A futurist applauds a decision by the Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development (OI) to instill fibre optic cable throughout the community, creating one of the fastest Internet service providers in rural Canada.
A futurist is a person who studies current trends and makes predictions about the future based on what's happening now.
The service, provided by O-NET, a non-profit community-owned Internet and cable provider, was created to enable residents and businesses to gain access to the Internet at speeds previously only seen in much larger centres.
It's been the envy of other small communities across Canada.
But it came at a price.
Two loans with a combined total of $14 million were secured from the Alberta Capital Finance Authority (ACFA) and approved by Olds council in 2011 and 2014.
"It's a game changer for your community. If you hadn't done that I wouldn't be as excited as I am today about the opportunity you have to be part of that future," futurist Nikolas Badminton said during the PowerUp! Entrepreneurs Conference, held Nov. 6 in the Pomeroy Inn & Suites.
"I think that if more small communities chose to do that then the world's going to be in a good place, because you're fundamentally connecting the talent that's here with the wider world, and you're bringing the wider world to here."
Badminton conceded it's expensive to install that infrastructure, but he said it's well worth it in the end.
"You're going to see businesses coming here because they can set up, they can run their operations a little bit more efficiently. They can build businesses in new ways, because you've got the ability to connect to the greater fibre network," Badminton said.
"The ability to pass data in and out of a community is a foundation of change and exponential growth."
Earlier this fall, Olds was recognized internationally for that innovation.
It was ranked ninth among the top 10 intelligent communities with a population of 50,000 or fewer by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a New York-based group that promotes the use of new technologies for the betterment of communities around the world.
Last year, Olds was selected as one of the world’s 21 smart communities from among about 400 applicants.
OI executive director Mitch Thomson says these two selections make Olds "a rare gem" among communities of its size.
