Chattanooga Announced As "Gig City"

In case you missed the Spirit of Innovation award ceremony today at the Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center, allow us to fill you in on a big announcement. Keynote speaker, Robert Vrij of Alcatel Lucent, announced during his speech that the city of Chattanooga has been dubbed "Gig City."

So, what does that mean? Through the advancement of EPB's gigabit fiber-optic network, new opportunities have opened up to the leaders of Chattanooga. We now have the ability to use this smart grid technology to control city-wide networks and operations, such as the lighting system.

Today's winner of the Kruesi award, Global Green Lighting, is a prime example. Through their innovative lighting system, it is now possible to control the lights from a remote location by simply logging on to the network from an Internet-connected laptop.

Vrij says this kind of system can revolutionize the way Chattanooga runs and will save money and limit outages across the city.

Part two of the announcement is the "Gig Prize" challenge. Alcatel-Lucent has invested $100,000 as a cash-prize that will go to the entrepreneur or student who can come up with the best paradigm-shifting business model. This is a program that will allow the winners to not only create a cutting-edge idea, but to also build the model and launch it in the Chattanooga market.

For more information about how to participate in the Gig Prize challenge, visit www.thegigcity.com