This Community-Run Internet is Bridging the Digital Divide
The low-power open-source wireless mesh network is portable
For many of us, the Internet is part of daily life. But that’s not the case for more than 3.5 billion people around the world who don’t have meaningful access to it, according to a Brookings Institution report, “Bridging the Global Digital Divide.” There are many reasons for the divide, including affordability, the lack of digital literacy, and the absence of relevant content and services in local languages.
Last year the IEEE Future Networks initiative ran the inaugural IEEE Connecting the Unconnected Challenge to seek out innovative projects and ideas aimed at increasing connectivity. It solicited early-stage projects that have already been piloted but not yet widely deployed, plus theoretical concepts that have potential. The entries were judged on their technical ability to improve Internet access, the strength of their business model for making access more affordable, and the likelihood that the community would adopt their solution.
More than 250 academics, companies, nonprofit organizations, individuals, and students from 69 countries entered the contest. Eleven winners were selected, and US $60,000 in cash prizes was awarded. Funding came from the IEEE New Initiatives Committee as well as sponsors including Cenerva, Intelsat, Meta, Microsoft, and VMware.
Based on the strong response last year, IEEE Future Networks plans to make the challenge an annual program. The submission portal for this year is due to open soon.
Last year’s winning projects were presented at the Connecting the Unconnected Summit, a virtual event held in November. First place in the best overall proof-of-concept category went to social enterprise startup Wakoma for the Nimble, an open-source, portable, wireless mesh network system that communities can build and deploy locally.
Wireless mesh networks connect large areas inexpensively by using radio nodes—access points, or routers—which connect to each other in a mesh topology. The resilient networks can share a backhaul connection.
“There aren’t a lot of resources out there that show people how to build a network without spending a ton of money,” says the startup’s founder, Eric Nitschke. “The goal is to enable communities to quickly build a low-cost, low-power, and yet still portable network that meets their own connectivity and education needs.”
When a Nimble is deployed, users can conduct video and voice chats, stream videos, share files, build and run e-learning courses and websites, create shared spreadsheets and documents, read e-books, play games, and more, completely offline....
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