The state, with an anchor for its logo, is on track to become the first one that doesn’t have its communications networks tied down.
The Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RI-WINs) first announced in 2004 that it would make the Ocean State the first one in the nation with border-to-border wireless communications for a variety of governmental and emergency agencies, as well as private enterprises.
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The project grew out of the idea of Innovation @ Scale, a push by the R.I. Economic Development Corporation to have companies take advantage of the state’s small size and more manageable infrastructure.
RIEDC Deputy Director Saul Kaplan said that Robert Panoff, of telecommunications consulting firm RPM, had become aware of the idea of promoting Rhode Island’s size. They then began communicating about the project that would eventually become RI-WINs.
Currently set to enter the pilot phase stage next month, the project will aim at benefiting employees for the state, educational institutions and health care providers, as well as companies that employ workers who spend a large portion of their time outside the office, such as service personnel.
Potential applications for the project include dash cameras to report information back to agency headquarters, real-time access to law enforcement databases, “distance learning” in schools and home health care monitoring.
“It will provide better connectivity and enable mobility for the worker on the go,” said Kaplan, whose Business Innovation Factory is spearheading the effort. “It is going to unleash incredible value here in Rhode Island. Just within the pilot, we’ve got exciting applications … all of which will leverage a network that will enable a worker that’s on the go and needs to have access to data.”
According to Panoff, who became project manager for RI-WINs, the project also will be a benefit to companies looking to get involved. The size of the state will help firms develop their networking and communications ideas, using Rhode Island as a test bed before they bring it out on a larger commercial scale.
“That’s important, because that’s where the value is to outside players. That’s the value to an IBM, an Intel or a Cisco,” Panoff said “They can come and do an innovation, perfect it here and then move it the global marketplace. … Once they’ve invested in RI-WINs, we want to help them see a payback on it.”
Aside from the size, Ocean State Higher Education, Economic Development and Administrative Network (OSHEAN) Executive Director George Loftus said that the landscape of Rhode Island – which includes urban, suburban and rural areas – and the business environment of the state have also facilitated the project’s development.
Members of OSHEAN – which include higher education institutions and Lifespan hospitals – will be participating in RI-WINs.
“I think our size creates the community the way it is,” Loftus said. “I think also our size creates an environment where the pie is only so big so people have learned that chopping it up into tiny pieces doesn’t necessarily do anybody any good.”
And according to a feasibility study released last year, the project has the potential to work.
Operating costs projected in the study are expected to be around $5.02 million annually. With 25,000 users predicted and using an average yearly fee of $250 (which the initiative said was based on low-end rates for basic Internet access), the revenue is projected at $6.25 million.
The pilot, according to a Business Innovation Factory business plan, aims at building and operating the network, proving it delivers value, and then building a case for a full-fledged RI-WINs network that can maintain support of users and providers involved in the project.
“The pilot has to prove that what we learned in the feasibility study and built more detail around in our business plan can actually work in the real world,” Kaplan said.
Brown University, which participates in the Rhode Island Teacher Education Renewal project, will provide laptops and portable projectors so students seeking their master’s degree in teaching can bring technology into the classroom.
The pilot also will include a port security component that aims to create a secure communications network for waterborne first responders. Data includes text, voice and video during daily operations and emergency situations
Last week, Smith Detection-LiveWave, based in Newport, announced that it had received the contract for the port security prototype.
According to Panoff, the pilot for that project will likely run for 12 months.
Information technology personnel from both Citizens Bank and CVS/pharmacy will use the network for corporate applications and access to data during the pilot. Also, the R.I.
Department of Administration will partner with the project to pilot wireless solutions for the R.I. Department of Environmental Management and the R.I. Department of Health.
The project also received a boost from IBM, which announced recently that it would expand its role in the network. The company will serve as project manager for the pilot, coordinating efforts of the partners. According to Panoff, the company is contributing its services in-kind and has a team heavily focused on the RI-WINs.
