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An AI Interconnection Summit

Network Infrastructure for AI Leadership in Kansas & Beyond

Space is limited. Register now.

Hosted by Connected Nation Internet Exchange Points
at Wichita State University

Thursday, September 11
1:00pm-4:30pm CT

Registration opens at 12:30pm
Speakers start at 1:00 pm
Cocktails & networking to follow summit

NetApp Building, WSU Innovation Campus
1850 Innovation Blvd.
Wichita, KS 67208

Parking will be available next to NetApp.
Click here for an interactive map of the area. 

Need a hotel room? 

We've reserved a block of rooms at a lower rate at the Hyatt Place at WSU. Get yours before they run out!
Click here to reserve a room now.

About the summit

This summit will bring together national and international experts in internet infrastructure to explore how Kansas—and America—can lead in the emerging AI economy.

Hosted near the site of Kansas’ first carrier-neutral Internet Exchange Point (IXP), being developed by Connected Nation on WSU’s campus, the event will highlight the interconnection infrastructure that is needed to reduce network latency, lower costs, and enable smarter connectivity across all sectors — from business and education to healthcare and beyond.

Attendees will gain actionable insights into how local and regional leaders can leverage the new Wichita IXP to drive innovation, strengthen economic competitiveness, and expand digital opportunity. Just as this infrastructure is transforming the connectivity landscape in Kansas, it presents a replicable model for communities and states across the country seeking to compete in an AI-driven future.

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This no-cost summit is your opportunity to engage directly with infrastructure experts, ask questions, and understand what it will take to build the digital backbone of tomorrow’s economy — which is already underway in America’s Heartland. 

Invite others to attend. Click here to get a pdf version of the invitation.

Meet our speakers

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Hunter Newby, Owner & CEO, Newby Ventures

Hunter Newby is an American entrepreneur, investor, conservationist and the owner of Newby Ventures. His primary field of interest has been network infrastructure. As Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer and a Director of Telx, he pioneered the carrier-neutral Meet-Me-Room and the development of carrier hotels and data centers in the United States leading to massive value creation and economic development throughout the Country. Since the sale of Telx he has been and continues to be a founder, developer and investor in the creation of multiple network-neutral infrastructure businesses all across North America.

Mr. Newby is a recognized authority in the network-neutral interconnection and data center industry. He has served on multiple company boards, is a published author, public speaker and has been quoted in several publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today. He has also been the recipient of numerous awards including being named to the Global Telecoms Business Top 40 Under 40 in 2010.

Mr. Newby earned a B.S. in Communications from Drexel University.

Tom Ferree

Tom Ferree, Chairman & CEO, Connected Nation

Tom Ferree provides vision and leadership, guiding Connected Nation’s industry-leading efforts to bridge the digital divide and bringing economic vitality to communities through technology. During his tenure, CN’s portfolio has expanded and received acclaim as the leader in broadband mapping, planning, and program implementation. Tom also served on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) re-chartered Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) from 2017 to 2020. The committee’s mission will be to make recommendations on how to accelerate the deployment of high-speed internet access.

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Ivo Ivanov, CEO, DE-CIX

Ivo Ivanov has been Chief Executive Officer at DE-CIX and Chair of the Board of the DE-CIX Group AG since 2022. Prior to this, Ivanov was Chief Operating Officer of DE-CIX and Chief Executive Officer of DE-CIX International, responsible for the global business activities of the leading Internet Exchange operator in the world. He has more than 20 years of experience in the regulatory, legal and commercial Internet environment. Ranked as one of the top 100 most influential professionals of the Telecom industry (Capacity Magazine’s Power 100 listing, 2021/2022/2023), Ivo is regularly invited to share his vision and thought leadership in various industry-leading conferences around the globe.

Having joined DE-CIX in 2007, he has been deeply involved in recent years in the establishment of DE-CIX sites in North and South America, Southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia, along with several DE-CIX consultancy projects in Africa, Asia and Europe. His strategic vision has led to the establishment of more than 50 DE-CIX locations globally, as well as the development of a range partnership models to sustain DE-CIX’s global expansion, bringing neutral, high-performance, low-latency interconnection services – including services for the enterprise sector – to as many regions of the globe as possible, helping to close the gaps in access to information and modern digital services.

Ivo has also been instrumental in the establishment of the DE-CIX/UPF Global Interconnection Academy in Barcelona, to be rolled out globally as a hybrid training program together with local educational partners in each region. The creation of the Interconnection Academy seeks to provide a global standard certificate of excellence for interconnection experts.

Ivo has an educational background focused on Law and Business. Fluent in German, English, Russian and Bulgarian, he attended a German business school and holds two Law degrees. After graduation, he worked as a lawyer, with a focus on e-commerce, IP, telecommunications, and data protection law.

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Brent Legg, Executive VP, Government Affairs, Connected Nation

Brent Legg has primary responsibility for leading Connected Nation’s government affairs and public policy team, working with federal, state, and local officials to advance legislation and/or executive actions that will improve access to, and the quality of, broadband service and related technologies.

Brent has more than ten years of experience working at the intersection of technology, politics, and public policy, and has provided expert testimony on broadband issues before the U.S. Congress and the legislatures of 12 states. Mr. Legg also has extensive experience working on education technology and school connectivity issues, and is a recognized expert on the federal E-rate program. Contact Brent at blegg@connectednation.org.

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Tonya Witherspoon, Founder and CEO, MindScapes

Tonya Witherspoon is the Founder and CEO of MindScapes, empowering organizational transformation through AI innovation, strategic development, and cultivating future-ready talent. With over 30 years of experience in technology, education, innovation, and entrepreneurship, she is a recognized innovator, strategist, and connector who bridges the gap between industry and academia.

Through MindScapes, Tonya provides comprehensive services including AI development, digital transformation, business and product strategy and market fit, workforce development, apprenticeships, training, and education. She leverages her extensive experience to help organizations navigate the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence while building the talent and strategies needed for sustainable success.

 
James Jun Second

James Jun, CEO, TOWARDEX

James Jun is a seasoned network architect and builder of internet infrastructure, focusing on neutral interconnections and exchange points with over 20 years of experience. 

As the Founder and CEO of TOWARDEX Technologies, James pioneered the nation’s first large-scale carrier-neutral Meet-Me Street underground conduit network in Boston, Massachusetts, leading to a digital ecosystem that empowers network operators and fosters market competition with no monthly recurring cross connect fees. 

James also founded MASS IX, the largest carrier- and data-center-neutral internet exchange in New England.

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Bryan Lubin, Chief Data Center Officer, Moonshot Energy

Bryan Lubin is a seasoned infrastructure and finance executive with over 20 years of experience in data center development, renewable power integration, and institutional lending. He has structured and delivered over 550MW of powered land and compute infrastructure for AI and Bitcoin mining projects, and has underwritten more than $3B in commercial, residential, and institutional loans.

As Chief Operating Officer of Moonshot Energy, Bryan leads modular AI data center deployments powered by renewable energy, including GPU cluster rollouts, stranded power conversions, and large-scale off-take agreements. His career spans high-stakes project finance, utility negotiations, real estate acquisitions, and power purchase agreements uniquely positioning him to bridge the gap between infrastructure operations and private equity capital deployment.

Click here to read an extended biography. 

Michael Roark

Michael Roark, Founder & CEO of iM Data Centers

Michael is a pioneer in the creation of innovative mission-critical facilities and multi-tenant technology centers. Telesource, another Roark company, created numerous telecom infrastructure projects, carrier hotels and data centers.  M K Roark, Inc, a design / build / development firm, created hundreds of significant projects over the past thirty-five years.  Michael also founded InterMetro Fiber and FiberMedia, a premier provider of colocation and IT services with a portfolio of data centers in the US, serving as CEO.

Frequently asked questions about internet exchange points:

Yes. Congress has made an unprecedented amount of federal funding available to build broadband infrastructure. IXP development is eligible under at least three federal programs. Our team can help you navigate the process.

An internet exchange point (IXP) is a physical building through which local ISPs, cloud services, content delivery networks, and internet protocol (IP) networks of all types exchange internet traffic between their networks.

An internet exchange (IX) is an ethernet switch housed within the IXP that enables IP network operators to exchange internet traffic with one another over the switch fabric.  IP network operators connect to an IX port, which allows them to connect to other networks and exchange traffic, which is known as “peering,” depending on their respective peering policies.

The short answer is “no.”

The long answer is that some IXP facilities are not “carrier-neutral.” This means they primarily benefit some networks over others. A carrier neutral IXP, on the other hand, offers a level playing field where networks of all types and sizes may freely interconnect with one another. That neutrality also drives more networks to establish a presence in the IXP, which benefits everyone.

When a community or region lacks an IXP, local service providers must pay to backhaul traffic to the nearest IXP, which may be hundreds of miles away, to exchange information with other networks. This is incredibly inefficient, and it makes accessing the cloud and content seem slow and less responsive. It also means that local broadband providers pay higher rates than they should for wholesale internet access, or “IP transit.” These costs are passed along not only to individual subscribers but also to schools, hospitals, and small businesses. IXPs can serve as a local marketplace where wholesale backbone providers compete for local business, resulting in as much as 90% reduction in cost.

Beyond driving down costs and making the exchange of traffic more efficient, IXPs also future-proof communities as new technologies and applications become available. The massive explosion of IoT (or Internet of Things) devices means that efficient traffic routing and local interconnection with cloud services are going to be increasingly important. Cities and regions without a carrier-neutral facility and IXP are simply going to be relegated to a second-class internet experience. For those areas, the Digital Divide will only continue to widen, negatively affecting economic development, education, health care, and nearly every aspect of modern life.

IXPs were first established in major cities like New York, Atlanta, Dallas, and Seattle - but IXPs can now be found in about 57 cities across the United States.

Currently, 14 states and 3 U.S. territories do not have an IXP at all — putting those areas at a significant disadvantage to their counterparts.  And even states like Texas that are home to multiple IXPs may still have regions within them (e.g., the Texas panhandle) that warrant IXP development.  We believe that every regional hub community in the U.S., particularly if it is home to a public university, should have a carrier-neutral IXP.

How we can help: Connected Nation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is working to develop carrier-neutral IXP facilities in new cities and regions across the United States - an important step in fulfilling our mission to close the Digital Divide for all people. From site selection and engineering & design to ongoing operations and maintenance, Connected Nation has assembled a team of industry veterans with decades of experience in the development and operations of these IXP facilities.

Learn What a Carrier-Neutral IXP Can Do for Your Community

Contact our team of industry veterans and IXP experts now at ixp@connectednation.org with the subject line IXP or fill out the contact form. 

IXP Contact Form

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