GUELPH – Wellington County councillor George Bridge has been re-appointed to an expanded board of directors for Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology, Inc. (SWIFT).
SWIFT, a municipal-led broadband project initiated by the Western Ontario Warden’s Caucus (WOWC), announced the expansion of its board of directors on April 3 as it appointed 13 new members, with 10 returning directors, to allow for an increased representation from both WOWC and SWIFT’s municipal capital partners.
SWIFT’s board, originally governed by 15 members, is now comprised of 23 elected directors including appointments from all WOWC member municipalities (15), representatives from three of SWIFT’s municipal capital partners: Town of Caledon, the Region of Niagara and the Region of Waterloo; as well as five independent industry representatives.
“The newly expanded Board will enable greater dialogue and information sharing with increased representation from the project’s member counties and municipalities,” said board Chair David Mayberry.
“The experience and skill set our new members bring to the table are a strong asset to SWIFT and its board.”
As majority stakeholders in the project, the enhanced Board now enables WOWC and SWIFT’s capital contributing municipal partners to take a more active role in governing the SWIFT initiative.
The newly expanded Board will ensure increased political oversight, accountability and partner engagement at the regional level.
SWIFT was initiated to subsidize the construction of an open-access, high-speed fibre optic broadband network in southwestern Ontario, Caledon and the Niagara Region.
