Wireless Network Deployment and Community Outreach
Organization:
The Castle Square Tenants Organization VISTA Name:
Emilio Flores
Program Start:
6/2006
Program End:
6/2007
Project Description:
Goal 1: Advance opportunities for free or inexpensive broadband Internet access by low- and moderate-income Boston residents through innovative technology and tech support
Goal 2: Enhance cooperation among the first Boston area nonprofit housing development efforts to experiment with WiFi wide area networks
Goal 3: Evaluate MIT Roofnet software as a low-cost potential component of attempts to improve citywide access to broadband
Project Outcome:
Emilio developed a detailed deployment plan for a free community Internet program at Castle Square using MIT Roofnet mesh networking software. He recruited and trained two Castle Square resident youth and six Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT) students to assist in the deployment and outreach to the community. He did outreach to residents about the opportunity to participate in the project and the availability of technical support. He led the team that installed and configured customer premise equipment and provided training and technical support to enable residents to join the wireless network.
Additionally, Emilio enhanced cooperation among the first Boston area nonprofit housing development efforts to experiment with WiFi wide area networks by such means as: 1) Played a central, hands-on role maintaining and upgrading pre-existing wireless networks in collaboration with Madison Park Development Corp. (MPDC) and the South End Technology Center (SETC) at Tent City. 2) Convened meetings at Castle Square of representatives of the City of Cambridge, Mass Housing, MPDC, SETC, CSTO and BFIT to share experiences and plans, learn from each other and devise ways to assist each others’ work. 3) Held a series of outreach/training events to share our results with other housing developments.
Emilio Flores, serving as an AmeriCorps*VISTA Member started some months after the project was initiated but it didn’t really get rolling until he came on board. He took the lead in organizing communications with the 120 families that joined the network and in arranging for them to be served by the free wireless Internet. In doing that, he managed a team of resident youth, work-study teams and volunteers. He played a principal continuing role in monitoring the network and working to improve its performance. Emilio served as chair of a distinguished advisory committee that worked to enhance communications among existing and developing housing-based wireless projects in Boston and Cambridge and awarded $10,000 in grants to support such projects. He also took the lead role in organizing presentations about the team’s work.