Difference between revisions of "Seattle Neighborhood Networks Project"
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* device recycling and refurbishment | * device recycling and refurbishment | ||
| − | At a recent [[Group:LibrePlanet_Washington]] meeting, [[koanhead]] proposed a set of overlapping projects which can meet all these goals in a Freedom-respecting manner. Hopefully CTAB and the municipality can be persuaded to buy-in, as some initial funding will be required to make these projects possible; afterwards they can become self-supporting if properly managed. Buy-in from the City might not be easy as CTAB membership has some entanglement with Microsoft. If the City will not help then we can approach individual neighborhoods, or even smaller groups if we can muster the necessary bodies to do that leg-work. We can hope that it will not come to that. | + | At a recent [[Group:LibrePlanet_Washington]] meeting, [[koanhead]] proposed a set of overlapping projects which can meet all these goals in a Freedom-respecting manner. Hopefully CTAB and the municipality can be persuaded to buy-in, as some initial funding will be required to make these projects possible; afterwards they can become self-supporting if properly managed. Buy-in from the City might not be easy as CTAB membership has some entanglement with Microsoft and other entities which may express an interest in continued for-profit civic capture. If the City will not help then we can approach individual neighborhoods, or even smaller groups if we can muster the necessary bodies to do that leg-work. We can hope that it will not come to that. |
| − | = | + | =Components= |
| − | Since the recent debacle with Total Reclaim, | + | ==Recycling== |
| + | |||
| + | Since the recent debacle with Total Reclaim https://www.atrecycle.com/total-reclaim-caught-exporting-to-hong-kong/, it's evident that we cannot trust even certified "e-Steward" vendors to do our recycling for us, and in fact there are many reasons why e-recycling should be kept local. Not least of these is that reclamation of the components and some of the materials of which the devices are made can be done at a profit. It will be beneficial to capture this value in the local economy, and we can use it to maintain the other aspects of the program explicated here. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Unlike other aspects of the program, the recycling may not be easily decentralized. The processes and materials involved can be somewhat dangerous, and the use of an industrial facility is indicated. Further study will reveal the extent to which the processes can be broken down, but this preliminary sketch of the project plan will assume a centralized recycling facility. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Refurbishment== | ||
| + | |||
| + | Refurbishment of old or broken computer equipment into usable equipment is also the first phase of the recycling process. This can be done in a decentralized manner, each neighborhood can use a small space (Free Geek Seattle used a small classroom) to store and to work on hardware. These are also learning spaces, so they should be accessible to the public whenever activities are happening. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Networking== | ||
| + | |||
| + | = | ||
Revision as of 15:40, 20 November 2016
Background
The City of Seattle has a body called CTAB, the Citizens' Technology Advisory Board. http://www.seattle.gov/community-technology-advisory-board
CTAB advises the municipal government on technical matters. http://www.seattle.gov/community-technology-advisory-board/what-we-docommittees
Since this is Seattle, they mainly seem to advise "buy something from $VENDOR" where VENDOR is one of Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, et al.
CTAB has a list of 4 remits listed on their web page navigation sidebar, one of which is Digital Inclusion. Synthesizing http://www.seattle.gov/community-technology-advisory-board/what-we-docommittees/digital-inclusion and the contents of a paper document (source apparently unavailable) distributed at a recent PechaKucha event (no link, because their website is toxic) Digital Inclusion emcompasses:
- digital equity
- broadband adoption efforts on connectivity
- skills and devices and technical support
- device recycling and refurbishment
At a recent Group:LibrePlanet_Washington meeting, koanhead proposed a set of overlapping projects which can meet all these goals in a Freedom-respecting manner. Hopefully CTAB and the municipality can be persuaded to buy-in, as some initial funding will be required to make these projects possible; afterwards they can become self-supporting if properly managed. Buy-in from the City might not be easy as CTAB membership has some entanglement with Microsoft and other entities which may express an interest in continued for-profit civic capture. If the City will not help then we can approach individual neighborhoods, or even smaller groups if we can muster the necessary bodies to do that leg-work. We can hope that it will not come to that.
Components
Recycling
Since the recent debacle with Total Reclaim https://www.atrecycle.com/total-reclaim-caught-exporting-to-hong-kong/, it's evident that we cannot trust even certified "e-Steward" vendors to do our recycling for us, and in fact there are many reasons why e-recycling should be kept local. Not least of these is that reclamation of the components and some of the materials of which the devices are made can be done at a profit. It will be beneficial to capture this value in the local economy, and we can use it to maintain the other aspects of the program explicated here.
Unlike other aspects of the program, the recycling may not be easily decentralized. The processes and materials involved can be somewhat dangerous, and the use of an industrial facility is indicated. Further study will reveal the extent to which the processes can be broken down, but this preliminary sketch of the project plan will assume a centralized recycling facility.
Refurbishment
Refurbishment of old or broken computer equipment into usable equipment is also the first phase of the recycling process. This can be done in a decentralized manner, each neighborhood can use a small space (Free Geek Seattle used a small classroom) to store and to work on hardware. These are also learning spaces, so they should be accessible to the public whenever activities are happening.
Networking
=
