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The role of users in innovation processes has gained increasing attention in innovation studies, technology studies, and media studies. Scholars have identified users and use practices as a source of innovation. So far, however, little insight has been generated in innovation processes in which communities of users are the driving force in all phases of the innovation process. This article explores the conceptual vocabularies of innovation studies and actor— network theory and discusses their adequacy for describing and understanding the dynamics of user-initiated innovation processes in which community and innovation are closely intertwined. The authors introduce the concept of community innovation and argue for its relevance for understanding the full dynamics of innovations initiated and shaped by user collectives. The article elaborates a qualitative case study of Wireless Leiden, a local wireless network infrastructure in the Dutch town of Leiden initiated, designed, and maintained by a local community of users.

Wireless networking increases the flexibility in the home, work place and community to connect to the Internet without being tied to a single location. Wireless networking has rapidly increased in popularity over recent years. There has also been a change in the use of the internet by users. Home users have embraced wireless technology and businesses see it as having a great impact on their operational efficiency. Both home users and industry are sending increasingly sensitive information through these wireless networks as online delivery of banking, commercial and governmental services becomes more widespread. However undeniable the benefits of wireless networking are, there are additional risks that do not exist in wired networks. It is imperative that adequate assessment and management of risk is undertaken by businesses and home users. This paper reviews wireless network protocols, investigates issues of reliability, availability and security when using wireless networks. The paper, by use of a case study, illustrates the issues and importance of implementing secured wireless networks, and shows the significance of the issue. The paper presents a discussion of the case study and a set of recommendations to mitigate the threat.

Computer-enhanced smart environments, distributed environmental monitoring, wireless communication, energy conservation and sustainable technologies, ubiquitous access to Internet-located data and services, user mobility and innovation as a tool for service differentiation are all significant contemporary research subjects and societal developments. This position paper presents the design of a hybrid municipal network infrastructure that, to a lesser or greater degree, incorporates aspects from each of these topics by integrating a community-based Wi-Fi access network with Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) functionality. The former component provides free wireless Internet connectivity by harvesting the Internet subscriptions of city inhabitants. To minimize session interruptions for mobile clients, this subsystem incorporates technology that achieves (near-)seamless handover between Wi-Fi access points. The WSN component on the other hand renders it feasible to sense physical properties and to realize the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. This in turn scaffolds the development of value-added end-user applications that are consumable through the community-powered access network. The WSN subsystem invests substantially in ecological considerations by means of a green distributed reasoning framework and sensor middleware that collaboratively aim to minimize the network's global energy consumption. Via the discussion of two illustrative applications that are currently being developed as part of a concrete smart city deployment, we offer a taste of the myriad of innovative digital services in an extensive spectrum of application domains that is unlocked by the proposed platform. ; Part of this research was performed in the context of the IBBT project GreenWeCan. This project is co-funded by the IBBT (Interdisciplinary institute for Broadband Technology), a research institute founded by the Flemish Government. Companies and organizations involved in the project are ANDROME, Bausch Datacom, Be-Mobile, OneAccess and Stad Gent, with project support of IWT.

The super collision between the Internet phenomenon and the wireless communication revolution gives birth to a wealth of novel research problems, design challenges and standardization activities. Within this domain, spontaneous wireless IP networking are probably the most extreme example of new ''particles'' born from the collision. Indeed, these particles defy the laws of the Internet in many ways. The absorption of such peculiar particles in the global IP network has already started thanks to pioneering algorithmic and protocol work -- for instance OLSR -- and through the deployment of wireless mesh networks around the world, such as urban community wireless networks. With the recent revolutions in North Africa, and movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the prospect of spontaneous wireless IP networking has become even more attractive on social and political grounds. Dedicated conferences have recently been organized, and as a result, ambitious, multi-million dollar initiatives have been launched (e.g. the US Government-funded project Commotion Wireless, or the EU-funded initiative CONFINE). However, spontaneous IP wireless networks are not yet widely deployed because pioneer work such as OLSR is vastly insufficient to fully bridge the gap between the Internet and these new networks. This thesis presents work that analyzes this gap and proposes some solutions as to how to bridge it. The focus is put on three domains: a first part presents work in the domain of wireless mesh and ad hoc networks. A second part presents work on sensor networks and in the Internet of Things. And the last part presents work in the domain of delay tolerant networking and vehicular networks.

The super collision between the Internet phenomenon and the wireless communication revolution gives birth to a wealth of novel research problems, design challenges and standardization activities. Within this domain, spontaneous wireless IP networking are probably the most extreme example of new ''particles'' born from the collision. Indeed, these particles defy the laws of the Internet in many ways. The absorption of such peculiar particles in the global IP network has already started thanks to pioneering algorithmic and protocol work -- for instance OLSR -- and through the deployment of wireless mesh networks around the world, such as urban community wireless networks. With the recent revolutions in North Africa, and movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the prospect of spontaneous wireless IP networking has become even more attractive on social and political grounds. Dedicated conferences have recently been organized, and as a result, ambitious, multi-million dollar initiatives have been launched (e.g. the US Government-funded project Commotion Wireless, or the EU-funded initiative CONFINE). However, spontaneous IP wireless networks are not yet widely deployed because pioneer work such as OLSR is vastly insufficient to fully bridge the gap between the Internet and these new networks. This thesis presents work that analyzes this gap and proposes some solutions as to how to bridge it. The focus is put on three domains: a first part presents work in the domain of wireless mesh and ad hoc networks. A second part presents work on sensor networks and in the Internet of Things. And the last part presents work in the domain of delay tolerant networking and vehicular networks.

The super collision between the Internet phenomenon and the wireless communication revolution gives birth to a wealth of novel research problems, design challenges and standardization activities. Within this domain, spontaneous wireless IP networking are probably the most extreme example of new ''particles'' born from the collision. Indeed, these particles defy the laws of the Internet in many ways. The absorption of such peculiar particles in the global IP network has already started thanks to pioneering algorithmic and protocol work -- for instance OLSR -- and through the deployment of wireless mesh networks around the world, such as urban community wireless networks. With the recent revolutions in North Africa, and movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the prospect of spontaneous wireless IP networking has become even more attractive on social and political grounds. Dedicated conferences have recently been organized, and as a result, ambitious, multi-million dollar initiatives have been launched (e.g. the US Government-funded project Commotion Wireless, or the EU-funded initiative CONFINE). However, spontaneous IP wireless networks are not yet widely deployed because pioneer work such as OLSR is vastly insufficient to fully bridge the gap between the Internet and these new networks. This thesis presents work that analyzes this gap and proposes some solutions as to how to bridge it. The focus is put on three domains: a first part presents work in the domain of wireless mesh and ad hoc networks. A second part presents work on sensor networks and in the Internet of Things. And the last part presents work in the domain of delay tolerant networking and vehicular networks.

The super collision between the Internet phenomenon and the wireless communication revolution gives birth to a wealth of novel research problems, design challenges and standardization activities. Within this domain, spontaneous wireless IP networking are probably the most extreme example of new ''particles'' born from the collision. Indeed, these particles defy the laws of the Internet in many ways. The absorption of such peculiar particles in the global IP network has already started thanks to pioneering algorithmic and protocol work -- for instance OLSR -- and through the deployment of wireless mesh networks around the world, such as urban community wireless networks. With the recent revolutions in North Africa, and movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the prospect of spontaneous wireless IP networking has become even more attractive on social and political grounds. Dedicated conferences have recently been organized, and as a result, ambitious, multi-million dollar initiatives have been launched (e.g. the US Government-funded project Commotion Wireless, or the EU-funded initiative CONFINE). However, spontaneous IP wireless networks are not yet widely deployed because pioneer work such as OLSR is vastly insufficient to fully bridge the gap between the Internet and these new networks. This thesis presents work that analyzes this gap and proposes some solutions as to how to bridge it. The focus is put on three domains: a first part presents work in the domain of wireless mesh and ad hoc networks. A second part presents work on sensor networks and in the Internet of Things. And the last part presents work in the domain of delay tolerant networking and vehicular networks.

The super collision between the Internet phenomenon and the wireless communication revolution gives birth to a wealth of novel research problems, design challenges and standardization activities. Within this domain, spontaneous wireless IP networking are probably the most extreme example of new ''particles'' born from the collision. Indeed, these particles defy the laws of the Internet in many ways. The absorption of such peculiar particles in the global IP network has already started thanks to pioneering algorithmic and protocol work -- for instance OLSR -- and through the deployment of wireless mesh networks around the world, such as urban community wireless networks. With the recent revolutions in North Africa, and movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the prospect of spontaneous wireless IP networking has become even more attractive on social and political grounds. Dedicated conferences have recently been organized, and as a result, ambitious, multi-million dollar initiatives have been launched (e.g. the US Government-funded project Commotion Wireless, or the EU-funded initiative CONFINE). However, spontaneous IP wireless networks are not yet widely deployed because pioneer work such as OLSR is vastly insufficient to fully bridge the gap between the Internet and these new networks. This thesis presents work that analyzes this gap and proposes some solutions as to how to bridge it. The focus is put on three domains: a first part presents work in the domain of wireless mesh and ad hoc networks. A second part presents work on sensor networks and in the Internet of Things. And the last part presents work in the domain of delay tolerant networking and vehicular networks.

International audience ; The history of communication technologies is populated with conflicts between centralization and decentralization. While many of these technologies started or have existed at some point of their development as a decentralized structure, often replacing older technological paradigms, nearly all progressively evolved into concentrated clusters of power as a result of industrialization and of the reaffirmation of state sovereignty, following a Schumpeterian process of "creative-destruction". However, when the needs of citizens turn out to be systematically overlooked in existing power dynamics, decentralized initiatives may emerge as an attempt to disrupt the dominant hegemony and allow for the democratic re-appropriation of technology – a process that the philosopher Andrew Feenberg calls "subversive rationalization." In this paper, we focus on an ongoing – though too often neglected – phenomenon of decentralization in telecommunications networks. We show that current telecoms regulation significantly overlooks the contribution of community networks in fostering political and socio-economic objectives associated with broadband policy and we propose a number of policy recommendations to overcome this gap.

International audience ; The history of communication technologies is populated with conflicts between centralization and decentralization. While many of these technologies started or have existed at some point of their development as a decentralized structure, often replacing older technological paradigms, nearly all progressively evolved into concentrated clusters of power as a result of industrialization and of the reaffirmation of state sovereignty, following a Schumpeterian process of "creative-destruction". However, when the needs of citizens turn out to be systematically overlooked in existing power dynamics, decentralized initiatives may emerge as an attempt to disrupt the dominant hegemony and allow for the democratic re-appropriation of technology – a process that the philosopher Andrew Feenberg calls "subversive rationalization." In this paper, we focus on an ongoing – though too often neglected – phenomenon of decentralization in telecommunications networks. We show that current telecoms regulation significantly overlooks the contribution of community networks in fostering political and socio-economic objectives associated with broadband policy and we propose a number of policy recommendations to overcome this gap.

International audience ; The paper begins by sketching out a short history of telecom policy, pointing to the prejudicial consequences of centralization from a political perspective, as incumbent ISPs turn into network gatekeepers, fostering their commercial interests by exerting greater control over users' communications. Based on our fieldwork and qualitative interviews, the paper then moves on to describing WCN, presenting the main characteristics of these grassroots attempts at bringing about a "subversive rationalization" of the last-mile network infrastructure. This second section outlines the motivations underlying the deployment of WCN, together with their technical features and innovative, commons-based models of governance, which all strongly contrast with the dominant, commercial model for Internet access provision. The third and last section assesses the impact of WCN on telecom regulation and the new power dynamics it entails, with regard to both the private sector and the public sector. The paper concludes that current telecom regulation significantly overlooks the contribution of community networks to fostering political and socio-economic objectives associated with broadband policy and proposes a number of policy recommendations to overcome this gap.