How a Municipal Fiber to the Home Utility is Changing Lafayette, Louisiana - a conversation withMayor Joey Durel

On Thursday, APril 15th Bice spoke with Mayor Joey Durel about the impact on civic life in Lafayette that arose from the development of their own municipally owned information utility.  The notes below capture some of our conversation:

Lafayette has seen no drastic change yet - the City is just a year into the fiber deployment itself.  but the process of even getting to this point has already profoundly changed the city.

The controversy around fiber deployment energized civic discourse, 

There is a new group of people interacting with government, like youth, that were once not engaged.  If civic discourse and interchange isn't integrated in the often mediated culture the youth inhabit, how can they participate??

Because of this ICT infrastructure initiative, young entrepreneurs are having a reason to engage with City Hall and civic culture.  These enterprising individuals and entrepreneurs see opportunities in the City that don't exist, just a few miles away.

Still there are important beginnings sprouting up all around - .  Adjacent communities want to annex into the city to get access to fiber, just as municipal water used to attract them.  Quality of life enhances.

One huge challenge is that this is a whole new conversation in civic discourse.  We lack a language and traditions by which community shapes this new facility. 

A saying arose in the DIPW discourse - "Where it's not, you can't".  In responce Mayor Durel pointed out that the infrastructure and resources will literally never DO anything - Even where it is, only PEOPLE can do anything with it.  That is the next step for Lafayette - 

Providing such systems is about creating opportunities - All citizens will have access to entrepreneurial potential using the infrastructure.  It's now time for:

1.  Civic culture start to develop the places that will use that infrastructure?
2.  The private sector to step up and use this new infrastructure.

Which raises the question: What are the Gateways to that Infrastructure?

• Fiber in the street doesn't change the street, so how can Lafayette citizens dream of new future through the presence of something invisible to most?
• But there is a significant existing network of civic opportunity institutions - knowledge industry institutions (schools and libraries), creative economy institutions (schools, colleges, arts communities, entrepreneurs. . .), and human services institutions (social services, well-being & health institutions.
• Already, the Library & School systems have changed.  Lafayette's new Library exceeded usage of old - partly due to new, more accessible location, partly due to computer use, for which there is often a waiting list.  People say libraries are caput, but in fact usage is escalating.
• Lafayette's historic Courthouse built before any office technology was electronic.  It is clear that these limitations will require the development of a new courthouse that fully integrates Information and Communications technology..

In preparation for the Thursday Breakout session at Fiber Fete, Joey may ask leaders like library board, schools superintendent, courthouse administrator about how they see their institutions evolving in light of the new ICT resources the town has created.

How is your community evolving, influenced by the advent of our new urban nervous systems, and the interactive digital networks enabled by that nervous systems??

Come Thursday and share your thoughts.

Or leave a comment below.

Join the conversation.