I’ve been asked to serve on the so-called “Executive Steering Committee” being organized by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez to advise the county on its Wireless Miami-Dade initiative.
I had some serious talks with the Mayor’s office before they announced this, and tried hard to sell privacy and some other good things. Ordinarily, advisory bodies like this are mostly for show, but the Mayor’s advisors sure sound as if they really want to do the right thing — or at least know what it is.
The best online description of the committee that I could find is at W2i.org and says,
Who will serve on the Steering Committee?
Ira Feuer: We sent out invitations to high-level individuals in economic development, the clerk of courts, the government digital–divide area, department directors, higher education (University of Miami, Florida International University), the public education district representative, an Internet advocate from the University of Miami, OneEconomy, a community advocate (a bishop), an individual supporting regionalization among Miami-Dade, West Palm Beach, and Broward Counties, the head of tourism, and representatives from four municipalities and the Dade County League of Cities.
What is the Committee’s charge?
The steering committee will promote countywide connectivity, discuss wireless networking, and form recommendations for applications in various policy areas. They’ll meet four times and will submit a report to the Mayor around August or September. After that will come the drafting of the RFP. In between, there could be some focus-group effort or one workshop.
