Economic Development

Exploring Open Data in Wilmington

A group of programmers, coders, and government officials are coming together to see how much we can improve Wilmington with open data.

Tuesday evening, Wilmington's Economic Development Director, Jeff Flynn, spoke to more than 30 people at 1313 Innovation about how they could work with the city to review and analyze data that could be used to better plan for the city's future.

This is a concept that's being tried around the world with great success. Here's just a few articles to check out:

How Open Data is Transforming City Life

3 Cities Using Open Data in Creative Ways to Solve Problems

5 reasons why good governments should embrace open data

Delaware can become a national leader on open data

It's exciting to see what we can accomplish by working together!

Marty

 

Downtown Wilmington is the place for co-working

The News Journal recently published a great article about our co-working spaces in Downtown Wilmington.

Here's some excerpts:

“It’s affordable, reliable and more conducive than teleconferencing on Skype,” partner Miguel Zakharia said. “It also allows us to be part of this really cool atmosphere. It feels like one big family over there.”
The largest co-working space in Wilmington, 1313 Innovation is about to get even bigger as demand for shared workspace grows among young entrepreneurs.
The 2-year-old tech-focused workspace on the ground floor of the Hercules Plaza Building opened a new wing in December and soon will begin work on a third addition.
...
Steven Roettger and Wes Garnett were among the first to see co-working’s potential in Delaware.
After meeting at a financial planning firm, the duo had just started the marketing firm Verge in 2008 when they read an article about this new office space model taking shape in San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York.
“As business owners just getting started, we were finding it hard to meet other people like us in Delaware,” Roettger said. “Our first reaction was this is exactly what we were looking for – a way to tap into the creative and tech community.”

Click here to see the entire article.

Downtown Wilmington is all about innovation, collaboration, and creating exciting new things - if you haven't already experienced this in Wilmington, come on down and see for yourself.

Marty

 

Shopping in Downtown Wilmington

Our friends at Out & About Magazine have published a great piece on shopping in Downtown Wilmington.

Out & About Shopping Guide

Whether you're looking for last minute gifts for the Holidays or something unique and interesting for yourself this season, you're sure to find the perfect clothes, accessories, tools, toys, and more in Downtown Wilmington.

Click Here to check out the complete piece from Out & About.

Marty

 

Downtown Wilmington - Great Place for Entrepreneurship

Our friends at technical.ly just published findings from DataFox naming Wilmington as the fifth best city for Start Ups.

Technical.ly mapped Wilmington’s innovation corridor ahead of Delaware Innovation Week.

Technical.ly mapped Wilmington’s innovation corridor ahead of Delaware Innovation Week.

Here's an excerpt:

DataFox cited the city’s “favorable tax climate combined with access to decision-makers,” in addition to new incubators and coworking spaces, a low cost of living, UD’s Horn Program in Entrepreneurship and proximity to the Northeast Corridor. It also noted availability of mentors and policymakers.

You can read the complete article here - and you can see the report from DataFox here.

I am proud of how Downtown Wilmington is home to so many great Start Ups and entrepreneurs - and I look forward to seeing more in our city in the future!

Marty