Broadband & Community Broadband

A compelling picture is definitely worth the proverbial thousand words for explaining new kinds of wireless networks – especially when that picture appears alongside comprehensible technical information. And yet our choices about visual and written language say a lot about just who we expect to participate in building, using and maintaining networks. Complex diagrams run the risk of confusing audiences of potential community network participants, especially if graphics are abstract or surrounded by technical details and jargon.

Using just a few wireless routers and open source software, the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition is demonstrating how community organizations can use wireless networks to strengthen neighborhoods.

An academic workshop at New America Foundation, April 11, 2012

As government services, political discourse and commerce expand online, policymakers and public interest organizations are promoting broadband “adoption” among people who are not currently using the Internet, or using it marginally. Yet there is little discussion of what “adoption” means or how it can be measured.

“Often the most holistic solutions come from places with fewer resources. When people are deeply rooted in their communities, they think about how technology and media can support local solutions,” says Diana Nucera, Co-Director of Allied Media Projects (AMP) in Detroit, Michigan.

With this proposal, the Open Technology Initiative at New America Foundation (“OTI”) presents an innovative framework for building out gigabit broadband infrastructure and providing low-cost high-speed connectivity in communities surrounding Gig.U member universities. The key to our proposal is a modular, scalable, hybrid approach to infrastructure development which adapts to the needs of each community, combining fiber-optic build-out with wireless mesh deployments.

If you are not yet familiar with Mount Pleasant, here’s a chance to learn about one of DC’s most vibrant neighborhoods. It’s a diverse area not far from downtown DC, featuring a main street lined with locally-owned businesses. Many of these shops and restaurants are owned and run by the area’s large Latino community, which has long been central to shaping the neighborhood’s character.

Now that the rush toward implementation of BTOP-funded public computer centers and digital literacy programs around the country is turning into a rush to make long-term sustainability plans, partners are looking for effective program evaluation strategies. As it turns out, establishing community-driven metrics is proving to be a challenge.

The Commission proposes to extend outage reporting requirements to interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) service providers and broadband Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) to ensure that 9-1-1 emergency systems work well and are reliable. The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (“NATOA”) and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (“NASUCA”) submitted comments in support of the proposed outage reporting requirements.

The following is cross-posted from the British Council Voices blog. On November 9, the Open Technology Initiative and the British Council will co-host the event "Trust 2.0: Building Trust Through Technology" at the New America Foundation as part of the Washington, DC, festival Digital Capital Week.

For millennia, trade routes defined the very foundations of civilization and empire. Today, the Internet backbone and the spread of broadband connectivity are as fundamentally important to the future of civil society and the twenty-first century economy.