- Organization
- ComuREDE
- Type
- Civil Society
- Years
- 2020
- Countries
- Brasil
ComuREDE is an initiative for empowering communities through open and accessible technologies that seeks to promote Internet access and quality of life in peripheral areas. ComuREDE has developed a platform for providing free wireless and community Internet using infrastructure that is also used to address the problem of an irregular and scarce water supply. The project was born in response to two challenges observed in peripheral areas of Brazil: an irregular water supply and the lack of Internet access. The project deploys low-cost sensors to notify residents via SMS when the water supply is available and uses this infrastructure to provide Internet connectivity through the installation of open networks. The first deployment of this solution has managed to provide Internet access to 200 residents and has sent more than a thousand notifications on the availability of water. The funds received from FRIDA will be used to develop new versions of our software and hardware, and to launch an enhanced platform that can be replicated in other communities. The goal is to facilitate the empowerment of peripheral communities through the construction of technically autonomous community networks as well as by the local generation of resources for achieving economic self-sufficiency.
