KANSAS CITY, MO--(Marketwire - May 18, 2011) - Burns & McDonnell applauds the recent success of Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., in being selected as the nation's first cities to be part of Google's Fiber to Communities initiative.
Burns & McDonnell announces that it will serve as title sponsor and facilitator of a Leadership Summit on Dec. 7-8, 2011 that will explore collaboration models that can be used by communities in planning, financing and implementing community open-access broadband networks. Titled Governance Models for the New Broadband Economy, the summit will feature presentations from leading experts on how collaborative partnerships, innovative business models and implementation strategies are leading the emergence of the metropolitan Internet economy as a fundamental economic cornerstone of our cities.
The summit is being developed primarily for elected, appointed public sector officials and community leaders who are seeking insight and a practical road map with which to develop a leadership organization that will enable the metropolitan Internet economy and the deployment of broadband networks for their respective communities. The fee for this two-day event will be $1,500. Burns & McDonnell will host the event at its Kansas City, Missouri, World Headquarters, 9400 Ward Parkway.
Keynote speaker for the event will be Tim Campbell, Chairman of the Urban Age Institute. In a 35-year career that included senior urban development positions at the World Bank, Tim has worked in scores of countries and hundreds of cities in North America, Europe, Latin America, South and East Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa in developing progressive models for urban development. As author of a forthcoming book, "Beyond Smart Cities, How Cities Network, Learn and Innovate," Tim lays out a new vision for how communities can achieve breakthroughs and catalyze, convert and connect information in knowledge communities.
David Sandel, President of Sandel & Associates is the principal organizer of the event, speaker and panel facilitator. With a long record of experience in developing and deploying collaborative information technology services, David currently serves as Chairman of the St. Louis Cloud Coalition, served as President of the St. Louis Regional Exchange and was President and founder of NetLabs Inc. in St. Louis. He is a recognized leader in the development of Internet governance and business models as well as sustainable Internet infrastructure and broadband networks for the metropolitan Internet economy.
A tentative agenda for the event includes:
- History of metropolitan infrastructure technology cycles over the last 150 years and the governance organizations that were formed to support them.
- Governance models for metropolitan Internet economic development.
- Funding models for the new metropolitan Internet economy, including traditional and innovative new approaches.
- Creating an effective organization for successful metropolitan Internet governance.
- Review of current initiatives and governance in cities like Cleveland, St. Louis, Nashville and the Singapore Infocomm Development Authority.
- Successful metropolitan Internet economic development models from the healthcare, energy management, public safety, government and arts and entertainment sectors.
- Metrics and tools to measure and map various aspects and features of a city's metropolitan Internet community.
- Projects in progress from organizations like Google, Cisco Smart and Connected Communities, IBM Smarter Cities, and Burns & McDonnell.
About Burns & McDonnell
Burns & McDonnell provides engineering, architecture, construction, environmental and consulting services to clients throughout North America and abroad. More than 3,100 engineers, architects, scientists, planners, estimators, economists, technicians and other professionals work in more than 20 regional, national and international offices. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is currently ranked Number 20 on the Engineering News-Record Top 500 Design Firms. For more information about Burns & McDonnell, visit its website at www.burnsmcd.com.
About Sandel & Associates
Sandel & Associates helps cities, public agencies, community and economic development organizations in developing a plan for the economic development of their metropolitan Internet broadband economy. Sandel & Associates unique in-depth experience and know-how enables organizations to implement their broadband programs successfully. For more information about Sandel & Associates, visit its website at www.sandel-associates.com.
Contact Information:
For more information, contact:
Roger Dick:
816-822-3339