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Wireless Networking for Communities, Citizens and the Public Interest
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| Source: | Community Informatics |
| Date added: | 2008-07-07 |
| Theme: | Access |
New wireless networking breakthroughs have inspired communities to build their own communications infrastructures and have spurred the development of innovative applications and services. Wireless networking for communities, citizens and the public interest has leveraged inexpensive and flexible technologies and provided broadband access as well as community media applications. Community wireless networks have mobilized groups of citizens, local governments, non-profit organizations, and development agencies to collaborate in creating locally-appropriate communications tools.
Throughout the history of community media, moments have arisen where the confluence of technological development, economic efficiencies, and social necessity have realigned our fundamental notions of what it means to live in a civil society. The current critical juncture, where geospatial communications like wired telephones are being replaced with individual communications like mobile devices demonstrates the powerful roles for community wireless networks in this transformation. Around the world, new initiatives have developed, appropriated, and integrated emerging wireless technologies to provide access to local media, promote digital inclusion, solve communication problems, and promote civic engagement.
This special issue of Community Informatics documents the state of the art in research on community wireless applications, and presents assessments of community wireless projects in a variety of local contexts: from large urban centers in North America to rural locations in Asia and Latin America. Together, the papers and field notes in this special issue reflect on a community-centric approach to communications infrastructure development. These works describe the challenges – both practical and theoretical – that face community wireless networking, as well as the implications many of these projects have to support social and economic justice around the globe.