Boston, Mass. (September 14, 2006) To provide local-government IT professionals with broad exposure to the opportunities and issues surrounding the deployment of broadband-wireless infrastructure and applications for cities, counties and regions, the Wireless Internet Institute (W2i) will host the W2i Digital Cities Convention in London, September 2526, 2006.
Broadband-wireless field practitioners representing a dozen cities and local-government agenciesfrom Minneapolis to London, Paris to Stockholm, Corpus Christi to Norfolk Countyconvene at the Olympia Exhibition Center to present their end-user experiences deploying applications and services to improve workforce productivity, improve citizen satisfaction, and spur digital inclusion and economic development for their communities.
Program highlights on Monday, September 25, include:
- An opening panel featuring project overviews from the Cities of Westminster and Corpus Christi and Norfolk County with a special emphasis on local-government workforce efficiency gains in a panel; chaired by the editor of E-Government Bulletin.
- Representatives from the City of London and Milton Keynes, U.K., join emerging and incumbent network providers to explore the range of public-private partnerships for sustainable deployment of broadband-wireless infrastructure; chaired by Yankee Group.
- Field practitioners highly knowledgeable of implementations in Minneapolis, Portsmouth, U.K.; and the RATP/Paris Subway present case-study overviews on “Servicing the Community: The Intelligence Behind Neighborhood Portals, Intelligent Transport, CCTV”; chaired by LastMile Communications.
- Keynote addresses from IBM, BelAir Networks, and Motorola will be followed in the evening by a buffet dinner in the Technology Showcase of leading broadband-wireless equipment vendors.
Program highlights on Tuesday, September 26 include:
- Leading industry experts chair structured brainstorm workshop sessions on:
- Scaling Networks for High-Density Populations (BelAir)
- How Can Wireless Infrastructure Improve Digital Inclusion? (IBM / humanity)
- Private Network Vs. Public Access or Coexisting Solutions? (Motorola)
- Broadband Wireless, T-Government and Operations Reengineering (Cisco)
- Representatives from Yankee Group and rClient chair the Service Provider Executive Roundtable to discuss business and market strategies and examine the potential for cooperation among emerging broadband-wireless service providers and existing cable, telco, cellular, and Internet service providers.
- A representative of Nomad Wireless chairs a panel of “European Success Stories” featuring local-government agency representatives from the Basque Country, Liverpool, and Stockholm.
- The President of the Knowledge Society Forum - Telecities chairs a Structured Brainstorm Workshops and Service Provider Roundtable Reporting Session.
The W2i Digital Cities in London is co-chaired by Stephen Dodson, Program Director for the U.K.’s Digital Challenge and Inclusion Network.
“The W2i Digital Cities Convention in London is an opportunity for cities and counties around the U.K. to discuss good practice in using broadband-wireless technologies, applications and services to deliver real improvements for all citizens,” Mr. Dodson said.
“In the midst of the U.K.’s Digital Challenge competition, W2i is especially delighted to bring the Digital Cities Convention to London,” said Daniel Aghion, Executive Director, Wireless Internet Institute. “The event is an opportunity to showcase U.K. efforts while discussing issues in the U.K., Europe and the U.S.”
For information and to view the program agenda, please visit W2i Digital Cities Convention in London.
Private-Sector Support
In addition to ongoing cooperation agreements with international-development organizations, such as the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and CIFAL Atlanta, the W2i Digital Cities Convention is endorsed by the WiMAX Forum and has secured the sponsorship of BelAir Networks, IBM, and Motorola; as well as Cisco Systems, The Cloud Networks, Firetide, LastMile Communications, SimDesk, SkyPilot Networks, and Synetrix.
"The wireless broadband world is upon us, and with it important opportunities to meet needs and expectations for private-sector applications, and to access valuable public-sector work force, social service and application benefits," said Niall Murphy, Chief Technology Officer of The Cloud. "The Cloud's neutral platform enables cities maximize the experiences and applications available to the public in their environments for commercial, community and social applications, and to operate high availability applications and services for the City itself. We support the Digital Cities Convention in its exploration of the opportunities surrounding multipurpose broadband-wireless networks for cities and communities."
"The W2i forum is essential for Government and industry thought leaders to test ideas, explore options and share our results," says Pete Davis, Business Development Director, Synetrix. "Synetrix works with customers in local government that are faced with important challenges to overcome where (access to) technology can have a positive impact on the social fabric, economy and the environment. Forums such as W2i, the U.K.’s Digital Challenge and NOMAD allow us to aggregate best practice where we can move toward standardized methods and policy, which will increase the pace of the UK's digital strategy to create a balance of social inclusion amongst its citizens."
About the Wireless Internet Institute (W2i) and the W2i Digital Cities Series
The Wireless Internet Institute (W2i) is an independent forum bringing together stakeholders around the world to accelerate the adoption of wireless Internet in support of social and economic development as well as better-managed cities, communities and regions. Held annually in three to four regions of the world, the W2i Digital Cities Convention includes a thought-leadership conference exploring the planning and deployment of broadband-wireless infrastructure, applications and services; practical training for local-government professionals; roundtables for wireless service-provider executives and digital-inclusion experts; the annual W2i Wireless Communities Best-Practices Awards; and a Technology Showcase produced in partnership with local authorities, the private sector, and international development institutions. Building on conventions in Philadelphia, Shanghai, San Francisco, Bilbão, Houston, Rio, Los Angeles, and Taipei, planning is in final stages for London (September 2526) and Philadelphia II (December 57).