Crowdsourcing Rural Network Maintenance and Repair via Network Messaging

Explore a conference talk that examines an innovative approach to maintaining and repairing rural infrastructure through community crowdsourcing. Discover how researchers leveraged a Community Cellular Network in the remote Philippines to investigate the potential of local residents in providing technical support. Learn about the study's methodology, which involved sending SMS messages to network subscribers and assessing their ability to address mock failures. Gain insights into the community members' eagerness to participate in repair activities, their networking strategies to recruit expertise, and their collective capacity to resolve common issues. Understand the importance of aligning repair tasks with residents' lived experiences for optimal success. Consider the implications of this research for future infrastructure design and the benefits of adopting an inclusive approach to rural network maintenance.