The Observer, September 22, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 4
University Circle cuts the cord
Last week, OneCommunity, formerly OneCleveland, demonstrated a series of pioneering wireless applications that will improve access to both educational opportunities, as well as health care services for students and neighborhood residents living in the University Circle area.
The ceremony was held at the Peter B. Lewis Building on Case's campus on Wednesday, Sept. 13 and was timed to coincide with, as well as to promote, the launch of a new wireless network which will bring free Internet access to much of the area around University Circle.
Among the innovative ways OneCommunity and its partners dreamed up to promote the new network were: a video feed featuring a live surgery from University Hospitals Health System (UHHS) and the wireless transmission of a woman's vitals to her doctor, a video conference which was conducted wirelessly from someone's front porch, a wireless-enabled bus that allows riders to access the Internet during their daily commute and provide the Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority (RTA) with remote monitoring of its operations, and a demonstration of how high school biology students from the Cleveland School of the Arts are using wireless devices to research the connection between heart disease and diabetes.
The new, larger wireless cloud surrounding campus was the result of a collaborative process between OneCommunity, Case, Sprint, Time Warner, and Cisco Systems, and, the event was a result of teamwork between Case, UHHS, RTA, and Cleveland Municipal School District.
"I think OneCommunity's wireless idea is a great one. As a student who lives off campus, I know how much of an inconvenience it is to travel to the main campus in order to get a wireless connection," said junior Sabina Hossain. "The cost of wireless is also pretty expensive, so having a wireless connection that could reach all students in Universiy Circle would lessen the already expensive price of college."
OneCommunity is a non-profit Internet Service Provider (ISP) and purveyor of technology services to the non-profit and public sectors that is based in Cleveland and aims to improve the quality of life and stimulate economic development in Northeast Ohio.
The successful launch of this project marks another milestone for both Cleveland and Case in their continuous effort to further enhance their respective reputations as being the most unwired campus in the country in the only U.S. city selected as one of Intel's Worldwide Digital Communities.
Cleveland was also singled out as a Top 7 Intelligent Community of 2006 by the Intelligent Community Forum.
