The first Wireless Cities ... Community Contextconference was held recently to look
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government services and explore how wireless can be used to enhance com
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collaboration. Speakers included representatives from Wikimedia, Creative Com
Jambo Networks, Gather.com, Digital Access Project, MNartists.org, the cities of P
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and Minneapolis, and the Public Technology Institute, among others. This article r
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some of the key discussion points brought out in that conference.
Urban Technologies
Wi-Fi operates in the unregulated part of the spectrum as an information service. It's
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fastest technology. Fiber to the home has greater bandwidth. Even DSL and cable
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are faster. But wireless has low installation costs making it a disruptive tech
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competitive with legacy operators like DSL and cable; and its services can potenti
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offered at rates that will appeal to the digitally disenfranchised.
In establishing wireless networks each local government focuses its services up
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business of government -- first responders, schools, property revenues and basic se
However, some cities with foresight are gathering input from residents on com
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centered ideas and directions for wireless. These ideas include impacts in th
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community projects and create a richer mix of social interconnectedness through wirel
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Plans to offer municipal wireless as a free city amenity haven't worked out ver
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Wireless Philadelphia started as a free public amenity, but last summer they joined the
of cities such as Portland and Minneapolis in establishing public/private partne
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Public/private partnerships don't require the city to own or maintain the network. It is
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installed and maintained by a private vendor that also bills subscribers. The city often
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as the anchor tenant. From the city's perspective it's a utility.
Wi-Fi is considered an urban technology because it requires a high density of subscri
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pay for the numerous radio "hanging assets" attached to powered street light pol
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traffic signals. A high enough density of assets allows for mesh networks or clou
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completely cover an area, in contrast to strings of isolated hot spots.
Wi-Max is a similar urban technology that covers a city, but uses a "big stick" tran
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(similar to a television tower) and local tower receivers (similar to cell phone towers
barriers for Wi-Max are lack of consumer recognition, the large established base of
users and lack of mobility across a wide range of devices.
Mobility matters to a city's chief information officer (CIO). Mobility provides a mea
consolidating and improving upon a wide variety of government services. Wirel
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(Internet protocols) improve current analog radio communications between dispatch a
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responders. Gas meters, water meters and parking meters can be read automaticall
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to this capability the flexibility of wireless traffic cameras, transit schedule updates,
alerts and uploading files to/from city workers in the field.
Wireless fits the CIO's mandate to provide dynamic e-government services within lo
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