Research Team

The research team brings a wealth of experience to this study of public information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. Drawing on diverse academic backgrounds (communications, business, political science, information and computing science, sociology), the team brings together extensive expertise in the study of community networking and in understanding the new technologies (like broadband and wireless networks) that constitute today's ICT infrastructure.

Investigators

Andrew Clement is a Professor in the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto, where he is also the Director of the Collaborative Graduate Program in Knowledge Media Design. His research interests include digital identity constructions, public participation in information infrastructures, and community networking. Clement has published in the following areas: computer supported cooperative work, participatory design, and workplace surveillance.

Barbara Crow is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at York University. Her research interests include digital technologies, social movements, feminist theory, women's studies, and the political economy of communication. Professor Crow was awarded a Telus Distinguished Scholar award with her colleague Graham Longford. She holds a PhD in Sociology from York University.

Graham Longford is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto. Dr. Longford's research interests include community networks, Internet access policy, and the social and political implications of new information and communication technologies in general. In addition to his work with CWIRP, Dr. Longford works on a related project, the Canadian Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking.

Catherine Middleton is an Associate Professor in the School of Information Technology Management, in the Faculty of Business at Ryerson University. Her research considers socio-technical issues related to the consumer adoption of broadband and wireless technologies. She holds a Canada Research Chair, studying Communication Technologies in the Information Society, and is the Principal Investigator on this project.

Contact us by sending an email to catherine.middleton at ryerson dot ca.

Research Assistants

Kiera Chion is an MA student in the Joint Communication and Culture Programme at York University. Her research interests lie in examining how the third generation of Canadian feminists utilize the media to create a unified national identity and message and what technological and ideological tools will young women use to "re-brand" the definition of feminism with in order to address the challenges of our increasingly globalized society. She also has an Honours B. Art from the University of Toronto in women's studies and political science.

Adam Fiser is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto. On CWIRP, he studies K-Net Services and its role in the local telecommunications market of Lac Seul, a northwestern Ontario First Nations community. His thesis research dovetails with CWIRP and CRACIN. It studies K-Net Services and its model for deploying broadband community IP networks in remote First Nations.

Chunfeng Ma is an MMSc candidate in the Faculty of Business at Ryerson University. He also has a Masters degree in Control System Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology. His research involves wireless community networks, muniwireless and relevant business models.

Neal McIntyre is currently in the final year of the Information Technology Management (Co-op) undergraduate program at Ryerson, majoring in Telecommunications and Infrastructure. His research interests involve the development of wireless/broadband technologies, particularly the way these technologies will shape social and economic development in both urban and rural communities. Additionally, he is interested in the debate of public vs. private funding of telecommunications infrastructure.

Tammy Miller is an MA student in the Joint Communication and Culture Graduate Programme at York and Ryerson Universities. She is looking forward to working on the Community Wireless Infrastructure Research Project and pursuing a career within academia.

Amelia Potter is interested in narratives of change and how we use the visions of possible (technological, sustainable, better) futures to drive practical work in the present. She is also interested in developing ways of conceptualizing, or 'mapping', these ideas of change, and the many possible relationships between past/present/future. Potter is currently exploring a process of visual storytelling as a method to present and question assumptions and fears surrounding the relationship between China and North America and the shifting global economic and social order.

Matthew Wong is a Master of Information Studies candidate, Information Systems specialization, at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto. His thesis research includes sharing wireless Internet access in urban residential neighbourhoods and more generally, the use of wireless networks in cities. He also has an Honours B.Sc. in computer science and philosophy from U of T.