SCC-PG: Edge Computing for Bringing Smart Services to Under-served Urban Communities

今天，我们几乎所有的日常活动都完全依赖于集中的基础设施（又名云），比如在线教育、社区应用程序、获取驾驶路线和社区餐厅建议。这种对云的依赖有着严重的影响。最重要的是，它是富裕社区和服务不足社区之间日益扩大的数字鸿沟的主要原因之一。该提案的论点是，这种对集中式基础设施的依赖是服务不足社区的祸根，使他们无法从富裕社区居民触手可及的信息服务中获益。在不依赖云的情况下，为社区的需求量身定制并与当地条件相关的低成本软件服务的普遍可用性是增强此类社区能力的关键因素。通过规划拨款验证的关键假设是边缘计算的力量，以解决数字鸿沟和未来这些服务不足的城市社区。规划拨款的研究结果将有助于揭示可行的技术干预措施，使服务不足的城市社区在未来免受数字鸿沟的影响。如果通过这项计划拨款收集的数据验证了更大研究愿景的假设，那么这项研究的结果有望在其他地方得到复制，从而对全国服务不足社区的生活产生积极影响。利用亚特兰大西区社区作为服务不足的城市社区的范例，规划拨款希望沿着技术维度开展以下试点：(a)为社区居民提供基于边缘计算的视频会议解决方案（例如，利益相关者会议、学生辅导等）；(b)基于边缘计算的智能预取与居民需求相关的内容（例如，与学校作业有关的娱乐、视频和演示等）；以及(c)将WiFi热点带到不同社区的特设连接解决方案。在社会层面，该项目将招募代表不同人口群体（如社区领袖、教师、学生、导师和当地居民）的参与者（约30人）来使用技术试点。从用户组收集的数据将包括：(a)对社会迫切需要的一般了解；(b)焦点组在确定需要预取和/或缓存在边缘节点的内容类型方面的具体要求；以及(c)技术试验项目的用户体验。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Today we are entirely dependent on centralized infrastructures (aka Cloud) for pretty much all our everyday activities such as online education, neighborhood apps, access to driving directions, and restaurant suggestions in a neighborhood. This reliance on the Cloud has serious implications. Most importantly it is one of the primary causes for the increasing digital divide between the affluent and under¬served communities. The thesis of this proposal is that such reliance on a centralized infrastructure is the bane of under¬served communities blocking them from reaping the benefits of information services that are available at the fingertips of residents in affluent communities. Ubiquitous availability of low-cost software services that are tailored to the needs of the community and pertinent to the local conditions without reliance on the Cloud are key factors in enhancing the capabilities of such communities. The key hypothesis to be validated through the planning grant is the power of edge computing to address the digital divide and future¬proof these under¬served urban communities. The findings from the planning grant will help reveal feasible technological interventions for future¬proofing under¬served urban communities from the digital divide. There is promise that the results of this research could be replicated elsewhere leading to a positive impact on the lives of under-served communities nation¬wide, if the hypotheses of the larger research vision is validated by the data collection being done through this planning grant.Using the Westside communities of Atlanta as an exemplar for under¬served urban neighborhoods, the planning grant wishes to carry out the following pilots along the technology dimension: (a) edge¬compute based video¬conferencing solutions for the residents of the community (e.g., for meetings of the stakeholders, tutoring help for students, etc.) ; (b) edge¬compute based smart prefetching of content pertinent to the needs of the residents (e.g., entertainment, videos and presentations pertaining to school work, etc.) ; and (c) ad hoc connectivity solutions to bring WiFi hotspots to different neighborhoods. Along the societal dimension, the project will recruit participants (about 30) representing different demographic groups (such as community leaders, teachers, students, mentors, and local residents) for using the technology pilots. The data collection from the user group will consist of: (a) general understanding of the pressing needs of the community; (b) specific requirements of the focus groups for identifying the types of content to be prefetched and/or cached in the edge nodes; and (c) user experience on the technology pilots.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.