Mobile Community Information Systems on Wireless Mesh Networks - An Opportunity for Developing Countries and Rural Areas

Future ultra high-speed mobile information and communication technologies will only be successful, if the running applications based on low cost mobile network infrastructure are well developed. In the research cluster of UMIC project under German Excellence Initiatives, we examine scenarios for developing countries and rural areas where the traditional communication infrastructures are not well developed and new mobile technologies are expected to have an enormous impact on cultural and social development. We design applications at different technology levels ranging from the underlying network infrastructure to the frontend user interfaces. The first prototype for cultural heritage management in Afghanistan on a mobile platform is demonstrated. Open research questions are addressed for the further research work.