LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA, September 27, 2022 -- The Open Grid Alliance (OGA), a non-profit industry organization focused on evolving the Internet into a worldwide platform—namely, the Open Grid—capable of running global services on shared infrastructure, today announced a partnership with the City of Las Vegas to bring groundbreaking 5G and edge services to the city and its local businesses. This collaboration aims to attract new businesses to Las Vegas and grow existing businesses, creating jobs and diversifying the local economy, while also developing capabilities that serve disadvantaged and at-risk populations affected by the digital divide.

“The public-private partnerships we are fostering with the city of Las Vegas will drive long-term economic growth and equality,” said Kaniz Mahdi, SVP Technology Architecture & Innovation, Deutsche Telekom & Chairperson of the OGA. “It’s part of the OGA’s core mission to contribute meaningfully to the local economy and develop partnerships to deliver substantial societal benefits.”

On September 14, 2022, the OGA formally announced it had chosen Las Vegas as the organization’s first Innovation Zone. In conjunction with that program, the Open Grid Alliance and City of Las Vegas will collaborate on programs that support OGA members bringing technology assets, training programs, and services to Las Vegas’ International Innovation Lab and Innovation District to further mutual goals, which include the following:

Digital divide solutions: Create an innovation hub that catalyzes the cost-effective deployment of new technologies and services that will help the City meet its ambitious goals to help its underserved and at-risk populations benefit from technology.

Public/private business model development: Ground-truthing new business models and public/private partnerships that lower the costs of new services for the City and its residents.

Demonstration projects: Proofs of concept and proofs of value that help our joint stakeholders better understand the economics, benefits and opportunities of new and innovative services.

Educational workshops: Workshops and programs to educate local businesses and create entrepreneurial opportunities for stakeholders to take advantage of the new 5G, edge and grid infrastructures being deployed in the City.

“The city of Las Vegas continues to advance its leadership in 5G and Smart City services,” said Michael Sherwood, CIO of the City of Las Vegas. “Being a hub for innovation will create new business opportunities that strengthen the local economy. It will give us a foundation to deliver services to our citizens, especially those in at-risk and disadvantaged communities, including people experiencing homelessness and families without high-speed internet access.”

Open Grid Alliance member companies have been working on Open Grid technologies in the Las Vegas region since 2019, establishing relationships that will accelerate the work with the city. The OGA anticipates this partnership with the City of Las Vegas will accelerate projects already underway and bring new projects to the forefront.

Additional Resources

For a vision of how the Open Grid will enable personalized automation and how that will create positive impacts on humanity, read Re-imagining the Internet for Planet-scale Automation.

To understand the founding vision of the OGA, read The Open Grid Manifesto.‍

For information on how the OGA is stimulating new services in Las Vegas, read Open Grid Alliance Unleashes Monetization Platform by Selecting Las Vegas as its First Grid Innovation Zone.‍

Follow @OpenGridAllianc on Twitter.

About Open Grid Alliance

Open Grid Alliance (http://opengridalliance.org) is a member-supported 501(c)(6) organization that produces collaborative, vendor-neutral strategies to re-architect the Internet with grid topologies needed to scale globally. Founded in 2020 by over 30 global technology companies, the Open Grid Alliance welcomes additional participants, contributors, and supporters.

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