Bridging the Digital Divide in Saskatoon: Exploring the Benefits of Providing Free Wi-Fi to Regions and Demographics with Low-Access

The internet has become a critical resource central to the provision of nearly every essential service, whether related to business, employment, social support, government, education, health, food, or leisure. As such, it is increasingly difficult for individuals who lack reliable, regular access to the internet to fully participate in society and obtain critical information. To address this issue locally, the City of Saskatoon is launching a pilot program where they will provide Wi-Fi to one neighbourhood that has met their selection criteria, which draw from the city’s equity analyses, school division studies of student access to devices and data, and the neighborhood’s proximity to existing infrastructure. Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s (SP) Digital Integration Centre of Excellence (DICE) and the City of Saskatoon are collaborating on a research project to investigate whether this installation is successfully providing reliable Wi-Fi service to the selected area. There are two distinct areas of research that will be undertaken by the SP interns. First, SP interns will investigate the impact of building materials on Wi-Fi signal strength, assist in troubleshooting issues with the installed system, and provide statistics on the Wi-Fi system’s performance. Second, SP interns will perform analysis on the utilization of the system.

Faculty Supervisor:

Terry Peckham

Student:

Partner:

City of Saskatoon

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Public administration; Utilities

University:

Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Program: