Nathan Freitas
Nathan Freitas leads the Guardian Project, an open-source mobile security software project, and directs technology strategy and training at the Tibet Action Institute. He is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.
Presenting
Workshop: Wind Farm: People-Powered Nearby Networks
Wind is a metaphor for the untapped communication potential that is all around us. In nature, wind can manifest as a slight breeze, or a powerful gale. It can gently spread the seeds of life, or a become a fearful gale that moves the sea. Wind can carry a message for miles, even around the world. Wind can be harnessed and turned into energy, and it is that energy which inspires possibilities. In our vision of a future of network communication, Wind is a way to describe the ability to connect and share digitally, that is not the Internet, and not the Web, but some place new, one that is right in the air around us.
The Wind Farm workshop is an opportunity to facilitate a basic vision and metaphor for many groups to all work within. It is a starting point, not a standard, an intervention to create a dialogue, shared terminology and a shared narrative of how, who, and what we expect people to do when they have a super-computer in their pocket, but no signal to communicate by.
In the workshop, we will work to find common ground between our various efforts in non-Internet, nearby, and "mesh" communication systems. We will hear from everyday people, activists, aid workers, and others who have direct experience being and working in places where all traditional communications are not available. We will have the chance to share with each other our coolest, cutting edge demos and/or our actually shipping, production ready products. Finally, we will expand our theoretical discussions from into hands-on, "live action" game situations, where we can see how different apps, tools, prototypes, and services fare when put in context of real situations.
This Wind Farm event builds on an "Internet Blackout Simulation Event" held in 2014 in New York at Eyebeam, and Wind Farm 0 held at Harvard in May 2015.
More information:
- If there was suddenly no Internet, what would we do?
- Eyebeam Square: An Internet Blackout Simulation Event
- Your survival guide for an internet blackout
- Wind Farm 0: People-Powered Nearby Networks Event @ Harvard, May 15-16
No experience necessary!
Materials
Bring your own tablet or smartphone
If you want to bring your own PirateBox to the workshop, and you don't already have one, you can find out how to build one here ahead of time.
This step is not necessary! Just a fun extra if you felt like it.
