[CWN-Summit] Community Wireless Summit May 18-20, 2007 -- Washington, DC.

[Sascha Meinrath]

Contact:
Sascha Meinrath
Executive Director
CUWiN Foundation
summit at cuwin.net
217-278-3933 x31

INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT TO ADDRESS FUTURE OF BROADBAND
-- Community Technology Leaders from Six Continents to Participate --

Register now at: http://cuwin.net/summit/registration

Champaign-Urbana, I.L., April 18 -- The CUWiN Foundation and the Center for
Community Informatics (CCI) will host the International Summit for Community
Wireless Networks (http://WirelessSummit.org) from May 18-20, 2007 at Loyola
College in Columbia, Maryland.

The summit is the largest gathering of wireless network developers, technology
and policy experts, and community organizers working to build universal,
low-cost broadband networks around the world. "We are proud to host an event
that brings together technologists and activists committed to universal access
to informatics," said Marco Figueiredo, CCI Director.

"The International Summit for Community Wireless Networks explores the
opportunities and challenges facing the growing movement to build community and
municipal broadband networks," said Sascha Meinrath, co-founder and Executive
Director of CUWiN. "This event showcases cutting-edge technologies and develops
political strategies to increase digital inclusion."

Since the first National Summit for Community Wireless Networks in 2004, over
300 Community Internet and municipal broadband projects have sprung up in the
United States alone. The Summit will focus on how these networks can better
serve their target populations, the policies needed to support broader
deployment of community wireless systems, and the latest technological and
software innovations.

Presenters at previous summits have included FCC Commissioner Jonathan
Adelstein, Jim Baller of the Baller Herbst Law Group, Annie Collins of Fiber for
Our Future, Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America, Harold Feld of
Media Access Project, Robert W. McChesney of Free Press, Matt Rantanen of Tribal
Digital Village, Greg Richardson of Civitium LLC, Paul Smith of the Center for
Neighborhood Technologies, Jim Snider of the New America Foundation, Dana
Spiegel of NYCwireless, Esme Vos of Muniwireless.com and many other luminaries.

"High-speed broadband access is the electricity of the 21st century, yet many
rural and poorer urban communities are being left off the grid," said Ben Scott,
policy director of Free Press, the DC-based policy think-tank. "The innovators
and organizers at the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks are
blazing the trail to make broadband affordable and available to everyone."

Register now at: http://cuwin.net/summit/registration

About CUWiN (http://www.cuwin.net)
The CUWiN Foundation is a world-renowned coalition of wireless developers and
community volunteers committed to providing low-cost, do-it-yourself,
community-controlled alternatives to contemporary broadband models. CUWiN is
fiscally sponsored by Grassroots.org, a non-profit 501c3.  CUWiN's mission is to
develop decentralized, community-owned networks that foster democratic cultures
and local content. Through advocacy and through our commitment to open source
technology, CUWiN supports organic networks that grow to meet the needs of their
communities.

About CCI (http://cci.cs.loyola.edu)
The Center for Community Informatics engages Loyola College’s students, faculty
and staff in supporting the creation and deployment of informatics tools for
community empowerment.  CCI develops the Community Telecenter Free Software
Toolset; promotes awareness events for the Loyola College community; offer
courses in Community Informatics; promotes Digital Inclusion Conferences;
researches and develops human-friendly technologies to facilitate inclusion in
the New Society of Knowledge; and, evaluates, documents and develops sustainable
models for Universal Access to Informatics.

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