Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger has unveiled BTV Ignite, a new initiative taking advantage of Burlington’s gigabit fiber network. He made the announcement at a recent press conference at Dealer.com. Conversations about how this initiative will affect Burlington’s digital future both begin and end the Vermont Tech Jam on Friday and Saturday, October 18 and 19, at Memorial Auditorium in downtown Burlington.
The mayor opens the Tech Jam on Friday morning at 10:15, with an announcement from the Memorial Auditorium stage, followed by a panel discussion at 11 a.m.. From the Tech Jam schedule:
Panel: Sparking Burlington’s Future (242 Main Stage)
Mayor Miro Weinberger moderates a conversation exploring Burlington’s digital future. Panelists include: Bill Wallace, Executive Director, US Ignite; Ray Daniels, former school superintendent, Kansas City, Kansas;Sheldon Grizzle, founder, Company Lab; Erika Lowe, Partnership for Change Community Based Learning Fellow, Burlington High School educator; Jonathan T. Rajewski, assistant professor, Digital Forensics, Champlain College, Director/Principal Investigator, Senator Patrick Leahy Center for Digital Investigation (LCDI); digital forensic examiner, Vermont Internet Crimes Task Force; Rubi Simon, Director, Fletcher Free Library.
BTV Ignite is hoping to spur the creation of next-generation web apps that will take advantage of Burlington’s super-fast fiber network. You can hear more about some of these ambitious plans at a Civic Hacking Showcase on Saturday — the final session of the Tech Jam.
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Civic Hacking Showcase (242 Main Stage)
In this presentation, “white hat” hackers from the local Code for BTV Brigade demonstrate and explain their civic hacking projects, including Lakecraft, an educational tool that uses a custom modification to Minecraft to gamify the Lake Champlain Basin. Trust us, it’s pretty neat. Bradley Holt, Code for BTV Brigade Captain, moderates.
Admission to the Tech Jam is free thanks to support from our generous sponsors.