Toward a statewide public Internet of Things (IoT) network

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Teaming with community partners across New York State (NYS), this project will design a coordinated, statewide public internet of things (IoT) network based on unlicensed lower power wide area network (LPWAN) technology. The work is motivated by an imperative need to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban areas, which has contributed not only to information disparities, but also greater social, democratic, educational, and economic disparities. The research will test the concept of IoT networks as a public utility to bridge the digital divide. This project explicitly sees rural communities as opportunities for developing new networked technologies which can leapfrog traditional wired broadband technologies and create new opportunities for local technological development and innovation. The research plan is framed as a co-design process with community partners to create the envisioned IoT network through synergetic research and education, living labs and community engagement. The key feature of the co-design process is to integrate scalable/adaptable physical networks and trustworthy social networks. The project will identify and overcome key barriers for adopting LPWAN networks, develop scalable and adaptable network topology for 100% LPWAN coverage for three types of governance structures (i.e., cities, towns and villages), and create effective strategies to build trust among communities of public IoT networks. This project not only creates the first introductory course in IoT at Cornell University, but also expands the engaged learning opportunities to citizen across NYS through innovative community-based learning hubs; a model that can be replicated across the U.S.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.