Open Works shines a light, seeks public comment on solar power-fueled digital equity solution

Solar-powered, open-source router kits in large damage-resistant containers will be deployed in Baltimore this spring and summer — and this week, you have a chance to share your feedback.

Open Works partnered with the Central Baltimore Partnership (CBP) to create these sun-reliant device-charging and WiFi stations in multiple neighborhoods throughout central Baltimore. CBP received a grant from Maryland’s Office of Statewide Broadband (OSB) to further its community revitalization efforts and promote digital inclusion in Baltimore; thanks to this funding, six of these stations will be prototyped and installed at various community and recreation centers, including the 29th Street Community Center, Village Learning Place, Cecil Kirk Rec Center, Greenmount Rec Center, Open Works and the Nate Tatum Center.

Aaron Kaufman, CPB’s director of community projects, said the project has social benefits beyond its most obvious technical ones.

“This project not only increases access to the internet and mobile charging in public spaces but also can expand outdoor programming opportunities and support gathering spaces where youth and families can connect with each other,” Kaufman said.

Open Works Executive Director Will Holman told Technical.ly that the 29th Street Community Center, whose fall renovations schedule will make its current computer resources unavailable to the surrounding Abell neighborhood, will receive a station first. Village Learning Place will be second, followed by the Cecil Kirk and Greenmount Recreation Centers — all of which he says are scheduled to be wired for broadband this spring and summer.

Holman emphasized that this infrastructure must be in place before installing WiFi since the signal needs an anchor in an existing hardline connection. He added that Open Works is collaborating with Community Tech New York (CTNY), a nationally reaching organization whose so-called “portable network kit (PNK)” is an open-source router kit housed in an OtterBox that can be deployed anywhere. While the initial testing uses existing outdoor WiFi, the final units will each have a PNK.

“The PNKs aren’t a product — you can’t buy one off the shelf — but CTNY helps orgs like us spec and build them,” Holman said.

The prototype will be tested on Open Works’ property before it goes live and relocates to other community locations between this summer and year’s end. To that end, Open Works invites the public to its Solar WiFi Station Beta Testing Party this Friday at 9 a.m.  Attendees can bring a device to try out the solar station’s free WiFi. The organizations are collecting user experience feedback to determine what changes may be necessary before CBP deploys the stations. Holman added that the stations will have a QR code through which Testing Party attendees can offer feedback.

“We hope to get as many people as possible to test the WiFi on the station and share their experience through the form,” he said.

Register for the Testing Party

Can’t wait for the Testing Party? Fill out Open Works’ Digital Equity Outreach survey to support the organization’s future community connectivity efforts:

Take the digital outreach survey