Virtual Clusters
Star Virtual clusters for SMEs Small new start-up businesses are at the forefront of the digital economy. This clusster analysis was made also using the accounting help. Virtual clusters,creating new networks of partnerships, could help SMEs to concentrate the value-added phases of activity in Europe and relocate production to lower cost areas. The ability to exploit these new virtual relationships will become increasingly important for the competitiveness of SME clusters in the next few years.
Grant County Zipp
Grant County Zipp Grant County, WA "Zipp" network site and resources, a large rural county public utility district fiber to the home initiative receiving national attention.
Ashland Fiber Network
| Ashland Fiber Network | Ashland Fiber Network, Ashland's very own Cable Television and High-Speed Internet broadband provider. AFN's network consists of fiber optic rings that weave through the city's neighborhoods. AFN is for everybody living or doing business in Ashland. AFN not only provides high speed internet connections and a real choice in television service - it strengthens our close-knit community even further through added services and the innovative communication it will bring.
"Just Clusters"
Just Clusters: Economic Development Strategies that Reach More People and Places: Ford Cluster Study Funded by the Ford Foundation. Commissioned papers and meeting of leading international cluster experts and practitioners to increase the current level of understanding of clusters as instruments for increasing economic opportunities of small and mid-sized enterprises, in less favored regions, and among low/middle income populations. The product is a handbook describing relationships between clusters and economic inclusion outcomes
DWP Fiber Optic Enterprise
DWP Fiber Optic Enterprise. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) is a community-owned service provider offering reliable and reasonably priced utility services in Los Angeles. DWP's Fiber Optic Enterprise, established in 1995, seeks to leverage utility assets and rights-of-way to enable state-of-the-art telecommunication services for businesses, agencies, and citizens in the City of Los Angeles.
FreeNetworks Conference
FNcon 03 - Call For Papers The FreeNetworks Conference (FN-CON) 2003 is focused on giving the public an in-depth look into the the fast growing worldwide movement of Community Wireless Networking (CWN). In the past few years, these decentralized, non-commercial networks have gained world recognition and populist support as the adoption of the IEEE Standard for wireless ethernet, 802.11b, more commonly known as WiFi has gained ground. FN-CON will show you how these networks started, the directions they are taking, and provide you with enough technical knowledge to bootstrap your own networking group.
APPA Community Broadband Conference Presentations
American Public Power Association APPA Community Broadband Conference Presentations
Wireless Resources
TCRC Resources Wireless Resources
Welcome to wireless LAN by Sam Churchill. A Letter from Nebraska by Steve Cisler. A story on wireless access in Nebraska. The FCC's Part15 Rules and Regulation and 802.11b emissions in the ISM 2.4GHz Band. Wireless Community Networks a guide for Library Boards, Educators, and Community Leaders put out by the Texas State Library.
Ashland Unwired - Ashland, Oregon
Austin Wireless - Austin, Texas
Bay Area Wireless Users Group - San Francisco Bay Area, California
Delco Wireless - Southeast Pennsylvania
Houston Wireless - Houston, Texas
KC Wireless - Kansas City, Missouri
Mile High Wireless - Denver, Colorado
NYC Wireless - New York City, New York
Ogden Wireless Network - Ogden, Utah
Orbit Tulsa - Tulsa, Oklahoma
PDX Wireless - Portland, Oregon
Personal Telco Project - Portland, Oregon
Pittsburgh Wireless Community - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
RDU Wireless - Durham, North Carolina
Richmond Free Wireless - Richmond, Virginia
SBay Wireless - Silicon Valley, California
Seattle Wireless - Seattle, Washington
Wireless Cloud - Long Beach, California
Community Wireless Networks
Seattle Wireless. One of the first community wireless networks, and probably one of the largest. Personal Telco. The Personal Telco Project, Portland, OR. NYC Wireless. Wireless Community Networking in New York City ; Bay Area Wireless User Group. Another big one, in the SF Bay Area. Toaster.net's community wireless network list.
Notes taken from a presentation by Mary Jo Wait: "Research shows that innovation is place-based." "The reality is that place matters." In high tech business, location factors are unique and long term. Specialized labor pool, specialized technology, specialized infrastructure. Unique place provides 'expertise, diverse perspective, interaction.' Three requirements: Knowledge (local talent pool), Relationships (university, suppliers, competitors) and Motivation (passion, entreprenuerial innovation)
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), national clearinghouse for local communities to share news and information about their broadband deployment projects. A searchable database, of broadband deployment projects and efforts that communities across the nation are undertaking. The web site will facilitate the exchange of information and the development of local "best practices" so that communities can build upon the lessons learned by others.
Industry cluster policies are a current trend in economic development planning based on the recognition that firms and industries are inter-related in both direct and indirect ways. There is considerable debate regarding the actual definition of an industry cluster, how to identify an industry cluster, or what factors drive the development of an industry cluster. The literature focuses on the different definitions of industry clusters, and much of the literature is case studies illustrating different types of clusters. Examples of industry clusters range from the small hosiery cluster in rural North Carolina, or the apparel/hosiery cluster in Northern Italy, to Silicon Valley, an entire region of computer and related electronics firms. A second focus in the literature is the identification of industry clusters. Given the many variations in the definitions of clusters, it is not suprising that there are several different approaches to identifying clusters. A third common theme in the literature is cluster policy, and how these policies can be incorporated into economic development programs.
Who Is the Unlikely Winner of the Wi-Fi Revolution?
Fast Company | Who Is the Unlikely Winner of the Wi-Fi Revolution? Who Is the Unlikely Winner of the Wi-Fi Revolution? Who can bring Wi-Fi to every home? The companies that pop to mind are the Con Edisons of the world. Those kinds of companies have first-class (and local) service operations. They have plenty of cash; regulators guarantee them a fixed rate. They service every last residence (and most businesses) in their geographic area. They have the backroom billing operations. And they all need to extend their product offerings. But here's the kicker: Electric-utility management is largely made up of white men who turned 65 when they turned 40. Leadership in this area will probably come from a maverick. But it will happen. Wi-Fi, the least likely winner, has won. Electric utilities, the least likely revolutionaries, stand to gain the most from the Wi-Fi revolution.
Low-income housing goes wireless
Feb. 24, 2003 CNN.com - Low-income housing goes wireless - Feb. 24, 2003 Camfield Estates is a rebuilt 102-unit public housing development, has trimmed bushes and groomed grounds. For the past two years, Camfield has been the site of a project aiming to span the "digital divide" between impoverished Americans and those with easy access to technology. Called the Creating Community Connections Project, it has given residents free computers to connect to the Internet using high-speed cable lines wired into every home. The project's organizers will soon give residents the option of replacing their wired Internet access with a wireless connection. Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctorate students Richard O'Bryant and Randall Pinkett asked the Camfield tenants if they wanted to host the project. "It is, I think, the first example of a project like this emerging out of the community, rather than being required by a grant," said Anthony Townsend, a New York University professor and a co-founder of NYCwireless, an advocacy group.
Sustainable Seattle
Sustainable Seattle | Publications - 40 Indicators In December 2002, Sustainable Seattle received a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to work on improving the quality of life in selected Seattle neighborhoods through the use of community sustainability indicators. The process will include the development of: Indicators (performance measures) to evaluate progress toward achievement of each neighborhood's adopted goals; Processes and mechanisms to align and prioritize city and community activities and expenditures with neighborhood goals; Processes and tools to engage neighborhood youth, businesses, and residents in measuring, monitoring, and reporting on municipal performance and progress toward desired neighborhood conditions.
Community Informatics
The two-way bridge approach to community informatics can also contribute to sustainable development in disadvantaged communities. Particularly promising are "Flexible Economic Networks" (FENs). Here we extend the concept to include networking among sociocultural assets, economic revitalization and environmental renewal.
The 20-week Multimedia Workforce Development Program is to provide participants with the training and skills necessary to become competitive professionals in the multimedia industry. The range of skills to cover include such disciplines as web development, knowledge of the information technology and multimedia industry, as well as digital video/audio for the Web. All instruction is provided by professionals experienced in the field. BNN is providing this 20-week training program at a very minimal cost to Boston residents as a community service.
Long Beach: The City Behind the Hotzone. January 17, 2003 "... the Economic Development Bureau has partnered with local high-tech businesses to establish a three-block Wi-Fi hotzone along Pine Avenue, the city's restaurant row. However, unlike some other city-sponsored hotzones, it's completely free." "The project grew out of a brainstorming session with local businesses to try and come up with ways to implement the Economic Development Bureau's vision for city renewal. When the navy base and shipyard closed down a few years ago, Long Beach took a major economic hit." Just as venture capital fueled the Internet economy, municipal grants are being used to seed a projected boom in wireless networks. The challenge facing cities, just as it was for dot-com entrepreneurs, is to distill ways of making money from a largely amorphous technology. "We're very low on the learning curve right now, but we know there will be other business opportunities," said Bruce Mayes, a technology specialist for the Long Beach Economic Development Bureau. "We're trying to discover what they
might be."