Reliable internet access is essential to daily life, yet this remains an evasive service for many communities around the world. Community-developed and locally-designed internet networks can help bridge this divide, especially in low-income countries. In this session, you will learn how a team of Kenyan and American urban planners, architects, engineers and community development experts came together with local community-based groups in Nairobi, Kenya during the COVID-19 crisis to create the Kibera Public Space Internet Network (KPSPIN). From the start, the interdisciplinary team set out to co-design the network in order to ensure development knowledge builds off of and remains centered in Kibera’s own residents. We will explain the process of building the network and the ways we attempted to break down uneven power dynamics while increasing access to an essential resource.
Our session is planned as a series of modules walking through our process of setting up the Kibera Public Space Internet Network. We will start each section with an overview and prompt for attendees. At the end of each session, we will begin a Q&A session with project participants from both the U.S. and Kenya, allowing a large group of attendees to engage and ask questions. The goal is to review our process and the lessons we learned with attendees, while also providing time for them to query us on various aspects of our process and the outcomes. Should we have only three participants, the session will still work as we will shift the conversation to be more of a discussion between the collaborators about the future of these systems.
We're hoping that many efforts and discussions will continue after Mozfest. Share any ideas you already have for how to continue the work from your session.:The work that we will be presenting in our sessions is part of our on-going attempt to open-source materials and content on the development of community-based internet networks. We hope our presentation will help people to connect with this material, but critically, our participation in Mozfest also aims to build a larger network of people interested in this kind of work. We believe that the future of connectivity in the global South will rely on equipping communities with the appropriate tools and frameworks to innovate and experiment productively and share ideas with others doing the same work. Our work in Kibera highlights important lessons about collaboration and community-led infrastructure that we will continue to share with both academics and practitioners in the field.
I am an Associate Professor of Technology and Urban Planning at MIT where I also directs the Civic Data Design Lab and chair the undergraduate program in Urban Science.
I am a research associate with Kounkuey Design Iniative. My passion is working with the community to advance equity, promote sustainable development and better lives through action research projects.