Riverside Program Helps Close City’s Digital Divide

In 2005, Riverside (CA) hired its first full-time CIO, Steve Reneker, and it launched SmartRiverside, an ambitious plan to attract and retain technology companies. The plan created free citywide wireless Internet access, technology literacy and digital inclusion activities, and new programs to foster technology innovation and use. A year later, the City Council addressed physical infrastructure needs by approving Riverside Renaissance, a $2 billion effort to improve traffic flow; replace aging water, sewer and electric infrastructure; and expand and improve police, fire, parks, library and other community facilities. It’s this dedication to high-tech and digital inclusion that, for two years, has earned Riverside a place as one of the Intelligent Community Forum’s (ICF) Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year. The ICF, a New York-based think tank focused on the digital economy, says the Top Seven communities represent international models of economic and social transformation in the 21st century.