Common Ground’s Tech Collective Hopes to Provide Free Wireless Networking to Public Housing Residents

Common Ground’s Tech Collective has been working since hurricane Katrina to provide computers, internet access, and tech support to New Orleans’ neglected communities.

“Common Ground Tech's first response efforts were building computer labs and mobile internet labs to help residents get assistance from Fema and the Red Cross and find and contact loved ones,” says Ted Cash, Tech Collective member since June, 2006 and current IT Coordinator. Ted originally came to New Orleans to work with Common Ground’s Legal office, but the demand for skilled IT volunteers convinced him to join the Tech Collective.

Since Katrina, CG Tech has assembled hundreds of computers and allocated over 100 donated computers. The Tech Collective is now based in Common Ground’s Mid-City Office, a resource center, computer lab, and home to our Legal and Media Collectives. Tech continues to provide services such as distribution of computers and computer parts to low income residents and local nonprofits and long term tech support for the recipients of those computers.

CG Tech is working on a number of special projects. In addition to maintaining the Common Ground website, setting up CG databases, and creating an inter-Common Ground communication system, the Tech Collective sets up internet and computer labs around the city and donates all equipment. Common Ground has worked to bring computers and internet to such organizations as NENA (the Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association), a homeless shelter called the Abstract Cafe, and the Homecoming Center, to name just a few. CG Tech has also donated time and supplies to other local nonprofits such as the Food and Farm Network and Critical Resistance New Orleans. Common Ground’s Tech Collective has setup a free community computer lab in the Lower Ninth Ward on Deslonde Street.

In cooperation with Netequality, CG tech is currently in the process of setting up free wireless internet in a public housing project in New Orleans. The mesh system CG Tech plans to employ consists of a number of wireless access points, nodes, that are linked. These "nodes" can extend network coverage over a large area like an umbrella. If you have a computer with WIFI and are in range of a node, then the mesh network will find the shortest route to give you internet access. This project would provide an extremely cost effective solution to the problem of constructing a large WIFI network. In cooperation with CACRC, families in public housing have the opportunity to purchase complete low cost computer systems for $60.

Our Tech Collective’s biggest goal is to build a free wireless internet mesh network in the Lower Ninth Ward modeled after a similar deployment in San Francisco by Meraki. After Hurricane Katrina, the city announced that they would establish a free wireless network for all of New Orleans. Currently, the network only covers the areas of Algiers, Uptown, the CBD and portions of the Quarter. As of September, 2007 there have been no plans to expand this network to include the rest of New Orleans. Large swaths of the Lower and Upper Ninth Wards have no cable or DSL wiring..

Common Ground’s Tech Collective desperately needs your help to get internet access in the public housing projects of New Orleans up and running! You can help by donating money, providing grants or assistance with grants, or donating computers or wireless networking hardware (meraki minis) .

If you have access to any of these resources please contact Technology Collective (504) 273-4918, or fill out the form on our site commongroundtech.org , cgctech@gmail.com or mail them to us: CG Tech, 215 North Jefferson Davis Parkway, New Orleans, LA 70119.

* Monetary donations (you can donate via paypal or by mailing a check made out to "Common Ground Relief" For "Tech" to 215 N Jefferson Davis Parkway, New Orleans, LA 70119

Ted Cash would like to recognize the contributions of Jenka and the other post-Katrina Tech volunteers such as:

Jeff Moe

Grainne O' Neil

Ben Varadi

Nick Simmons

Geoffrey Hennies

David London

Daniel Moore

Suyash Sonwalker

And many other short term volunteers