Gigabit City Summit Unites National
Civic, Business, Technology Leaders
in Kansas City, a “Smart City” Pioneer
Second-annual Summit for leaders of current, emerging gigabit cities features companies, governments, organizations harnessing technology in smart cities
Kansas City, Mo. (May 10, 2016) – Powered by KC Digital Drive, a non-profit organization that drives positive civic outcomes from next-generation technology networks, the 2016 Gigabit City Summit (#GCS16) is a three-day learning and networking opportunity designed for leaders in current and emerging gigabit cities to come together inKansas City – a flagship smart city – to empower smart communities to use technology to transform cities on many levels.
The Summit features more than 100 thought leaders from across the country who will lead plenary sessions, keynote speeches and breakout tracks from May 16-18 at the Bloch Executive Hall and Student Union at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (5110 Cherry St., Kansas City, MO 64110).
“With Google Fiber widely available and the country’s largest Cisco smart city project, Kansas City is the ideal location for this exchange of ideas between cities that want to harness technology to empower their communities,” said Aaron Deacon, managing director, KC Digital Drive. “Sharing knowledge across all cities and states the key to improving the nation’s economy, education, health care, plus other systems that impact everyone’s quality of life.”
The Summit offers a discounted package for cities and organizations that want to bring delegations of five or more members. The purpose of this discount is to encourage collaboration across geographic and departmental silos that can hamper growth and smart decision making.
“This type of community connectivity promotes economic growth and entrepreneurism,” said Kevin Honomichl, president, BHC RHODES, a civil engineering company based in Overland Park, Kan. “I’m excited to discuss how we can use gigabit infrastructure, such as what is available here in Kansas City through Google Fiber, to create real, positive, lasting impact for our cities and towns.” Honomichl will co-present on the topic of fiber as foundational infrastructure (and what’s coming next) with Kelly Carnago, head of business operations at Google Fiber on Monday, May 16 at the Summit.
The inaugural 2015 Summit drew 250 delegates from 50 U.S. cities that included job titles such mayors, city managers, chief innovation officers, cable-industry insiders and social-justice advocates. Most gave the Summit high marks, with 92 percent of delegates indicating they “probably” or “definitely” would recommend that a colleague attend a future Summit and 82 percent of delegates said they would probably or definitely attend again.
Also based on attendee feedback, #GCS16 offers a variety of tracks and sessions including:
· Education
· Digital Inclusion
· Civic Tech
· Smart City Infrastructure
· Gigabit City Activation
· University + City Collaboration
· Gigabit/Smart City Networks and Ecosystem
Additionally this year, delegates will benefit from hearing about the experiences of translating tech infrastructure into civic impact in cities such as Atlanta, Louisville, Charlotte, Portland, Ore., Nevada City, Calif. and Montrose, Col.
In addition to high-level discussion, the #GCS16 also features the opportunity for delegates to take guided tours of Kansas City’s top innovation hotspots, including the Cisco Smart City and KC Streetcar corridor. While many cities have streetcars, Kansas City’s “smart” streetcar just opened on May 6 and will be ready to ride during the Summit. Delegates can also choose to visit community computer labs to see how the digital divide is closing or experience 1 Million Cups, the original “shark tank,” at the Kauffman Foundation.
Pricing for the Gigabit City Summit is $699 for individuals or $2,995 for delegations of five or more ($499 per member). Delegates can register at: www.gigabitcitySummit.com/register and stay the Downtown Marriott, the Summit hotel.
The Summit is sponsored by companies such as BHC RHODES, Google Fiber, Cisco, the Kauffman Foundation and many more that help make cities smart. Reporters can follow the Summit on Twitter @gigabitcities and Facebook using the hash tag #GCS16.
About the 2016 Gigabit City Summit
The 2016 Gigabit City Summit occurs from May 16-18, 2016 at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Much like the inaugural Summit, powered by KC Digital Drive, we’ll examine how to use fiber - and community energy around the gig - to actually achieve social, civic and economic impact in the community. And we’ll highlight more cities who are developing their own strategic technology playbooks and facing their own challenges in creating sustained capacity. We’ll continue the robust discussion for the community we saw emerge last year and plan to add additional content tracks to support the diversity within metro delegations. For more information, please visit: www.gigabitcitySummit.com.