Hotspots and Free WiFi in a Ubiquitous City. Do they Serve Citizens’ Information Needs? The U-City Oulu as a Case Study

Hotspots and Free WiFi in a Ubiquitous City. Do they Serve Citizens’

Information Needs?The U-City Oulu as a Case Study

L. Schumann, S. Rölike & W. G. StockHeinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany

[email protected] | [email protected] | [email protected]

Overview

• Ubiquitous Cities

• The U-City Oulu

• Methods

• Results

• Prospects

Schumann, Rölike & Stock 2

Ubiquitous Computing

• Ubiquitous (=omnipresent) computing: integrating

information processing thoroughly into everyday objects and

activities

• Participants may not necessarily even be aware of the

technology

“Machines that fit the human environment instead of forcing

humans to enter theirs" (York & Pendharkar, 2004, p. 771)


Ubiquitous Cities

• Ubiquitous computing in a city wide context:

– Integrating advanced ICT-based infrastructures, city-specific

information services and content into the urban space

• Aim:

– Offer any services anywhere and anytime

– enhanced living conditions


Ubiquitous Cities - Services

Different aspects of the daily routine:

• U-Life:– Home banking, telecommuting, teleconferencing, telemedicine, remote sensing,

telematics

• U-Business:– Multimedia conferencing, information management, virtual markets, smart-offices

• U-Government:– Emergency control, intelligent transportation system (ITS), control of urban

infrastructure, environment monitoring, sensor networks


The U-City Oulu

• City in Northern Finland, fourth largest city of Finland,

considered as the "smartest city of Europe" (ICF, 2012)

• Project "UbiOulu":

– PanOULU: Open and free city-wide WiFi-network

– UBI-Hotspots: Interactive public displays providing information

services

– Middleware: Necessary for the functionality


panOULU

• Public-private partnership involving five public organizations

and four ISPs

• ∼ 1,350 Access Points (APs)

• ∼ 500 APs deployed near the city center

• Public places in and around Oulu


panOULU


= OK = Offline = Status unknown = Upcoming = Several access points

UBI-Hotspots

• Since May 2009

• 21 indoor and outdoor displays

• 57” Full HD LCD panel, internet connection, quad core control

PC, 2 overhead video cameras, NFC/RFID reader, loudspeakers

etc.

• 2 different modes:

– Passive broadcast mode

– Interactive mode


UBI-Hotspots

• Categories: News, Services, City, 3rd Party, Fun & Games,

Multimedia, New Cool Stuff

• Massive amount of quantitative and qualitative data


Case Study - Methods

• Qualitative interviews with stakeholders

• Quantitative user study

• Participants (n ≈ 1.000):

– University students (University of Oulu)

– Upper secondary school students (Oulun Lyseo

Upper Secondary School)

• 100 hard copy questionnaires

• Online questionnaire (May 23rd to June 10th 2012)


Digital Natives

Case Study – MethodsQuestionnaires

• Four categories:

– Demographical aspects (four questions)

– UBI Displays (eight questions)

– PanOULU WLAN (six questions)

– General questions (five questions)

• Five types of questions:

– Multiple choice

– Multiple choice and additional text field possibility of commenting an answer

– Free text field

– Scale with grades (1-5)

– Questions that depend on a preceding question


Case Study - Methods

• Research questions:(1) Do hotspots really meet information needs of their users? What kinds

of services are mainly used via interactive screens?

(2) Does free WiFi satisfy information needs of the users? What kinds of

services are mainly used via free WiFi?• Is free WiFi a competitor of commercial internet service providers? Does it lead to

market distortion?


Case Study - Results


0

100

200

300

400

500

600566

209 199 168 161107 90

17

What do you use the UBI displays for?

n=1.045; multiple answers

1)

E-Mail

News

Face

book

Bus sch

edules

Weather

Orientation

Events

File sh

aring

OtherSky

pe

Not at a

ll

Games TV0

100200300400500600700800 710

632559 553 502

377292

172 152 134 120 117 66

What do you use the panOULU WLAN for?



2)


n=652; multiple answers

Map

Oulu Today

City of O

ulu

Kaenkky

Finnkin

o

Transport

Event C

alender

Restaurants

UBI Postc

ard

Hangman0

50

100

150

200

250246

197

145132 121 112

97 9582

54

What do you use the UBI displays for? (Top 10)


3)


n=1.047

67%

23%

10%YesNoOther

Do you think there are enough UBI Displays in Oulu?


4)


n=1.047

58%26%

16%YesNoOther

Do you think the UBI displays are useful?


5)


n=1.046

1% 1%2%21%

55%

20%

How often do you use the UBI Displays per week?

Every day5-6 times3-4 times1-2 timesNeverSeldom


6)


n=610

69%

31%

Have you ever had any difficulties while using an UBI Display?

YesNo


7)



Computer/Laptop

Smartphone Not at all Tablet computer

Other0

100200300400500600700800 709

579

118 9619

How do you access the internet via panOULU WLAN?


9)


n=1.025; multiple answers Data safety Surveillance No Other

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

369

188

589

41

Do you have any concerns using the panOULU WLAN?


10)


n=1.028

2%

87%

7%4%

Via panOULU WLAN

Via commercial internet provider

Both

Other

How do you/your family access the internet when you are/they are at home?


11)


n=1.026

8% 14%

17%

19%

38%

4% No, because I use the panOULU WLAN

No, my mobile phone doesn't support internet

No, I don't need it

Yes and I don't use the panOULU WLAN

Yes, but I still use the panOULU WLAN

Other

Do you acquire a seperate internet provider for your mobile phone?


12)


n=1.013

1%21%

47%

14%

7% 9% Very fast

Fast

Average

Slow

Too slow

Other

What do you think of the speed of the panOULU WLAN?



n=1.025

46.54%

5.46%

45.76%

2.24%

Yes

No

I don't care

Other

Do you wish the UBI displays would be introduced in other cities?

13)

n=1.025

78.83%

3.12%16.00%

2.05%YesNoI don't careOther

Do you wish the panOULU WLAN would be introduced in other cities?



n=948

13%

42%

45%

Yes

No, I have not stopped using

I never used any of them

Have you stopped using the UBI displays?

14)

n=1.001

8%

81%

12% Yes

No, I have not stopped us-ing it

I never used any of them

Have you stopped using the panOULU WLAN?


• No significant gender specific differences

• Weather doesn‘t influence the usage of the hotspots

indoor and outdoor hotspots

• Turnover of local ISPs not endangered by the panOULU

WLAN

• Both services satisfy the definition of ubiquitous tools



Hotspots:

• Rarely used

• Meet the information needs of their users only to small extent

• Limited to city-specific information

• Small perceived usefulness

• Needs for improvement:

– Usability

– Content

– Technical aspects



Open WiFi:

• Frequently-used service

• Satisfies many different information needs, e.g.:

– Communication (e-mail)

– News

– Social networking (Facebook)

– Basic needs etc.



Open WiFi:

• Considered as useful

• Not as limited to a specific place as the UBI Hotspots

• Needs for improvement:

– Covered area

– Safety


Prospects

• Why do people prefer the panOULU WLAN?

• How do usage, adoption, trust and perceived

usefulness correlate?

Information Service Evaluation Model

(ISE-Model)


Thank you for your attention!


Hotspots and Free WiFi in a Ubiquitous City. Do they Serve Citizens’ Information Needs? The U-City Oulu as a Case Study

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