For Immediate Release
Panels, keynote speeches, case studies and structured brainstorm workshops explore win-win solutions for deploying broadband municipal-area networks; hosted by W2i in partnership with the City of Philadelphia, local-government associations, international-development organizations and the private sector
March 31, 2005 (Boston, Mass.) To provide local-government technology stakeholders with high-level panels, focused brainstorm sessions and best-practice sharing on major issues surrounding broadband-wireless metropolitan-area networks, the will host the Digital Cities Convention in Philadelphia on May 2-4, 2005. Local-government officials, industry thought leaders, technology and service providers and systems integrators will participate in an interactive three-day program to explore the full range of opportunities and roadblocks surrounding the planning and deployment of these networks in local communities.
Philadelphia Mayor John Street and Philadelphia CIO Dianah Neff will host the Convention. They are leading the Wireless Philadelphia project to create a citywide, 135-square-mile, digital infrastructure to help citizens, businesses, schools and community organizations make effective use of wireless technology.
Todd S. Ramsey, General Manager for Global Government Industry, IBM Corporation, and Marc Jedel, Director of Public-Sector Market Development, Sales and Marketing Group, Intel Corporation, will deliver keynote addresses reflecting their experience with digital cities.
Plenary-sessions panels on technology, regulatory issues, business models, private-public partnerships and funding scenarios will be chaired by Carlos Kirjner, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Kevin Werbach, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies, Wharton School of Business; Esme Vos, Founder, Muniwireless; Greg Richardson, President, Civitium; and Alan Shark, Executive Director, Public Technology, Inc.
A Mayors Panel for local elected officials will gather together Mayor John Street, Philadelphia; Mayor Shirley Franklin, Atlanta; Mayor Bill Graham, Scottsburg, Indiana; and Mayor Glenn Sangiovanni, St. Cloud, FL, and will be chaired by Matt Stone, Government Strategist, Civitium.
Four case-study panels will be chaired by Berge Ayvazian, Executive Vice President, Research & Consulting, Yankee Group; Rizwan Khaliq, Wireless Global Solutions Executive, Public Sector, IBM; Costis Toregas, President Emeritus, Public Technology, Inc.; and Anthony Townsend, Founder, NYC Wireless.
Local-government panelists will present case studies on the following deployment locations: Los Angeles; State of Maryland; Philadelphia; Chaska, MN; St. Cloud, FL; Shanghai; Volgograd, Russia; Portsmouth, UK; Lewis & Clark County, MT; Rio Rancho, NM; Ocean City, MD; Medford, OR; Westminster, UK, and more.
A series of Structured Brainstorm Workshops exploring the challenges and opportunities of implementing metro-area broadband solutions will be chaired by Patrick Leary, Chief Evangelist, North America, Alvarion; Stephen Rayment, Chief Technology Officer, BelAir Networks; Paul Butcher, Marketing Manager, State & Local Government, Intel; Lee Tsao, Director Global Solutions, Pronto Networks; Bert Williams, Vice President of Marketing, Tropos Networks; and Rick Rotondo, Director of Marketing, Motorola.
Private-Sector Endorsements
In addition to cooperation agreements with the UN ICT Task Force, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and CIFAL Atlanta, the W2i Digital Cities Convention is endorsed by the WiMAX Forumä and has secured the sponsorship of IBM, Intel, Alvarion, Belair Networks, Earthlink, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Pronto Networks, and Tropos Networks. Additional event exhibitors include Firetide, Infinet Wireless, Nomadix, Redline Communications and Vivato.
“Local-government initiatives to provide broadband-wireless services show great promise, and EarthLink is exploring possibilities to partner with local governments to expand the distribution channels for our consumer services,” said Garry Betty, president and CEO of EarthLink.
“Firetide’s mesh backhaul solution makes it possible to implement wireless hot zones virtually anywhereindoors and outdoorsquickly and easily,” said Bo Larsson, CEO of Firetide. “With these solutions, local governments can now profitably meet the growing demand for broadband Internet access.”
"Motorola shares in the vision that municipal wireless broadband networks can transform the way government, business and residents serve their community," said Rick Rotondo, Director of Marketing for Motorola. "We are proud that W2i Digital Cities Convention selected representatives from Medford, OR and Portsmouth, U.K. to present how Motorola's Mesh Networking Solution solved real problems for Public Safety, Public Works and Public Transportation agencies in their cities."
“As WiMAX and mesh providers realize how to work together to deliver on the promises of coverage and mass deployment of wireless public access networks, the more opportunities will exist for municipalities to roll out multiple applications and services to their constituents,” said Nomadix president and CEO Kurt Bauer. “We support open discussion of this evolution at the W2i Digital Cities Convention.”
“Vivato is specifically designed to address the special requirements of environments with large coverage areas, such as airports, seaports, cities and towns,” said Gary Sbona, CEO of Vivato. “We look forward to participating at the W2i Digital Cities Convention and sharing best practices.”
An Ongoing Program
The W2i Digital Cities Convention program was developed in cooperation with an expert Program Committee chaired by Dianah Neff, Chief Information Officer, City of Philadelphia. The Convention gathers together a primary audience of local-government elected and agency officials as well as stakeholders in the emerging broadband wireless ecosystem of regulators, technology vendors and service providers, system integrators, real-estate and rights-of-way owners, and funding organizations.
The W2i Digital Cities Convention will be held annually in each of three regions of the world. In 2004, planning is in final stages for conventions in North America (this May in Philadelphia), Asia and Europe as part of W2i’s cooperation with its international-development institution partners.
For more information on these programs or to partner with W2i, e-mail us at
About W2i
The Digital Cities Convention is the newest in a series of thought-leadership conferences undertaken in partnership with the United Nations ICT Task Force, the private sector, local authorities and regulators, and international development institutions. The purpose of W2i’s multi-year “Global Municipal Government and Local Authorities Series” is to foster the adoption of broadband wireless technologies under the leadership of local government organizations around the world, in support of universal connectivity, the Millennium Development Goals, and the Declaration of Principles of the World Summit for the Information Society in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005).
was launched in 2001 as an international, independent think tank bringing together broadband wireless stakeholders to accelerate the adoption of wireless Internet in support of universal connectivity for economic, social and educational development around the world. W2i, a division of , addresses policy, regulatory and economic models, and sharing of best-practice issues associated with the deployment of wireless Internet technologies.
