❮ Projects page Open Technology Institute, New America

Spatial Analysis Project:

Using demographic, environmental, network, and points of interest data for three community wireless networks in Vienna, Austria (Funkfeuer), Catalonia, Spain (Guifi.Net), and Greece (AWMN), develop an analytical framework to answer this question: to what extent do digital networks mirror or diverge from the networks that already exist in their social and built urban environments? Each network covers a different scale and a different type of environment. How does network usage relate to population density? What factors of the social and physical environment affect the growth of the network over time? Is there a relationship between the types of organizations present and the success of node locations? Using advanced spatial statistics such as network analyst, clustering, heat mapping or another technique, determine if there is a pattern to the spatial distribution of a network relative to the demographic spatial pattern of the locations.

Data available:

• Node locations and metadata (number of users, date added to network, host location type)
• Open Street Maps Data - infrastructure, points of interest, environmental data , etc
• Census/ sociodemographic data for each region
• Network traffic analysis data, Measurement Lab data by IP address
• Physical terrain data

Maps and Reports that will be created:

The maps and/or network analysis will visualize the growth model and any correlations found with respect to network usage and organization types present in the area near the network. Additionally, a report detailing the model and how to replicate it with other networks, or that could potentially be used to plan future networks, will be included so that OTI and communities building networks in the future can leverage it in network planning and development.

How the maps and reports will be used:

The maps, visualizations and reports developed as a part of this project will be used as part of research for a connected communities research project: The CONFINE Integrated Project: Community Networks Testbed for the Future Internet. The reports will also be shared with the Commotion Wireless community as well as used in OTI’s future work, domestic and internationally, around planning and evaluating community infrastructure and communications.