'Wi-Fi' or wireless technology is the theme of this edition of ICTUpdate, a bimonthly publication focusing on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in agriculture in developing countries for the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (ACP-EU). Its four feature articles include:

1. "Making the village global" - This article explains strategies and lessons of ten years of rural internet experience developing a telecentre project that introduced computers and the internet in the village of El Limon in the Dominican Republic. Electrical shortages, a barrier to rural internet service, were overcome by a micro hydro project that "supplies 65 families with 30 W [watts] each for fluorescent lights and small TV’s, [and] has a very adequate 500 W reserved for the school telecentre." 15 teenagers attending secondary school in another town continue to develop computer skills and teach them at the local telecentre. The telecentre has become the library for their school needs. Distance learning and telemedicine are future priorities.
2. "The access road" - "United Villages, a start-up company based in the United States, has come up with an innovative idea that has brought the internet to rural areas around Kigali, Rwanda, and in India, Paraguay, and Cambodia. Known as DakNet, this new technology makes use of a combination of Wi-Fi and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and reaches the villages by using existing transport infrastructure." Since hubs with wireless access do not extend to villages, DakNet sets up a kiosk where customer emails and other data are stored locally on the kiosk computer, ready to be transmitted at a later time. A Mobile Access Point (MAP), a small box which can be placed inside any vehicle, automatically connects to the kiosk computer and transfers and stores the data – emails and web search requests from the customers - via a wireless connection through a Wi-Fi aerial. When it returns on its route back to the city, it then automatically connects with the Hub to pass on the information. The emails and web requests are then sent via the broadband connection. As the replies come back, they are relayed again to the MAP, ready to be taken to villages the next time the bus leaves on its regular route.
3. "Spreading from the centre" - The project Wireless Ghana of Community-Based Libraries and Information Technology (CBLit), a non-government organisation based in both Ghana and the United States established a hub and ten nodes in rural Ghana spanning 20 km and used to benefit local farmers and school children. Open-source software from the Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiNWare) makes shared internet access possible between the nodes in a so-called ‘mesh network‘.
4. "Working without wires" - This question and answer format explains the benefits of wireless for rural developing communities. It uses the example of Piraí, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where a set of Wi-Fi kiosks in the town allows property owners to register and claim their properties online. This resulted in a local property tax plan, stimulated the local economy, and created a housing sales and mortgage market.

The issue also features links to the following projects and websites, among many:

• Solar Powered Wi-Fi for African Refugee Camps through BOSCO (Battery Operated Systems for Community Outreach) Uganda Relief Project;
• Nepal Wireless Networking Project;
• CRCnet Wireless Research Project;
• Wireless for Development website of the World Bank;
• CUWIN - Community Wireless website - develops decentralised, community-owned networks that foster democratic cultures and local content; and
• Several websites on increasing browser and surfing capacity and security where resources are limited.

This issue also includes pages on perspectives, technology tips, and questions and answers.