The ng Connect programme was started by tech firm Alcatel-Lucent, which was providing much of the hardware for Dunedin's gig-speed internet rollout.
The programme encourages collaboration between businesses using gig technology, and has been rolled out in cities around the world.
Dunedin's push to embrace gig-technology made it ''fertile ground for smart city innovation'', ng Connect director Geof Heydon said yesterday.
A two-day Dunedin workshop was being organised for next month that would focus on what smart cities did to ''harness'' their potential, he said.
Technological innovations could be responsible for ''huge steps forward in efficiency'', and it was certain that would happen for Dunedin businesses as they began to understand and investigate the potential of ultrafast broadband, he said.
''And what's really relevant is that every one of those innovative ideas can be connected at low cost.''
While Dunedin was faced with ''thousands of opportunities'' as it embraced gig-speed internet, it was likely none of those opportunities on their own would sound ''very cool'', he said.
But when they were all put together, Dunedin would ''transform''.
''The way you can position what you do in the global marketplace dramatically changes. Just because you're [in Dunedin] doesn't mean your market has to just be here.''
