It may be a relatively new technology but local councils believe Wi-Fi has huge potential to improve the delivery of traditional services and regenerate deprived urban areas.
In a move designed to find the best ways for local authorities to roll out wireless broadband networks in cities, the government is backing a major new initiative by Lewisham council to introduce real-time wireless access across the borough.
The council is working in partnership with BT Openzone to set up a public wireless broadband network, which it sees as a way of enabling local citizens to interact with its online services. The planned network will also enable council staff to access computer-based files without having to be in their offices. If the project is successful, it could act as a catalyst for the introduction of mobile working across the public sector.
"Wireless is a channel that gives people the most freedom in terms of how they work, where they work and when they work," says Lorraine Trenchard, programme manager of Connected Communities for Lewisham. "It takes away the shackles of council officers sitting at their desks from nine to five."
The council's vision is that new wireless networks will provide efficient support for the likes of social workers, who will be able to carry out real-time assessments by remotely accessing files stored on back-office systems. And on a wider basis, officials feel the new network could play an important role in economic regeneration, by encouraging new IT businesses to be based in the area.
Trenchard says the move to mobile communications is so developed in Lewisham that Wi-Fi is now essential if the council is to meet the needs of local people and businesses.
"More people have mobile phones in Lewisham than BT landlines. There is a move away from doing things plugged in - the people out there are going a lot faster than we are and we need to meet their needs."
Private mobile suppliers, who have been badgering councils to adopt wireless applications to meet e-government targets have, not surprisingly, welcomed news of the pilot. "It's a very good step forward. Citizens and businesses need to be able to connect easily to a council's services wherever they are," says Ruud Veltenaar, chairman of Parkmobile, which provides councils with mobile-based parking applications.
As part of the first phase of the project, Lewisham is preparing to run a Wi-Fi network involving about 50 users. The plan is for staff to have access to a virtual private network (VPN), which will enable them to check email, visit intranets and download relevant information from the council's IT systems when out of the office.
Security issues have traditionally deterred councils from enthusiastically adopting Wi-Fi, but BT is confident that Lewisham's experience will dispel those concerns. "With any network service you have to think about security. It's no more of an issue than it would be for a fixed line. You have to use the same precautions. You have to use VPNs appropriately," says Chris Bruce, general manager for BT Wireless Broadband.
Although Lewisham is partnering with BT Openzone, the council wants to explore how the council's network can be accessed through other providers. Trenchard says: "What makes this worthwhile is being able to access your files when you're in Manchester. We know staff are out and about and we need to ensure they can access the network whoever the provider is. It's about working out the logistics of how we let people in when they are sitting in Starbucks."
BT claims it is committed to helping councils by introducing wireless broadband roaming agreements. "We know as an industry we have to move to a situation where people don't have to worry if this is an Openzone hotspot or someone else's hotspot."
The Lewisham Wi-Fi initiative is being sponsored by the national project for mobile working (known as Nomad) and, despite the excitement at being involved in a high-profile IT development project, the council knows the technology could provoke many challenging issues.
One of the attractions of wireless networks for financial directors is that mobile working gives councils the opportunity to generate considerable savings by reducing and selling expensive traditional office space. But mobile working will require council staff to give up traditional practices and there is likely to be some internal resistance.
Many councils will be watching Lewisham's experiment closely.
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