Tinned food, water bottles and wi-fi connection for francophone Africa

By Vanessa Purper for APCNews DAKAR, Senegal,

It’s well known that the conventional "wired" connectivity to the internet can be really expensive and it doesn’t apply to every corner of the world. Some remote areas of the globe don’t even count with public telephone cabins or electricity.


APC’s "Capacity building for community wireless connectivity in Africa" is a partnership project that is making changes to this scenario. The expertise of the partners in implementing community wireless projects is now reaching francophone Africa with a workshop held in Dakar, Senegal, from January 24-28 2006.


The meeting counts with 35 participants from NGOs and community projects from West African countries such as Chad, Gabon, Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo and other.


The goal is to provide local actors the knowledge to plan, conceive, install and maintain low cost wireless networks in their communities, exchange experiences and raise awareness around wi-fi issues. How to make antennas out of tin cans and water bottles is also part of the plan.


This project is supported financially by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Open Society Institute (OSI). Some of the partners are wire.less.dk (http://wire.less.dk/), ESMT (http://www.esmt.sn/), CUWiN (http://www.cuwireless.net/) and Alberto Escudero-Pascual (IT +46).




Author: —- (Vanessa Purper for APCNews)
Contact: communications apc.org
Source: APCNews
Date: 01/24/2006
Location: DAKAR, Senegal
Category: Training and ICTs



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