Hilliard CityLab grows municipal broadband, AI sandbox and drone testing to support startups and civic services

Dwayne Powell, Hilliard’s chief information officer and IT director, said the city has turned municipal fiber and COVID-era funding into a technology incubator that provides internet access, prototyping resources and public-safety tools for startups and city departments.

“The premise, around back in 02/2019 or even prior to me coming to the city was fiber was very important for business, for economic development,” Powell said, describing the initial push to build a municipal fiber network. He said the network became the backbone for several CityLab programs that followed.

CityLab’s programs include a private cellular (CBRS) network that Powell said the city used to equip students with modems rather than relying on short-term hotspot programs. “We took that and built a private cellular network or CBRS network … and secured, modems that we could give to the students working in partnership closely with our schools,” Powell said. He added, “Our program, because we bought the hardware, is still operational, and we're still expanding it.”

Powell described Hilliard’s broadband offering (marketed as HiFiO) as city-owned fiber infrastructure that multiple private internet-service partners use. He listed partner providers as BreshCo Broadband, CNI, 3 Lanterns, Lanier 1 and said Glo Fiber had just signed on. By providing the fiber into buildings, Powell said…