Links

INEC Website by Ricardo Krikke — last modified 2007-09-28 11:55

The organizations wensite of the International Network of E-Communities

An overview of Fiber in Europe - June 2007 by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2007-08-15 05:03

Written by Dirk van der Woude, of Citynet in Amsterdam, this note provides a wealth of information about the main fiber projects around Europe. Not all are based on OPLAN principles, but this affords a very thorough overview of the status, mid 2007

IT+46 by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2007-04-25 15:20

IT +46 was started in 2004 to take on the challenge of localizing free and open source software to Swahili. That intense experience in Africa helped the IT+46 team to define a mission of : Knowledge Transfer to the recipients. As their latest report states, "IT +46 is convinced that IT can play an important role in making development sustainable. But since information by itself is not knowledge, we aim to share knowledge rather than simply transfer information. This approach is considered in our projects from the design to the implementation and training. We work together with grassroots organizations, academia, as well as regulators in both developing and developed countries. The company brings more than ten years of hands-on international working experience in Information Technology in the areas of: * Education and Training in ICTs * Free and Open Source Software Development * Localization of Software * Design and Implementation of fixed and wireless Infrastructure * Voice over IP * Network and Computer Security * ICT Policies and Development Plans * Energy Solutions for ICTs

The Journal of Community Informatics by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2007-03-30 18:30

Community Informatics (CI) is the study and the practice of enabling communities with Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). CI seeks to work with communities towards the effective use of ICTs to improve their processes, achieve their objectives, overcome the "digital divides" that exist both within and between communities, and empower communities and citizens in the range of areas of ICT application including for health, cultural production, civic management, e-governance among others. The Journal of Community Informatics brings together a global range of academics, CI practitioners and national and multi-lateral policy makers. Each issue of the Journal of Community Informatics will contain double blind peer-reviewed research articles as well as commentaries by leading CI practitioners and policy makers.

http://www.digitalfryslan.nl/ by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2007-03-05 11:08

Digital Services - The Economic challenge for rural areas - Fryslân (The Netherlands)

The Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2007-03-05 11:09

The Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) is a small organization with a remarkable track record for breaking new ground in promoting sustainable communities. In 1978 RAIN magazine described ILSR as an organization that "puts hard numbers on soft dreams". In January 2007, it published its report, "Localizing the Internet: Five Ways Public Ownership Solves the U.S. Broadband Problem.

The Prometheus Radio Project by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-12-24 17:34

The Prometheus Radio Project (PRP) is a non-profit organization founded by a small group of radio activists in 1998. They believe that a free, diverse, and democratic media is critical to the political and cultural health of a civil society, yet the reality sees unprecedented levels of consolidation, homogenization, and restriction in the media landscape. PRP works toward a future characterized by easy access to media outlets and a broad, exciting selection of cultural and informative media resources. Its primary focus is on building a large community of LPFM stations and listeners. PRP hopes that this community will grow into a powerful force working toward a widespread democratic media future. Toward that end, PRP supports community groups at every stage of the process of building community radio stations, facilitate public participation in the FCC regulatory process, and sponsor events promoting awareness and support of media democracy and LPFM radio.

Global Voices Online by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-12-22 21:38

Global Voices Online seeks to amplify, curate and aggregate the global conversation online - with a focus on countries and communities outside the U.S. and Western Europe. It is committed to developing tools, institutions and relationships that will help all voices everywhere to be heard and takes a keen interest in Telecoms and IT issues relevent to the developing world.

OMIDYAR Network by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-12-04 17:30

"Originally, we created this tool so that everyone at Omidyar Network could share news and information; discuss different ideas and viewpoints; collaborate on documents; post announcements; sync up our calendars; and, in general, stay well informed. We found that it served us well. In fact, we wondered if others might find value in it, too. So, we decided to open it up to anyone and everyone working toward making the world a better place. Here, you can: * Participate in group discussions and collaborate on a wide variety of topics * Create a home where you can collaborate and communicate with others * Invite anyone you want to join or create discussions and workspaces Because this isn't a typical web site, its value depends on you. You help make omidyar.net useful to others. You help decide how it evolves. There are certain ground rules, however: We are all here because we believe in making the world a better place. We believe in treating each other with respect. We believe everyone has something to contribute. Many of you have already contributed greatly to making the world a better place. Thank you for all your efforts up until now. And thank you, in advance, for your efforts in the future."

CAIDA - Commons Project by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-12-04 17:26

CAIDA (Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis) proposes a collaboration to simultaneously solve three acute and growing problems facing the Internet: a self-reported financial crisis in the Internet infrastructure provider industry; a data acquisition crisis which has severely stunted the field of network science; and a struggle for survival within emerging community and municipal networks, who are in an ideal position to address the first two problems but often lack resources and experience to make informed operational decisions, and are also continually threatened by incumbent-driven legislation. We propose an experiment to build a cooperative national backbone to connect select community and municipal networks to each other, and to the global Internet. Peering would be conditionally available to county, state, and federal government entities, academic institutions, and community wireless initiatives. The conditions are two-fold: (1) the attached networks must make select operational data available to Internet technology and policy researchers under appropriate legal data sharing frameworks; (2) the attached networks must agree to cooperatively develop and abide by policies based on confirmed results of empirical data analyses. The proposed experiment -- Cooperative Measurement and Modeling of Open Networked Systems (COMMONS) -- carefully addresses the three highlighted problems, and without federal regulatory involvement, which is still feared to be a cure worse than the disease(s) even by the regulators themselves. First, by offloading from commercial providers the responsibility for supporting Internet service delivery in unprofitable areas, we will measurably improve the financial situation of these providers. Second, COMMONS offers an unprecedented opportunity to establish standards of scientific integrity in the field of Internet research -- by providing rigorous empirical data against which to validate theories, models and simulations. Furthermore, because the COMMONS testbed will support public analysis of actual Internet traffic, it will inform debates on increasingly important technical, economic, policy, and social issues related to the Internet. Third, the COMMONS project not only allows struggling community networks to cost-share a financially daunting component of their operation, but it also provides a forum for the cooperating networks and the research community to share lessons learned with eachother.

Rome (Italy) - Wireless Network Community by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-12-04 17:15

What it says it is - but in Italian!

COOVA - Hot Spot Management by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-10-17 05:07

In order to make Hotspot Setup and Management using off-the-shelf components a whole lot easier, Coova's first solution is open source firmware tailor made for HotSpots. Check it out…

How To Accelerate Your Internet: A practical guide to Bandwidth Management and Optimization using Open Source Software by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-10-17 05:04

Access to sufficient Internet bandwidth enables worldwide electronic collaboration, access to informational resources, rapid and effective communication, and grants membership to a global community. Therefore, bandwidth is probably the single most critical resource at the disposal of a modern organisation. The goal of this book is to provide practical information on how to gain the largest possible benefit from your connection to the Internet. By applying the monitoring and optimisation techniques discussed here, the effectiveness of your network can be significantly improved. We hope that you find these materials and this website useful. Please feel free to contribute your own experiences on the wiki and mailing list, and help make the next edition even better.

City of Seattle, Washington State, USA by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-10-14 18:11

The Seattle City Council created, with concurrence by Mayor Greg Nickels, the Task Force on Broadband and Telecommunications in summer, 2004. The Task Force was charged to explore and report on the feasibility of using municipal resources in a network that is available to the public using broadband technologies. It reported in May 2005

Bill Moyers Citizens Class (PBS television USA) by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-10-06 05:36

Public Service Television (PBS) presenter Bill Moyers, has latched onto the whole 'open' debate as it impacts the Internet (net neutrality) and local open access neutrality (OPLANs). The website provides a very useful overview of specific US issues and raging battles - where the citizens of various communities are being strongly opposed by the telco and cable sector in lobbying on Capitol Hill to prevent the market-driven development of OPLANs. Also contains useful streamed material and other links

The WiFiSoft.org Foundation by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-08-17 13:34

Based in the Netherlands, The WifiSoft.org Foundation initiates and stimulates local and international cooperation between communities that administrate a public wireless network. Wifisoft.org achieves and facilitates cooperation between Wireless Communities via the Internet. We organize and facilitate lectures and hands-on workshops. Next to this Wifisoft.org develops and maintains open source software. The Foundation hosts the annual Wireless Community Camp which takes place in the first week of August (2-6 August 2006). These five days there are meant to facilitate a knowledge exchange about how to start up wireless communities

OneVillage Foundation by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-08-15 12:57

OVF sees the challenge and opportunity of using Information Communication Technology (ICT) to address World Urgent Issues, by providing a platform for an integrated approach to sustainable development. People have lost, or stopped practicing, the knowledge of sustainable living. Our mission is to connect art, science and education with proactive, hands on, community oriented actions on the ground that promote more sustainable ways of living in both developing and developed parts of the world. We are devoted to increasing collaboration and access to ICT in under-served communities, facilitating local content creation and dissemination, and building bridges among digital and physical communities globally.

Open Spectrum - an exhaustive resource on global license exempt spectrum by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-07-29 16:36

An extremely extensive source of information about 'open spectrum' and its implementation (or otherwise) in almost every country around the globe. Developed and maintained by the Open Spectrum Foundation (Stichting Open Spectrum) in Amsterdam and Prague, this is an excellent starting point for anyone seeking to understand the topic and what is going on around the world in relation to it.

Wireless Broadband Access in Appalachia by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-07-29 16:29

Although set in a US specific context, this website run by the Appalachian Regional Commission has a host of useful information and links for anyone seeking information about establishing wireless and telecoms infrastructure in a rural setting in an industrialised nation. Plenty of evidence and argument relating to the importance of this for economic development.

License-Exempt Wireless Policy : Results of an African Survey by Malcolm Matson — last modified 2006-07-29 16:16

An extensive survey of license exempt deployement in Africa undertaken by Isabel Neto and Sharon Gillett (both of Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT) and Michael Best (Georgia Institute of Technology. The questionnaire was sent to 54 countries in Africa, of which 47 responded - a 97% response rate when weighted by population