of its kind in the nation. For the past 30 years, community access TV channels have opened the doors to local government, provided an electronic soap box for people with diverse opinions, and laid the ground work for the participatory culture we applaud today. The Civic Cloud will employ Burlington Telecom’s gigabit network to offer a variety of public uses: live public meeting coverage and concerts, multi-user educational gaming, nonprofit web portals, and new applications that support civic engagement and community productivity.”

Bradley Holt of Code for BTV: “The Civic Cloud is the next step in Burlington’s evolution as a sustainable and resilient community. The project will enable the people of Burlington to control their digital destiny, power the next chapter of community and economic development in the City, keep digital dollars in local circulation and provide a powerful electronic platform to power the social economy.”

Burlington Telecom’s fully fiber optic network now operates at gigabit speeds, facilitating a partnership with US Ignite to become a test bed for the development of next-generation Internet applications. The Civic Cloud is a centerpiece of this initiative.”

For more information: Lauren-Glenn Davitian, CCTV, davitian@cctv.org 802.862.1645 x12 or 802.777.7542