Analyzing community contributions to the development of community wireless networks

Community wireless networks (CWNs) have emerged as collective actions achieved by many communities worldwide to access the information highway. Developing autonomous CWNs depends, in large part, on community contributions that may include time, money, efforts, expertise and computer resources. However, there is a lack of instruments for measuring such contributions, as well as the outcomes of these networks. This study uses the social network analysis analytical approach to model, measure and analyze community contributions in the development of their wireless infrastructures. In particular, we model community contributions as a two-mode (or bipartite) graph composed of two sets of nodes: the first represents a set of community contributors and the other represents a set of wireless networks. The edges between these two sets stand for the inputs of contributors. Their contributions include volunteering time and manpower, sharing their wireless nodes with community members, donating money, donating hardware, providing technical support, and developing open source software for the network. The model is used to analyze these tangible and intangible forms of contributions. We hope this study provides a better understanding and sounder measurement of the role of communities in developing these emerging common wireless infrastructures and similar digital collective actions.