Boston. 04/12/2007 — Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn will participate in the Opening Session of the 13^th W2i Digital Cities Convention, hosted by the Wireless Internet Institute in cooperation with the City of Chicago, May 22–23, at the Donald E. Stevens Convention Center.

As Chairman of Illinois’s Broadband Deployment Council, Lt. Gov. Quinn has worked to help bridge the digital divide through various Governor’s Rural Affairs Council initiatives and, most recently, by providing two $20,000 Wireless Main Street grants to the communities of Mt. Vernon and Quincy.

“Technology is crucial to every community throughout the state,” Quinn said. “It improves public safety, education and improves economic development. Illinois cannot afford to leave any community or neighborhood behind when it comes to connecting businesses and citizens to the Internet.”

The Broadband Deployment Council is further committed to look for innovative ways for state agencies to work together to encourage and help coordinate the spread of universal, competitive and affordable telecommunications services.

The W2i Digital Cities Convention in Chicago is a thought-leadership conference and professional-development seminar providing local-government decision makers and IT professionals with practical training in broadband-wireless planning and broad exposure to the opportunities and challenges surrounding city and county deployments.

The conference will explore the range of wireless-enabled applications and services for cities with a special emphasis on sustainable implementations and revenue models, best-practice-sharing from cities around the world, municipal applications and digital inclusion, the user experience, wireless access for public transportation and education, Web-based advertising and services, and wireless-enabled assistive technologies for disabled persons. The event further serves as an industry summit for the ecosystem of technology equipment vendors, service and application providers, and systems integrators.

For full program details, please visit: http://www.w2idigitalcitiesconvention.com/05232007/

Private-Sector Endorsements

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 early sponsorship of Cisco Systems, IBM and corporate host Motorola; Firetide and Simdesk; as well as BelAir Networks, Go Networks, LastMile Communications, and SkyPilot Networks.

About W2i and the Digital Cities Convention

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. 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 de Janeiro, Los Angeles, and London, planning is in final stages for Chicago (May 22-23), Seoul (June 27–28), São Paulo (Sept. 11), London (October 16–17), and Washington, DC (Dec. 11–12)