"Local Growth in a Global Economic Crisis" is the 2009 edition of the annual Building the Broadband Economy summit in New York City on 13-15 May. An exclusive, invitational event produced by the Intelligent Community Forum and the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, the summit attracts attendees from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. It is a unique opportunity for I-NEC members to learn from the world’s most dynamic communities how to use information and communications technology to build prosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities.

During a press breakfast at the second day of the annual FttH Council Europe Conference in Copenhagen a closer relationship between the Ftth Council Europe (FttH) and the International Network of E-Communities (INEC) is confirmed by a Memorandum of Understanding.

The City of Amsterdam announcement to now move to the next stage of their FttH project - with another roll out covering 100,000 connections - is a clear indication that the concept of open access FttH networks is a valid one. This will have large scale implications for countries around the world who are looking at using open network based telecoms infrastructure projects to stimulate their economies.

Mid 2009 Amsterdam will see the next stage of the roll out, covering another 100,000 open access fiber connections. This follows from an agreement between the initial owners of Fibernet Amsterdam and the joint venture of Reggefiber and Dutch incumbent telco KPN. The agreement ensures the construction of a high quality and future proof communication infrastructure, a basic condition for the city’s economic and social prosperity.

The Inec board will attend the 16th World Congress on Information Technologies (WICT). This Congress involving world leaders of various branches of information and communication technologies, leading heads of the government and the leaders of various industries all over the world regarding the development of ICT earlier was held in such cities as Taipei, Taiwan, Adelaide (Australia) and Athens.