Publications

Wireless Leiden related presentations and publications. Also have an look at our ideas list, for inspirations for further publications

TNO Wifi Workshop presentation (2003)

Building a Wireless Community Network in the Netherlands (2003)

Usenix Technical Conference 2003 paper in de FreeNix track. Paper found at usenix archive

SNAP/SPLASH netwerkmanagement- en monitoringsysteem (2003)

Authors: Tijmen Moerland, Willem de Bruijn afstudeerverslag Universiteit Leiden in samenwerking met de VU (LIACS)

Rapport Blauwberg "Toekomstvisie Wireless Leiden" (2007)

Document found in our subversion repository EINDRAPPORT_Toekomstvisie_WirelessLeiden_Blaauwberg_DEF010607.pdf

How Community Innovation Works: A Material-Semiotic Analysis of the Wireless Leiden Wi-Fi Network PhD Thesis | Universiteit Twente (December 2010)

Authors: Stefan J.S. Verhaegh
This PhD thesis aims to contribute to the theoretical understanding of innovation practices by groups of users in the domain of information and communication technologies. Based on a material-semiotic approach this type of innovation is analyzed as community innovation. The central focus is on the different types of actors and work. The empirical analysis is rooted in an explorative, qualitative case study of a grassroots effort of assembling a community Wi-Fi network in the Netherlands. Based on the insights of this study the author argues for a re-thinking of innovation.

Wi-Fi as community-based innovation (chapter) (November 2010)

In: The Genesis of Wi-Fi and the Road Toward Global Success | Cambridge University Press November 2010

Authors: Stefan J.S. Verhaegh, Ellen van Oost, Nelly Oudshoorn, Wolter Lemstra

In this chapter on the broader perspectives of the Wi-Fi innovation journey, the role of the user in community-based innovation is studied in detail. The domain of information and communication technologies has become one in which the boundaries between producers and users have become increasingly fuzzy. The availability of free and open source software is a clear example of how communities of computer users develop many varieties of software. In a similar vein, many popular web services build on the efforts of – often experienced and skilful – users. At the physical layer of telecommunication infrastructures, however, user-initiated products and innovations are quite rare. This level is dominated by commercial telecom and cable operators, which finance, produce, install, maintain and innovate the expensive and often large scale ICT infrastructures. Free access to the radio frequency spectrum, originally intended for indoor use with Wi-Fi as a successful implementation of wireless local area networking, has inspired users to develop local wireless infrastructures themselves, however, challenging this organisational dominance. In the Dutch city of Leiden a small group of residents managed to develop a city-wide wireless infrastructure offering local residents possibilities for free communication, under the name Wireless Leiden. The growth and stabilisation of the grassroots Wireless Leiden initiative is analysed as a case of community innovation.

From Innovation Community to Community Innovation: User-initiated Innovation in Wireless Leiden In: Science, Technology and Human Values (March 2009)

Authors: Stefan J.S. Verhaegh, Ellen van Oost, Nelly Oudshoorn

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.

Boek Cambridge University Press: The innovation journey of wifi (November 2010)

Wolter Lemstra, Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands Vic Hayes, Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands John Groenewegen, Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands Hardback ISBN:9780521199711Publication date:November 2010

TUDelft MSc thesis research (2012)

Individualism and collectiveness in the emergence and growth of Wi-Fi community initiatives Wahid Bouzalmat

Who cares? Maintenance work in a Wi-Fi community innovation (April 2012)

In: Inverse Infrastructures: Disrupting the System from Below Edward Elgar
Authors: Stefan J.S. Verhaegh, Ellen van Oost
Over the years, Wi-Fi technology has inspired several citizen communities to construct their own local – often city-wide – ICT infrastructures. There is growing interest in the stories about the rise and growth of community innovation, but little is known about the less heroic yet equally important work of maintenance. This chapter explores the role and relevance of maintenance work for the development of stable and reliable inverse infrastructures. What kind of work needs to be done, and how is this work distributed over the community? To shed light on these questions we will analyze maintenance work through the example of one specific case, Wireless Leiden, one of the largest successful and lasting Wi-Fi communities in Europe.

Uma Métrica para Classificação Dinâmica de Nós em Redes Sem Fio Comunitárias", FIBRE project (2012)

Author: Diego Guedes