UNITeS Explores Applications of Wireless to Development - May 2003

What significance could wireless technologies have in developing countries? Are there impacts WiFi is having already? Where is wireless tech currently being used successfully, anywhere in the world, to build a sense of community, to give people better Internet access, etc., and do/could these applications have significance in developing countries?

UNITeS has involved more than a dozen online volunteers in the last three months to discuss answers to these questions, and to highlight emerging news and resources regarding wireless that could have ramifications for the developing world. These online volunteers were recruited through UNV's Online Volunteering service and are experts, either in professional or volunteer settings, in wireless networking.

UNITeS began exploring issues around WiFi in anticipation of needs in communities in the developing world regarding what wireless technologies are, what the requirements are for setting up such networks, and what the benefits are for users of such a network. The online volunteers for this project, from both developed and developing countries, interact via a private online community. The results of their discussions and postings will lead to a new section in the UNITeS Knowledge Base later this year.

One of the online volunteers contributing to this project will participate on behalf of UNITeS at a conference on June 26, 2003 at the UN headquarters in New York. The Wireless Internet Institute (W2i) and the UN Information and Communication Technologies Task Force will host the conference, "The WiFi Opportunity for Developing Nations." The conference will seek to contribute to establishing strategies necessary to overcome existing obstacles and develop environments favorable to the broad deployment of WiFi infrastructures. Its conclusions will serve as a blue print for future national consensus building programs, spectrum policies reform and new infrastructure deployment. The conference is a response to the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan's challenge to the Silicon Valley Community on the 5th of November 2002.

To contribute to the UNITeS as an online volunteer, you need to apply to UNITeS via the Online Volunteering service. Choose "search groups" on the OV site and then write in "UNITeS" (without quotes) in the "Organization Name" field. Click on the resulting link, and then click on any assignment in which you are interested. Follow the directions there to apply.