2005 Wireless Communities Best Practices Awards

The W2i Wireless Communities Best Practices Awards pay tribute to local governments implementing broadband-wireless solutions for cities, counties and regions. Win an Award and generate worldwide recognition for your local government.

Winners of the world premier W2i Wireless Communities Best Practices Awards were honored at the W2i Digital Cities Convention (West) during a dinner ceremony on the evening of October 11, 2005, San Mateo Marriott (San Francisco Airport).

2005 Award Winners

• Technology Innovation: Portsmouth, United Kingdom
• Community Momentum Building: Piraí, Brazil
• Digital Inclusion: Jigawa State, Nigeria
• Local Government Workforce Productivity Improvement: Westminster, United Kingdom
• E-Government Applications: Corpus Christi, Texas
• Local Municipal Initiative: Scottsburg, Indiana

Ones To Watch

• Washington, DC
• Tempe, Arizona
• Italian Association of Small Towns
• Medford, Oregon
• Lenexa, Kansas
• Chaska, Minnesota

Awards Descriptions

• Community Momentum Building: This Award honors the best public outreach initiative within local government in the planning and outcome of a metro-area broadband-wireless deployment.
• Digital Inclusion: This Award honors the best initiative to provide remote communities and low-income areas with broadband-wireless connectivity for the provision of public services.
• Technology Innovation: This Award honors the best broadband-wireless network or device innovation deployed across a metro area or region.
• E-Government Applications: This Award honors the best broadband-wireless platform to enable the deployment of a range of applications and services to improve citizen satisfaction and quality of life.
• Local Government Workforce Productivity Improvement: This Award honors the best local-government mobile workforce productivity achievement.
• Local Municipal Initiative: This Award honors local achievement in meeting a social and/or economic challenge with broadband-wireless technology.

The Jury

Chair: Dr. Costis Toregas
• President Emeritus, Public Technology, Inc.; Chair, National Academy of Public Administration standing panel on Social Equity in Governance
"Best Practice award winners are always difficult to pick, but not this group! They stood head and shoulders above their competition, and show both government and industry how to change the status quo and bring the new, fertile and exciting technology of wireless broadband to everyone: citizens, businesses, visitors and everyone irrespective of means. What a great accomplishment!"

Abe Kani
• Chief Information Officer, City of Atlanta
"It was encouraging to see how so many communities all over the globe have embraced the potential value offered by the wireless initiative efforts led by their local governments. Our evaluation task was not easy, but it was important for me to focus on those communities which have not only been interested in the initiative but rather have pursued its implementation, aggressively. I hope this basis for awarding communities encourages more communities to become implementers and not just to remain as observers."

Axel Leblois
• Executive Director, CIFAL Atlanta; Special Senior Fellow of UNITAR
"At first, the task of sorting out so many interesting case studies from nominees appeared a bit challenging. However, the format adopted to capture the essential features of each case study and the able chairmanship of Costis made the whole exercise a really captivating and enjoyable experience. The jury process ran really very well. Kudos to Noopur’s excellent organization skills!"

Alex (Sandy) Pentland
• Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT
"It is really exciting to see so many great projects going on all around the world. I think it brings home that we are participating in a revolution in communications that will remake the face of society. My congratulations to all the contestants, and to Noopur as well!"

Scott Shamp
• Director, New Media Institute, Univ. Georgia
"Diversity powers all ecosystems. The W2i Best Practices Awards highlight the incredible diversity to be found in wireless initiatives. During the judging I was amazed at the wide range of different types of wireless implementations from all over the world. I have never felt more optimistic about wireless's ability to positively impact people's lives."