April 10, 2025: Citywide Wi-Fi Projects
The broadband team and chief technology officer in St. Louis will discuss the city's goal of revitalization and community connectivity.
In this webinar, the broadband team and chief technology officer in St. Louis will discuss the city's goal of revitalization and community connectivity. He will be joined by Caroline Brown, Head of Marketing and Business Development at SmartWAVE, the wireless integrator for the project. Together, they will discuss the needs for the project and how SmartWAVE worked with St. Louis to provide for a successful deployment of the Phase 1 parks, as well as other additional locations that SmartWAVE is working on with the city.
Panelists
- Simon Huang, Chief Technology Officer, City of St. Louis
- Nahuel Fefer, Executive Director, Community Development Administration, City of St. Louis
- Sheila Rabbitt, Broadband Analyst, St. Louis Development Corporation
- Caroline Brown, Head of Marketing and Business Development, SmartWAVE
- Drew Clark (moderator), CEO and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast
Panelist Resources
Simon Huang serves as the Chief Technology Officer for the City of St. Louis and St Louis Development Corporation in the Office of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. His focus areas are technology planning and strategy, effectiveness of internal operations and systems, and leveraging tech to improve the delivery of services. Additionally, he works towards equitable access to technology for City residents. He is also responsible for fostering relationships with external stakeholders and driving partnerships to advance technology for the City. A long-time St. Louis resident, he has held leadership positions in both private and public-sector organizations and was most recently in management consulting. He has worked alongside various agencies in the region such as Society for Information Management, FOCUS St. Louis, Community Council of St. Charles County and Asian American Chamber of Commerce.
Nahuel Fefer serves as Executive Director of the Community Development Administration. Nahuel began his career in public service in the Slay administration, where he fought to raise the minimum wage, negotiate fair development deals, and expand funding for public transit. He joins the City from ArchCity Defenders, a non-profit law firm dedicated to fighting the criminalization of poverty and committed to revolutionary justice. Nahuel is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and New York University School of Law. He has focused his studies on tax policy and constitutional law, and spent semesters at the New York City Law Department, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Liberian Ministry of Health.
Caroline Brown leads the Marketing and Business Development efforts at SmartWAVE. In this role, she drives the company's growth and position in the competitive wireless industry. Her responsibilities include organizing “go to market” timelines and budgets, conceptualizing marketing plans and developing strategies to optimize SmartWAVE's positioning in the emerging markets of the wireless industry. With SmartWAVE being a company of less than 50 employees and nationally spread across the US, she also assists with project management, partner relationships, inside sales, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Sheila Rabbitt is a Broadband Analyst at the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC), dedicated to advancing digital equity in the region. With a passion for both technology and social justice, Sheila leads the development and execution of key projects in the City of St. Louis' Digital Inclusion Action Plan. As Project Manager for the Community WiFi network, Sheila oversaw its successful launch along the MLK Corridor and City Parks, with expansion planned for Downtown along the Gateway Mall. Sheila's efforts have contributed to the City of St. Louis being named a 2024 Visionary Digital Inclusion Trailblazer by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), a national recognition of the City's commitment to closing the digital divide.
Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing tool to collect and verify broadband data left unpublished by the Federal Communications Commission. As CEO and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media community advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.
About SmartWAVE
SmartWAVE Technologies is a leading “wireless” centric solutions provider specializing in the planning, design, integration and management of wireless infrastructures, along with the unique applications that these networks support. We cater to the Smart City, Education, Healthcare, Real Estate and Enterprise markets, providing a competitive advantage to our clients through wireless. As a privately held organization, we pride ourselves on the ability to adjust more quickly and efficiently to market changes and the needs of our customers.
