Michigan City Area Schools and iNeighborhoods are Building a Digital Future for Everyone
Proof of Concept Buildout Begins
Michigan City is an Indiana city located on the eastern edge of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI MSA and approximately an hour drive from downtown Chicago. Along with its close proximity to the country’s third largest city, the community has a significant number of economic advantages/assets. These include, but not limited to, direct access to Lake Michigan, a long history of manufacturing and energy production, tourist attractions and natural assets, public transportation (rail and bus), successful gaming casino (largest employer), historic downtown, number of large institutional employers, and nearby interstate highways.
$80 Million Project Envisioned for Michigan City South Shore Station Area
Economic Context
Michigan City is expecting a number of major capital investments in the near future, including a $1.3B “two-track” project to expand railway capacity along with a new $190M train station; a new hotel and apartment complex; and more than 1,000 apartments planned for the next five years. The 2019 designation of the Indiana Dunes Lakeshore as a national park continues to attract new visitors and tourism-related economic activity. The school district’s commitment to expand coverage of its Wi-Fi network will improve student learning experiences and create new opportunities for economic growth and innovation.
Like many rural communities across America, Michigan City is looking for a new path forward. A path that will attract new residents and small businesses, the entrepreneurial creative class, as well as provide for new learning experiences for their students. To make this possible, Michigan City Area Schools, in conjunction with other community stakeholders, is leading the development of a digital community. An inclusive digital community which creates new educational opportunities for young people, and new public and private sector opportunities for Michigan City residents.
Education Context
Michigan City Area Schools, MCAS, has a desire for their schools to be deeply integrated and aligned with the mission of the community as it relates to things like community connection and pride, workforce development and understanding of history. The school and community have an open and productive work arrangement. Making sure that innovative ideas can be productive for both parties will be a key to continued alignment and mutual growth.
These same educational opportunities could also be recharacterized and utilized across all sectors of the Michigan City economy including county and local government, real-estate and transportation corridor development, retail, tourism, public health and safety, energy management and more.
- Community 5G CBRS digital network is in place, service to families varies based on location.
- Developing a deep set of learning experiences for students throughout the area as below:
- Establish multiple digital expeditions across the greater Michigan City area
- Look for community attractions to build a robust digital experience (lighthouse, zoo, botanical gardens, Mount Baldy)
- Use sensor technology to support a new sense of safety from within the community and beyond.
Proof of Concept – POC
iNeighborhoods and MCAS are currently building a proof-of-concept POC pilot which includes MCAS’ 5G CBRS network, local service providers and community IoT networks, and iNeighborhoods Digital Placemaking platform integrated with local stakeholder and ecosystem planning processes.
Four POC locations have been selected for the pilot. A K-12 school location, a downtown Franklin Street retail location, the area adjacent to the Southshore commuter platform now under construction, and a variety of mobile public locations. We will be sure to provide more detail about each Digital Placemaking location soon.
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