mtl3p

Contact:
michael at
ilesansfildotorg
Michael Lenczner works on new methods of collaboration and free and open ICT infrastructure. He has been working in community ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) since 1998 and has been a partner or researcher in related academic groups since 2003. He is the initiator and co-founder of Ile Sans Fil and CivicAccess and he has been a contributor to the FLOSS project WifiDog since it’s inception. His blog is at mtl3p.ilesansfil.org.

Research Affiliations:
2006-2008 - Community Wireless Infrastructure Research Project (CWIRP) - bringing together an interdisciplinary team of academic researchers and community and government partners to engage in in-depth case studies of public/community-based ICT initiatives in order to document and assess the various models, best practices and benefits of public ICT infrastructure provision in Canada.
Involvement : Community partner representative (on behalf of Ile Sans Fil)

2004-2007 - Canadian Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking (CRACIN) - to investigate the status and achievements of community-based information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives in Canada.
CRACIN brings together community informatics researchers, community networking practitioners and government policy specialists from across Canada to document and assess the achievements of community-based ICT initiatives in the context of, among other things, the main Canadian government programs promoting the development, public accessibility and use of internet services.
Involvement - Initiator of partnership including attracting a phd student for 2 years, community partner representative (on behalf of ISF) participating in 5 workshops across Canada, and researcher assistant.

2005-2006 - Laboratoire de communication médiatisée par ordinateur (LabCMO) - un espace de recherche et d’expérimentation sociotechnique à l’intersection interdisciplinaire de l’informatique libre et de la communication médiatisée par ordinateur (CMO).
Involvement : Researcher + Representative of a community partner.

2004-2006 - Mobile Digital Commons Network(MDCN)

The MDCN is a collaborative research project launched by Concordia University, and the Banff New Media Institute, funded by Canadian Heritage. The Network is made up of six interrelated projects, exploring: flexible interfaces for wireless technologies; examining the transformation of urban and non-urban space through the creation of responsive and content-aware environments; investigating the relationship between geographical data with virtual information systems and mobile devices; developing and evaluating new strategies for collaboration; and facilitating technology transfer through tool development, content creation, social networking and cultural research with wireless technologies.

Involvement : Representative of community partner, attended and presented at 2 conferences, web consultant.

2003 - DigitalGirls.org - Digital Girls examines the everyday digital experience of girls in Canada, South Africa, and the U.K, and highlights the need for girls’ voices to be recognized, acknowledged, and given influence as citizens of a globally networked world
Involvement : Collaborator and web consultant

2003 - GameCODE: Cultures of Digital Environments - social and cultural analysis of digital games and gaming cultures based at Concordia University.
Involvement : Research Assistant and web consultant

Conferences - He was invited to present at the following conferences:

2007 June - Montreal - CRACIN Final Workshop - Community partner representative panelist

2007 June - Vancouver - North America’s Wireless Cities Summit - Presentation: “Local Government getting involved in Telecoms - What gives us the right? Distilling lessons from 9 years of Community Wireless” - With Matthew Asham from BCWireless.

2007 May - Maryland 2007 International Community Wireless Summit - Conference co-coordinator, Panel coordinator: “Citizen Hackers: Their Disappearing Role in the Community Wireless Movement” and Panelist: “Social Networks and Wireless: An Update on the Progress and Development of Social Networking Applications”

2007 May - Montreal Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conference - Panelist: “Hot Spots are Chilly for Free Speech”

2007 January - Toronto - Wireless Cities Summit - Presentation: “A (quick) story of CWN’s, Cities and Infrastructural Becoming”

2006 June - California - MuniWireless: Building the MuniWireless Ecosystem Panelist: “Social Networking & Multimedia Services”

2006 May - Florence, Italy - Municipal Wireless - La città Wireless - Presentation: “Civic responsability for Wireless Infrastructure”

2006 April - Missouri - The National Summit for Community Wireless Networking: Imagine & Implement - Panel Coordinator: “WiFiDog, Île Sans Fil, and Hacking Your City”

2006 March - Toronto - CRACIN: Workshop #4 : Integrating Research for Sustaining Community Networking Initiatives - Community partner panelist

2005 September - London, UK - FUTURE WIRELESS:practical.discourse.creative - Wireless utopia or dysfunctional dystopia? - Panelist: “WSFII ‘Stories From The Front’”

2005 September - London, UK - World Summit on Free Infrastructures - Panelist: “Free Wireless Infrastructure” and BOF organizer on Location Portals

2005 September - Toronto - Mobileactive - the first global strategy meeting of activists using mobile phones for civic action and engagement - Guest participant

2005 April - Montreal - L’Association des bibliothécaires du Québec - Libraries on the Cutting Edge - “Wifi and Libraries”

2005 May - Banff - Banff New Media Institute Bodies in Play - discussing the development and evaluation of computer-based experiences and tools for mobile applications - Guest participant + presenter

2005 May - Winnipeg - Paving the Road to Tunis - WSIS II: Canada’s Civil Society Views on the Geneva Plan of Action and the Prospects for Phase II - Guest participant

2005 May - Montreal - Mobile Digital Commons Network Symposium - Sampling the Spectrum: the Aesthetics, Practice and Poetics of Mobile Technology - Presentation: “Privileging the Local”

2005 Feb - Vancouver - 2005 Summit: Strategic Use of Information Communication Technology by Communities + CRACIN : Workshop #3 : Community Networking and Civic Participation - Community partner panelist

2004 Nov - Ottawa - CRACIN Workshop #2: Learning from Experience - Community partner panelist

(in addition to local panels + workshops around Montreal)

Written:
Linux Journal - Wireless Portals with Wifidog - 2005-10

co-written Linux Journal - The HAL Project - 2007 - 01

World Summit Free Information Infrastructures : Free Networks WhyTo - 2005 - Spring - for publication.

Press:
Michael has been interviewed for over 30 articles because of his work with Ile Sans Fil. Interviews include CBC radio, the Globe and Mail, the Montreal Gazette and La Presse. To read some of these please visit the ISF press page.

an interview with michael lenczner is a fun interview done by David McCallum.