[okfn-discuss] Jan 25: Building Community with the Help of Information and Commmunications Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges (netCommons/WIAS event)

[Christian Fuchs]

BUILDING COMMUNITY WITH THE HELP OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS 
TECHNOLOGIES – OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Wed, 25/1/2017 6pm
University of Westminster, 309 Regent St, London W1B 2HW
Fyvie Hall

Registration:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/building-community-with-the-help-of-information-and-communications-tickets-30489441741

Accessing the Internet day in, day out is part of everyday life. But we 
take for granted that the way we access the Internet is via a service 
provider, usually among the largest for-profit corporations in the 
world. We rarely think about whether there are alternative forms of 
Internet infrastructure that do not operate access as profitable 
business. This event explores community networks as alternative forms of 
Internet access and presents two talks on community networks by experts 
who come from academia and industry.

Prof Claire Wallace, University of Aberdeen, will present work carried 
out in Aberdeen among four rural communities that have used information 
technology in different ways to help build community networks and an 
enhanced sense of identity and social cohesion. The research was 
sponsored by the EPSRC as part of the Cultures and Communities Network+ 
initiative and as part of the Aberdeen Digital Economy hub.

Adam Burns, member of the netCommons project advisory board and a 
long-time community network practitioner, will talk about his 
experiences, motivations, and the realities of community networks. He 
will report on how from his experience alternative Internet access and 
infrastructure can be organised and what the opportunities and 
challenges are in doing so.

This public event is organised by the Westminster Institute for Advanced 
Studies (WIAS) in the context of the EU Horizon2020 project netCommons 
(http://netcommons.eu/)

Forthcoming WIAS events:

Fri, Feb 3: China’s Economic Transformation in the New Media Era, 
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chinas-economic-transformation-in-the-new-media-era-tickets-31022409863?aff=erelpanelorg

Fri, March 3: The Unreality of Reality TV: From "After Dark" towards 
Twitter, Big Data, and "Big Brother"
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/unreality-of-reality-tv-from-after-dark-towards-twitter-big-data-and-big-brother-tickets-29380168876?aff=erelpanelorg

For WIAS infos about events, publications, calls, etc, subscribe to the 
WIAS Newsletter
https://www.westminster.ac.uk/newsletter