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!
Jurors
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.
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