Municipal Wireless and Why Nonprofits Should Care
"Muni wifi projects are popping up all over the country. Big cities and small towns alike are providing free or low-cost access to the Internet. We asked what this mean for nonprofit organizations. Can they play a role in shaping a city or town’s wireless program? How do nonprofit organizations ensure that there are relevant resources for their communities of interest? And how can nonprofit organizations best position themselves to take advantage of the opportunities that wireless access offers for the delivery of programs and services?
Nonprofits might be wondering why they should care about municipal wireless programs at all. Surely free or low cost Internet access for the community sounds great in its own right? But municipal wireless programs are about much more than just affordable access. In today’s ultra networked and hyperlinked society communities need to be able to take advantage of the opportunities the web offers for finding jobs and housing, for example. As representatives of and advocates for community interests, nonprofit organizations can play a pivotal role in assessing, representing, and meeting those needs. Nonprofit involvement is crucial in helping the constituencies that could most benefit from digital inclusion achieve this access, training and hardware they need to compete in the digital age."
NTEN's Special Projects Fellow Ali Levine summarizes in a two-part report on nonprofit's role in muni wireless programs about how to get involved in the planning and implementation of these programs, and describes how nonprofits can creatively use the potential of ubiquitous wireless for their programs and services. We have linked to a number of other resources on muni wireless, including these:
- An NTEN Podcast about the Philadelphia Municipal Wireless Project
- Municipal Wireless and Nonprofit Service Delivery - a guest blog from New Orleans
- What Public Wireless Means for Nonprofits - another guest blog from NTEN member Paul Lamb
- Hitchhiking on the Information Superhighway - Free Press' Ben Scott's view on the topic.
Check them out, and thanks to CTFC for the support of this work.
Nonprofits should be very involved in all aspects of municipal wi-fi. Orange Networking, a NC nonprofit, is working to help municipalities in Orange County, North Carolina involve citizens in wi-fi deployment. (Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough are all in Orange County.) You can learn more about our full mission here. www.orangenetworking.org/home/mission/
I'm looking forward to reading your report.
Some would argue that municipalities have enough to do without becoming an ISP for the masses... at least that was the argument when the city of brotherly love was considering providng WiFi citywide. The New York Public Library provides free WiFi access at most of it's branches throughout three boroughs in NYC. The service is more of a privilige than an entitilement. I can't imagine the city of New York blanketing WiFi without incurring tremendous cost. It would be beautiful though; I could finally connect my laptop on the bus ride home.