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Project Challenge

Many elders on the Nez Perce Reservation lack access to reliable, affordable Internet and nearby digital support, especially in areas outside major population centers. This digital exclusion makes it harder to access essential services, stay connected with community, and use tools like telemedicine or online banking. This pilot aims to understand whether mobile Internet service, delivered on a scheduled basis, can meet the needs of elders in rural communities. It also explores how community-based digital support, provided by a combination of full-time digital skills support staff and teams of youth in the same neighborhoods as elders, can improve digital skills and safety in a sustainable, contextually grounded way.

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Dynamically Reliable Mobile Networks for Digital Inclusion in Rural Tribal Communities

Nez Perce Reservation

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NSF Award ID: 2431206

PI: Shaddi Hasan, Virginia Tech

2024 Civic Innovation Challenge

Pilot Vision

  • The project will design and deploy a new flexible, mobile cellular network to improve Internet access across the Nez Perce Reservation, especially in areas where coverage is poor or missing. This network will provide low-cost service to Tribal elders who need it most.
  • The team will create a community-based program where local youth support nearby Tribal elders with digital skills and safety, so elders can get help where they already live—without needing to travel.

Civic Partners:

  • Nez Perce Network Systems
  • Nez Perce Tribe

Research Questions

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  • How might Internet access that is available regularly, but not continually, be used to facilitate digital inclusion among Tribal elders?
  • How should a cellular network be designed to support dynamic deployments in rural environments?
  • How can rural Tribal communities design community-based programs to support digital skills and safety challenges faced by elders?

Research Partners:

  • Virginia Tech

Prototype cellular network and coverage deployed in Lapwai, ID