Forum features collaboration The Levin
College Forum and Cool Cleveland presents Partnerships &
Collaborations: Arts, Technology and Ingenuity. The upcoming Ingenuity festival,

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Lead Awareness Week in Northeast Ohio kicked-off at 11 AM on July 18, 2005, with a press conference at the Zelma George Recreation Center, 3165 Martin Luther King Blvd., in the Mt. Pleasant/Kinsman area of Cleveland. City Department of Health Director Matt Carroll coordinated this informative and valuable insight-sharing session, with great support from area health professionals, community activists, Cleveland and Cuyahoga county staff, foundation workers and volunteers, all working together as the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council (GCLAC). The purpose of the conference and week is to raise public awareness for the risks of lead poisoning, and support preventative action.

Ed Hauser once spent his time insuring the Flats was industrially sustainable, being a computer programmer for LTV. Then, a fortunate thing happened for Cleveland - LTV went bankrupt and Ed found a higher purpose for his life. He moved his loyalty and attention a mile or so up-river to where the Cuyahoga River meets Lake Erie at a parcel of land called Whiskey Island. Since discovering that urban oasis, Ed has dedicated his time and talent to insuring Cleveland is ecologically sustainable and a quality place for current and future residents and visitors by fighting to preserve Whiskey Island as a free and open natural park for all citizens to enjoy.

The July 11, 2005, Ohio Venture Association (OVA) luncheon featured Mark Coticchia, VP for Research and Technology Management at Case University, presenting a report on the progress of his organization since he arrived in Cleveland four years ago. He demonstrated that the progress has been amazing; all performance metrics tracked are at least 100% improved since 2001.

Bill Callahan, Director of Digital Vision (a coalition of organizations in Cleveland, Ohio working to eliminate the "digital divide" in our city), has posted to his blog an analysis of the extent of the digital divide in Cleveland, and the findings are disturbing... "the percentage of Cleveland households in the sample with active Internet connections may be as low as 40%". The numbers for many sectors of our society are much lower. There is not a simple solution to this problem - not just a wi-fi mesh, or neighborhood computing centers, or school labs, or libraries - there is a need as a community to say that we are all committed to help each resident who wants to participate in the new economy to cross the digital divide, and help in every way every step of the way. Read on about the current state of the divide in Cleveland, and consider how you may make a difference:

CLEVELAND'S DIGITAL DISCONNECT: The data, provided to Digital Vision by Scarborough Research,
is from interviews with more than 300 Cleveland residents, 18 and
older, conducted in 2004-2005. While it's not a perfect random sample
of the city's adult population, Scarborough says the sample is
"stable", i.e. the margin of error is reasonable. Here are some of the
highlights:

Please join us for the grand opening of Assemble, the newest addition to the 1300 and the Greater Cleveland Art Scene. Assemble is one part original artwork, two parts creative lifestyle products/services, and a splash of limited edition hand made items, all served chilled and at an affordable price. Assemble (Gallery & Store) co-exist within the 1300 complex and provide a new venue for the ne(u)w-art-era.

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At the last East Cleveland Excellence meeting at the Helen S. Brown Center we spoke about needs for affordable housing for seniors in East Cleveland, especially as they need to downsize, and affordable housing is a huge issue in general. When then looking at photos of some of East Cleveland's landbanked properties it became clear there is a great opportunity to serve these needs.

 

Throughout the history of Northeast Ohio, "Heavy Industry" has been a two-edged sword. Largely due to our water access and availability of natural resources within easy shipping range, steel became big business here and led to great wealth and many jobs. In the process, heavy industry destroyed our natural habitats and created harmful air and water pollution - today, Northeast Ohio is the 8th most polluted region in America. Over the past few decades, old rust-best industry has declined in all of America and historically industrial regions like NEO have needed to envision "New Economy" futures.

Thus, it is especially fascinating that when former Cleveland steel giant LTV cast off its employees and went bankrupt, their computer programmer Ed Hauser chose to evolve his social role from a cog in the steel machinery into an activist pursuing a natural habitat for this region. He has followed his heart and volunteered his time and energy to save for this region a lingering natural Cleveland lakefront asset few knew existed, yet which is one of our region's most unique natural resources... undeveloped land in the "Flats" called Whiskey Island.

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The 04.11.05 Ohio Venture Association (OVA) luncheon at the Cleveland Union Club featured City of Cleveland Senior Executive for Technology Development, aka “tech czar�, Michael DeAloia. Michael is responsible for expanding information technology focused business development in Cleveland, and his results to date are impressive, as highlighted below. Preceding Michael’s talk was a “5-Minute Forum� by Anthony Margida, Ph.D., the Battelle Company Formation Advisor to GLITeC, making this a very important, tech-centric innovation immersion event.

Good news was published in the 04.13.05 Cleveland Plain Dealer about a program called "Computer Learning In My Back Yard" (see below) to provide more computer training to disadvantaged area residents. The article points out that while around 85% of Americans have Internet access at home, less than 50% of Clevelanders are connected. This is an essential program for Northeast Ohio to rebound from the grip of our old economy depression, but a premise of the article - "to transform Cleveland's Luddites into digital literates" - is telling of why we are in this sorry state. "Luddite" is a modern term for " one who opposes technological change", and that is not an accurate description of the common residents of NEO - nothing indicates that they oppose technology. Rather, the area Luddites are those in command and control positions who for too long have failed to grasp the fact that all area residents must have ready access to mainstream information technology to participate in the new economy. Thus, as we begin testing tightly controlled programs in limited areas of Cleveland, "Philadelphia on Monday started free classes for everyone from well-off architects to high school dropouts. That state-supported program wants to help establish basic digital mastery for the entire work force, which will attract businesses into the city, said Carole Smith, executive director of the Mayor's Commission on Technology in Philadelphia." Read on, and realize more must be done, and immediately.

An insightful opinion editorial in the 04.15.05 New York Times declares "Bush Disarms, Unilaterally", claiming over the past few years the US has abandoned the new economy war. The author states what he "can't figure out about the Bush team is why an administration that is so focused on projecting U.S. military strength abroad has taken such little interest in America's economic competitiveness at home - the underlying engine of our strength" - ultimately the question posed is why Americans are allowing ourselves to fall behind the rest of the world in deploying information technology research and access to our masses. The same reasoning can be applied to our homeland economy for Northeast Ohio - why do we allow 100,000s of area residents to stagnate in the old economy, divided apart from the digital economy?

 Jurgen Faust has developed a vision for a "Future Center"
- an innovative collaborative strategy to address NEO's "Design Crisis" 

Q. What is design?

A. Design is a different way to think. At the beginning it is relatively
opposed to scientific thinking - image based thinking and method to solve
problems - thus has largely surfaced from art schools.

With Barbara Byrd Bennett's recent "State of the Schools" presentation at the Cleveland City Club it became clear NEO is ramping up for a community-wide activation of all leaders to support Cleveland public schools, now showing significant success rising from the ashes, while facing daunting financial prospects resulting from diminishing state funding and city property tax revenues. Between now and the voting of the public on a levy to increase city taxes for schools, likely in November, 2005, we will be inundated with efforts to raise citizen awareness of the importance of education to the future wherewithal of the regional economy - and it is absolutely essential area schools are successful. As the levy will likely coincide with the Cleveland mayoral election, expect passionate debate on this issue.

What Lakefront Access Means to NEO

Chris Ronayne, former Cleveland Planning Director and current Chief of Staff at City Hall will address Cleveland's competitiveness as a 21st Century City. From an accessible waterfront to a growing downtown, an emergent R&D Center at University Circle and a diversified local economy. Ronayne will build the case that Cleveland is poised for growth and has a unique pportunity to become the next development frontier of our region.

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Michael C. DeAloia

- Senior Executive for Technology Development

- City of Cleveland - “Technology Development in the City�

Monday, April 11, 2005

- 11:30 Networking/12:00 Lunch Served/1:30 Adjourn

The Union Club - 1211 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland Ohio

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The 03.22.05 Tuesday@REI is focused on the topic of creating Arts Districts as "Economic Engines�. Four presenters will discuss specific initiatives already showing great value in the region. Lots of people think of arts districts and think of Playhouse Square – a commercial district – but today we are looking at neighborhood based districts – linked to residents that live in the area. We hear a lot about silver bullets around NEO – half billion-dollar projects like convention centers – but research finds these projects don’t necessarily do it – there may not be a “downtown� solution – “downtown� may just be another neighborhood. The jury is still out on the broader “Richard Florida Creative Class� concept, but it is certain that making neighborhoods desirable with arts districts is valuable – that has been a fact all through history.

Clearly there is great interest in education in Cleveland, as the Cleveland City Club 03.22.05 State of the Schools presentation by Cleveland Municipal School District CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett was an overflow event with attendance as diverse and inspired as any in memory. In his introduction of Barbara Byrd Bennett, City Club President Kevin J. Donahue praised her renowned career in education and uncanny ability to work collaboratively with all school stakeholders, all in the interest of improving area education. When Barbara Byrd Bennett was named the Cleveland Municipal School District’s first CEO, six years ago, she challenged the community to rally around the schools and our children. Since then, student performance, attendance, graduation, Internet access, immunizations, and bond funding have all increased significantly. Now, the question is, can these successes be sustained as state funding and property taxes have been dramatically reduced.

Seasoned Entrepreneurial Panel Discussion

The CAAO Minority Access to
Capital Program. The mission of this
program is the thoroughly educate minority entrepreneurs on all their funding
options and to aid in building relationships between the funders and minority
entrepreneurs of Northeast Ohio.

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Mary Black: Songs for Ireland.  She invites us in with the warmth of her voice and the liveliness of her song.  How lucky we are to have the Cleveland Museum of Art include in their Festival of Performing Arts the talents of Mary Black, a singer from Dublin.  As she comes on stage, she tells us as that she loves the snow we have here in Cleveland and that last night she took the opportunity to romp in this white world and throw some snowballs.  Now she draws us into her world of melodies and Irish rhythms, playfully sharing her stories of Ireland and blending together Celtic and American folk music.  She sings to us of the sadness of a couple parting as a soldier goes off to war; she weaves a melody around the joy of two lovers; she energizes the audience with the drum beats and riffs of her supporting drummer, guitarist, and keyboard player.

Joe Stanley a 5th year interior design major at the Cleveland Institute of Art gave a presentation on his senior project to an enthusiastic crowd at the Peter B. Lewis building at 2 p.m. today as part of REALNEO. Joe's senior project is an ambitious vision for CIA, University and the City of Cleveland. It was exhibited at 1300 Gallery this past fall along with the work of several of his classmates. Joe's project and those of his classmates were destined to be forgotten after the exhibition (which only lasted one night), but Joe's project has been given new life through REALNEO. Joe has his own COIL at REALNEO called neomainstreet. neomainstreet contains images of Joe's models and drawings, a discussion of his design philosophy and its context within contemporary and historical trends in architecture and civic planning. Its a fascinating site of local, national and international interest!

For this REALNEO@REI orientation we will present a transformative demonstration of local urbanist Joe Stanley taking his senior project in Interior Design off the walls of the Cleveland Institute of Art, beyond 2&3D, and into cyberspace - see http://neomainstreet-com.bryght.net. Joe shares his vision for reinventing the CIA and redeveloping their two University Circle sites - exceeding old paradigms of project development, urban planning, and entrepreneurial communications - realized using REALinks social computing capabilities. Please join Joe and see his view of our future, at its best.

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How would you recreate downtown Cleveland? What do
you think downtown Cleveland should look like five years from now?
These were the questions put to those who participated in the second

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