LA's WiFi & Beyond Executive Panel Chair Morley Winograd reviews its report, while Maryam Abbassi, Director of Planning and Policy at LA ITA, says "we are in the phase of communicating the recommendations of the panel, again, with the new administration," at a GovTech conference in Los Angeles

Unwired LA #16

Los Angeles, California
December 5, 2005

By Marc Strassman
Reporter
Unwired LA
Broadband Wireless Access World
MIMO World
Modern Transportation World
Broadband over Power Line World
Grid World
Etopia Media News Networks

This page and its contents are copyright © 2005 by Etopia Media News Networks. All rights in all media reserved.

LA Councilmember Jan Perry, WiFi & Beyond Chair Morley Winograd, ITA General Manager Thera Bradshaw and others


presenting a vision of an unwired Los Angeles to its now-former Mayor

On April 28, 2005, the WiFi & Beyond Executive Panel appointed by then-Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn issued its "vision statement" about unwiring the second-largest city in the U.S. at an event in the already-unwired Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry, who represents the 9th Council District, which includes Pershing Square, addressed the assembled crowd, and Morley Winograd, who chaired the WiFi & Beyond panel, used a laptop and the WiFi connection at the site to send a copy of the panel's report to Mayor Hahn at City Hall.

WiFi & Beyond Chair Morley Winograd e-mails a copy of "Fast & Easy: the Future of WiFi & Beyond in the City of Los Angeles" to Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn using WiFi at Pershing Square

For more about this event, with more photos and on-site audio, click here.

a change of administrations

Less than three weeks later, on May 17, 2005, then-Los Angeles City Councilmember Antonio Villaraigosa defeated then-Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn to become the chief executive of the second-largest city in the U.S.

six months later

On December 5, 2005, WiFi & Beyond Chair Morley Winograd reviewed the report of that panel at the Los Angeles Technology Forum--A Government Technology Executive Leadership Forum at the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown, an event produced by Government Technology® magazine.

You can access the set of PowerPoint slides Morley Winograd used during that review by clicking here.

Following his presentation, Maryam Abbassi, from the City of Los Angeles' Information Technology Agency (ITA) brought the audience up-to-date on the latest developments regarding municipal wireless in the City of Los Angeles.

You can access the PowerPoint slides used by Maryam Abbassi in her presentation to the Los Angeles Technology Forum by clicking here.

During that presentation, Ms. Abbassi linked to a Flash file showcasing Intel Corporation's "Digital Cities Initiative Vision."

Philadelphia and Anaheim are moving towards muni-wireless. What about LA?

Following these two presentations, this reporter asked Mr. Winograd and Ms. Abbassi about whether and when the City of Los Angeles might follow the lead of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Anaheim, California, in signing a contract with EarthLink or other companies to build and operate a citywide broadband municipal Wi-Fi network.

Mr. Winograd said that "we're about a year or so away from even issuing an RFP" to build such a system, and Ms. Abbassi said that "we are in the phase of communicating the recommendations of the panel, again, with the new administration."

You can watch and listen to this exchange by clicking on the still image below:

Morley Winograd and Maryam Abbassi at GovTech's Los Angeles Technology Forum, December 5, 2005


some video of the Winograd and Abbassi presentations

Morley Winograd (left) and Maryam Abbassi (right) at GovTech's Los Angeles Technology Forum, December 5, 2005

To watch and listen to video excerpts from the December 5, 2005, presentations to the GovTech Los Angeles Technology Forum by Morley Winograd, Chair of the WiFi & Beyond Executive Panel, and Maryam Abbassi, Director of Planning and Policy at LA's Information Technology Agency, click here.

behind the scenes at Unwired LA

Casio’s 5-megapixel Exilim EX-S500 digital camera



This video footage of the GovTech Los Angeles Technology Forum presentations of Morley Winograd and Maryam Abbassi was produced using the Casio Exilim EX-S500 digital camera, which will fit in your pocket.

For more information about this little marvel, click here.

To buy a Casio EX-S500, click here.

 





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