Center for Neighborhood Technology

One of the NTIA's most recent Technology Opportunities Program grantees - the in Chicago - has dispatched two people from their TOP-funded Wireless Community Network Team to Rayville, Louisiana, to work with other telecomm volunteers to connect shelters with broadband connections, VOIP capability, and computers. At the moment, they are working out of Mac Dearman's farm in Rayville. Mr. Dearman is a local ISP who has opened his home and business to relief efforts. After connecting a number of shelters in the area, the group has pushed closer to the Gulf Coast and has set up camps in both Ponchatoula, Louisiana, and Bay St Louis, Mississippi. Paul Smith, from CNT's staff, is working with other volunteers to connect 25 shelters (through the Emergency Operation Center) with wireless access. All of this work was made possible in large part by TOP's support for the Wireless Community Network. "Our ad hoc mesh wireless approach allowed for quick deployment," CNT's Nicole Friedman told me. "There are hundreds of people who are making calls, connecting with their families, and getting access to emergency services." As an outgrowth of their work with Hurricane Katrina survivors, CNT has also been talking with Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn's office about translating CNT's experiences in the Gulf Coast into disaster preparedness kits for Illinois.