Hello everyone! I am a new list participant. I wrote Andy Carvin to say I'd introduce myself and our project, so here we are.
I am a 20-year veteran of the TV networks, now working with the Lower Eastside Girls Club in Manhattan to build a facility that will house their programs, including digital media, health center, and an initiative to provide free wireless broadband to the housing projects nearby. Avenue D is the digital divide for our community - gentrified East Village on one side, subsidized housing on the other. The Girls Club has an opportunity to create a diverse community network, while calling on the prosperous part of the neighborhood to help support the underserved area. Here is a description of the project as it is currently shaping up, with help from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program and iEARN. Any suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks Dave Pentecost **************************** Avenue D Network A community web, based on free wireless access The Lower Eastside Girls Club and Public School 188 are forming a partnership to bring internet access, science and math education, and wireless broadband to a community that has been underserved in all of those areas. The main components of the project are: 1) A community technology center at PS188 (Houston and Ave. D) in what is presently the entry foyer of the school. This long, beautiful space, with arched doorways to the outside, will be filled with a wireless internet cafe open to students and parents of the neighborhood. It will also serve as the after-school and weekend headquarters for a project to get students interested and active in science, math, and information technology. Funding for the facility is in place. Architectural design has already been completed. System design and implementation will begin in January of 2005, with the center opening in the fall of that year. 2) A digital photography, video and internet radio center in the Girls Club building, to be constructed between 7th and 8th streets on Avenue D. This building will be certified "green" and will also house commercial spaces at street level and artist studios on the top two floors, in cooperation with FEVA, the Federation of East Village Artists. Groundbreaking on the building will take place in the fall of 2005. 3) A wireless community broadband network, with antennas on the Girls Club and PS188, that will provide free or low cost internet access to the housing projects on Avenue D. It will form the basis of a community -wide network, sharing audio and video programs, health information, business advertising, educational programs, and community news. First evaluations and tests of wireless equipment, range and coverage will begin in spring of 2005. Development of community-specific applications and first network "broadcasts" will also begin at that time. We are seeking volunteers, interns, and mentors with skills to contribute in many areas, including the following: Network design, implementation, and security Wireless broadband system design Social software, applied to neighborhood wireless communications Innovative educational approaches combining internet, math and science Training youth and adults in Information Technology Global collaboration, through web, VOIP, video conferencing Video, audio and music production and distribution on the web Website and weblog design, and training others in that area RSS, "podcasting", bittorrent, and other emerging distribution methods Mobile sharing of media and information There will be opportunities for direct service and initiating educational projects with students and families from the Girls Club and PS 188 starting in Summer 2005. In addition, we need people who can pursue options for acquiring the bandwidth for the system - copper, fiber, point to point wireless - and develop partnerships with suppliers and manufacturers who would benefit from the visibility of the project and the development of new social software and other community applications. We are also open to any good idea that adds to the creative mix and serves the neighborhood. The first results of this effort will be the construction of the PS188 internet center and the creation of a database of resources and a first planning survey, all by the fall of 2005. The Avenue D Network will be designed by all participating partners, including PS188 students, parents and staff; NYU Interactive Telecommunication Program students and faculty; iEarn advisers; students and staff of the Bard High School; and members of the Lower Eastside Girls Club and FEVA. It will capitalize on and communicate the diversity and creativity of the Lower East Side, and will provide a model for centers in other communities. Project coordinator: Dave Pentecost, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- The Daily Glyph http://www.gomaya.com/glyph Usumacinta http://www.gomaya.com/dams Cell 917 312 9733 _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
