OneCommunity's Scot Rourke Named Intelligent Community Visionary of the Year for...

OneCommunity's Scot Rourke Named Intelligent Community Visionary of the Year
for 2008

CLEVELAND, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Scot Rourke, President and CEO of
OneCommunity, has been named the Intelligent Community Visionary of the Year
for 2008 by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF)
(www.intelligentcommunity.org ), a New York-based think tank dedicated to
studying economic growth in the Broadband Economy.
The award is being presented at a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio today.
Rourke will make the Intelligent Community Visionary of the Year address at
ICF's annual Building the Broadband Economy summit in New York City on May 16.
OneCommunity (www.onecommunity.org ) is a Cleveland-based nonprofit
organization dedicated to fostering economic development and improving quality
of life by leveraging information technologies. ICF selected Rourke based on
his groundbreaking work as a social entrepreneur in Northeast Ohio and his
willingness to share hard-won lessons in ICT-based economic development with
communities around the world.
"OneCommunity is proud to be a leader in the movement to ensure the
success of Northeast Ohio in the new broadband economy, and I am privileged to
accept this honor," Rourke said. "We remain committed to our transformative
efforts in education, health care, workforce development and government that
have helped establish our region as a model for communities worldwide."
ICF Chairman John G. Jung added, "In addition to taking OneCommunity from
concept to dynamic reality, Rourke has freely shared its innovative business
model and approach."
As OneCommunity's CEO, Rourke led the successful effort to develop an
ultra-broadband community network serving first the city of Cleveland and then
the entire Northeast Ohio region. The effort began in 2002 when Cleveland's
Case Western Reserve University named Lev Gonick as its new CIO. Believing
that the region's nonprofits should play a more active role in its recovery
from industrial decline, Gonick assembled a group of community leaders that
founded OneCleveland, OneCommunity's predecessor. Rourke joined the effort,
turning this vision into reality. Under Rourke's leadership, OneCommunity
forged partnerships with the region's telephone and cable carriers.
The OneCommunity network has expanded and will soon connect 1,500 schools,
libraries, governments, hospitals and universities, cost-effectively
delivering ultra broadband that enables applications such as distance learning
and telemedicine. In recognition of the region's achievements, the Intelligent
Community Forum named Northeast Ohio a 2008 Top Seven Intelligent Community of
the Year. ICF will announce the Intelligent Community of the Year winner on
May 16.
SOURCE OneCommunity

Andrea T. Castrovillari of OneCommunity, +1-216-905-5680,
acastrovillari@onecommunity.org