2008 Woodie Awards
Prof pushes for city-wide wireless
Kate Augusto
Issue date: 12/6/06 Section: News
Boston is about to take the first step toward becoming a city where the benefits of wireless Internet are available to all residents, according to Richard O'Bryant, a senior research fellow at the Northeastern Center for Urban and Regional Policy.
The Boston Wireless Initiative will be implemented in a test area in Grove Hall in Roxbury sometime in 30 to 60 days, O'Bryant said.
If all goes well, they will be expanding to other parts of the city, he said, adding that Internet access is an increasing necessity for many.
"It is becoming more and more difficult for people to function without the access to information that the Internet provides," he said.
One of the goals of the initiative is to provide access for low income and underrepresented communities in Boston. O'Bryant cites the "digital divide" which President Clinton once defined as the greatest civil rights issue of the 21st century. The "Living the American Dream" website, which represents an eight-part series put on by United Way of Massachusetts Bay, said government data finds 90 percent of families with annual incomes of $75,000 or more have home Internet access, while only 23 percent of families with annual incomes of less than $15,000 have home Internet access.
But in Boston, a new wireless system means the chance to include everyone, O'Bryant said.
"This will hopefully get communities that are not traditionally connected to try and be active participants and contributors of the content on the web," O'Bryant said.
O'Bryant is the son of John D. O'Bryant, who was the first African-American vice president at Northeastern and known for his humility and advancements in education. Among other accomplishments, he served on the Boston School Committee, and Northeastern's African-American Institute is named after him.
Richard O'Bryant became part of the wireless program during his doctoral research with a low-income housing development in Roxbury. He received the 2002-2003 National Rising Scholars Award to Advance Research on Higher Education for the Public Good and served as a panelist in a conversation yesterday about the need for technology to achieve the American dream.
The Boston Wireless Initiative will be implemented in a test area in Grove Hall in Roxbury sometime in 30 to 60 days, O'Bryant said.
If all goes well, they will be expanding to other parts of the city, he said, adding that Internet access is an increasing necessity for many.
"It is becoming more and more difficult for people to function without the access to information that the Internet provides," he said.
One of the goals of the initiative is to provide access for low income and underrepresented communities in Boston. O'Bryant cites the "digital divide" which President Clinton once defined as the greatest civil rights issue of the 21st century. The "Living the American Dream" website, which represents an eight-part series put on by United Way of Massachusetts Bay, said government data finds 90 percent of families with annual incomes of $75,000 or more have home Internet access, while only 23 percent of families with annual incomes of less than $15,000 have home Internet access.
But in Boston, a new wireless system means the chance to include everyone, O'Bryant said.
"This will hopefully get communities that are not traditionally connected to try and be active participants and contributors of the content on the web," O'Bryant said.
O'Bryant is the son of John D. O'Bryant, who was the first African-American vice president at Northeastern and known for his humility and advancements in education. Among other accomplishments, he served on the Boston School Committee, and Northeastern's African-American Institute is named after him.
Richard O'Bryant became part of the wireless program during his doctoral research with a low-income housing development in Roxbury. He received the 2002-2003 National Rising Scholars Award to Advance Research on Higher Education for the Public Good and served as a panelist in a conversation yesterday about the need for technology to achieve the American dream.
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