Google is looking for a place to experiment with new technology, and city officials hope the Red Stick marks the spot.The search is on for a city in which to test Google Fiber — “ultra-high speed broadband networks,” according to Google’s Web site — and Baton Rouge hopes to be chosen.John Zachary, director of research at the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, said the Fiber technology would bring an enormous improvement to the speed of most Internet connections wherever Google decides to offer the service.”The bandwidth you get coming out of your cable modem or DSL line is a couple hundred or 1,000 times slower than what Google is proposing to do,” Zachary said.Technology like that could introduce residents to uses of the Internet they didn’t have access to before, he said.”It’s not just a faster way to get your Facebook or Twitter updates,” Zachary said. “This changes the way people use their computer in a fundamental way.”Google is accepting applications from communities and will select a test community in which to install the technology for a capacity of anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 people.John Carpenter, assistant chief administrative officer to East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden, said what exactly Google is looking for isn’t clear, but Baton Rouge has plenty to offer to make it a good candidate.”We’ve got two universities and a thriving community college here, and we’re the seat of government for the state,” Carpenter said.Baton Rouge also offers a booming film industry and advances in technology for emergency response and medical agencies that would benefit from Fiber, Carpenter said.Zachary said the most important thing Fiber needs to work is creative people who are willing to use the technology to its fullest capacity.”People have to use this, find new uses for it and push the limits,” Zachary said. “This will be a technology infrastructure to enable people to think more creatively and come up with ideas for innovation.”Zachary said he will launch a new Web site by next week as well as a social networking campaign on sites such as Facebook and Twitter where users can give feedback.A Facebook group called “Bring Google Fiber to Baton Rouge” has already attracted nearly 3,000 members.Zachary said interest from inventive college students will be a huge attractor for Google — especially considering how the company began.”Google was founded by two college students,” he said. “If college students are going to have this kind of capability, the next folks sitting out there might create the next best innovation.”John Gilmer, computer science junior,  said the presence of the EA Testing Center and other technology-based entities in Baton Rouge could signal potential success with Fiber here.”From prior companies making the same move and being successful, that might motivate Google,” Gilmer said.Some cities have created unique campaigns for Fiber — Topeka, Kan., became Google, Kan., for the month of March. But Zachary said Baton Rouge’s application will contain no gimmicks.”We aren’t going to put together a hokey, gimmicky type of thing,” he said. “We want to attract their attention by showing we have some substance.”The application to Google is due March 26. Carpenter said Google has only indicated that a decision will be made “within the year,” but Baton Rouge is poised for quick setup if it were to be chosen.”We have a lot of advantages in terms of how fast they could get things done,” he said. “We’re a flat topography, and we don’t have huge rock formations that they have to worry about.”—-Contact Ryan Buxton at [email protected]