YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Denes Kuecuek is well aware of the striking similarities between his hometown of Dortmund, Germany, and this city.
Both were once industrial giants – Youngstown as the steel-producing behemoth of the Mahoning Valley and Dortmund as a coal and steel center of the Ruhr Valley.
Today, both cities are in the midst of a transformation, a notion that wasn’t lost on Kuecuek as he and five other professionals from Germany spent the day exploring how Youngstown is embracing the digital age in preparation for its future.
Kuecuek, the deputy head of Dortmund’s chief information office, noted there’s an initiative underway to redevelop the city with “smart” technology. That is, employ the full scope of digitization and information technology to impact everything from municipal services, transportation and communications.