To provide local-government, agency, and institutional technology stakeholders with a firsthand understanding of broadband-wireless infrastructure planning, applications, and services, the Wireless Internet Institute (W2i) hosts the Digital Cities Convention, May 22-23, 2007, at the Donald E. Stevens Convention Center, co-chaired by Hardik Bhatt, CIO, City of Chicago, and Daniel Aghion, Executive Director, W2i.
Prepared by a program committee of national and local broadband-wireless stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, the two-day agenda provides a forum for professional development through peer-to-peer best-practice sharing on the broadband-wireless opportunity for local governments and communities, agencies, institutions, and enterprises. Project leaders and IT professionals at all stages of planning and deployment will hear from panels of experts and field practitioners and participate at interactive roundtable sessions exploring the full range of implementation drivers, public and private user needs, and business models. In particular, the program:
-- draws on the experiences of cities around the world deploying wireless,
-- explores the range of applications and services available at a metropolitan scale,
-- examines the opportunity for public safety, public works, campuses, and transportation systems, and
-- places a special emphasis on digital inclusion in urban and rural contexts and among the disabled.
"The Wireless Internet Institute embraces the opportunity to host the Digital Cities Convention in Chicago in support of the City's wireless planning, its digital-inclusion initiatives, and its exploration of wireless metro-scale applications," said Daniel Aghion, W2i's executive director and conference co-chair. "W2i looks forward to welcoming the national and global broadband-wireless stakeholder community to Chicago this May."
Agenda
Conference Day 1 - May 22
The conference kicks off with a welcome, opening remarks, and a keynote address, to be followed by a Technology Roadmap panel exploring multiple and complementary broadband-wireless networking solutions and several leading-edge metropolitan applications. A Public-Private Partnerships panel of local-government chief information officers and their wireless network providers will examine how they arrived at their respective partnership agreements.
At noon, a buffet luncheon will be served in the technology showcase area featuring leading equipment and application vendors and systems integrators.
The afternoon of Day 1 features the first of four roundtable sessions aimed especially at local-government, agency and institutional IT professionals in dialogue with their public sector and industry peers:
- The 6th Service Provider Executives and Local-Government CIOs Roundtable, co-presented by Yankee Group, rClient, and W2i, attracts a diverse group of stakeholders, from emerging broadband-wireless service providers to existing cable, telco, cellular operators and ISPs, to CIOs and local-government decision-makers.
- At the Public Transportation and Wireless Access Roundtable, transportation-agency officials will provide updates on their wireless initiatives and participate with their peers in a "discovery session."
- The 2nd Wireless-Networks User Experience Roundtable, co-hosted by Novarum and W2i, attracts a diverse group of existing and potential end users, from local-government IT department heads (public safety, public works) to emerging service providers, wireless application providers, and systems integrators.
- The 4th Digital Inclusion Roundtable, co-hosted by IBM and W2i, will examine Chicago-area efforts within the broader context of the national discussion on digital inclusion, drawing in part on the W2i Digital Inclusion Metrics Framework.
Conference attendees will be transported to Downtown Chicago for a special evening reception and event (to be announced).
Conference Day 2 - May 23
The morning of Day 2 kicks off with a keynote address to be followed by the second group of roundtable sessions:
- The Public Safety and Digital Inclusion Roundtable explores the emerging link between municipal public safety and the extension of free broadband-wirless service to underserved neighborhoods. Field practitioners provide project updates while brainstorming on future opportunities and synergies.
- Building on the momentum from a kickoff session in Tempe (AZ), the 2nd Wireless in Education Roundtable provides a platform for university and school-district field practitioners to offer updates and do peer-to-peer brainstorming on the wireless opportunity for campuses and communities.
- The inaugural Wireless Web-Based Advertising and Services Roundtable is a brainstorm session on the range of opportunities associated with municipal broadband-wireless advertising networks and portals, including keyword search, location-based services, display and video, classifieds, and lead and revenue generation.
- The Global Initiative for ICT and Development (G3ICT) Roundtable is based on a partnership with the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) and is headed by W2i in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities; and UNITAR, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
A buffet luncheon will be served in the technology showcase area. The afternoon of Day 2 continues with a Global Town Hall Meeting of broadband-wireless stakeholders representating major deployment cities around the world - from Seoul to Taipei, Toronto to Stockholm. Participants will interact in a town-hall-styled session on opportunities and challenges, from concept to implementation, service delivery and uptake, digital inclusion, local-government applications, and their respective regulatory landscapes.
Moderators of the eight roundtables will report on key findings from their sessions, to be followed by the conference closing session and adjournment.
Preconference Professional Development - May 21
The Municipal Wireless Networks & Technology Training Seminar at the Digital Cities Convention is a day-long session exploring municipal wireless models, city strategies, technologies, system capabilities, and the applications these networks empower. NetLogix, the leading consulting, engineering and training services firm, provides attendees with hands-on community and solution exercises designed to jumpstart the planning and deployment of a broadband-wireless infrastructure.
For futher information, visit the conference web site at W2i.com for complete details.
About 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 and 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 authorities; roundtables for wireless service-provider executives and digital-inclusion stakeholders; the annual Wireless Communities Best-Practices Awards; and a Technology Showcase produced in partnership with the public sector, private sector, and international development institutions. Building on conventions in Philadelphia, Shanghai, San Francisco, Bilbão, Houston, Rio, and Los Angeles, London, and Tempe (AZ), and planning is in final stages for São Paulo (April 12, 2007) and Chicago (May 22-23, 2007).
