WiFi Task Force at City Hall

A few months ago Patrick McCormick (former CIO of Somerville), Michael Oh and I helped start up BostonWAG, a wireless advocacy group for Boston.

The group’s mission:

• Advocate for public access to the Internet via open wireless networks. BostonWAG believes that open wireless networks can strengthen communities, foster economic development, minimize the digital divide, and improve the quality of life in today’s information age.
• To educate the public, policy makers, and the media about the value of Internet access via open wireless. BostonWAG provides practical, detailed information on the best practices of open wireless networks in order to inform community conversations, media coverage, planning, and project development.
• To inspire people to embrace open wireless networks to benefit individuals and communities. BostonWAG leverages creative communication, lively discourse, and fun events to spark interest in wireless computing with the premise that only widespread adoption and useful applications will maximize the value of open wireless networks and make them ubiquitous.

We’ve been using the WiFi Meetups to get the group organized and bring a bit of life to the WiFi Meetup that wasn’t really used much before August 2004. We attended a “Wifi Taskforce” at Boston City Hall this afternoon hosted by Councillor John Tobin Jr. His plan if all continues to go well is to host a series of of taskforce meetings, conduct a study about community WiFi in Boston (funded by the Boston Foundation) and then host a WiFi Summit in Boston with Mayor Menino’s office. I’m optimistic. It’s nice to see an open dialogue and planning instead of jumping on the “WiFi City” hype bandwagon.

Steve Garfield is doing some great work with Tobin on the councillor’s website.

Photo: Patrick McCormick, City Councillor John Tobin Jr., Michael Oh

tags: bostonWAG, community wifi