The Charter of Florence
The future of Municipal Wi-Fi for local development
The 'Charter of Florence' is a best practice document which contains guidelines for the
implementation of wireless infrastructure in digitally disadvantaged areas. The Charter
is targeted to local authorities and public administrators who are keen to bridge the
digital divide. It offers guidance on some of the critical factors that are likely to
determine the success or failure of such initiatives:
The future of Municipal Wi-Fi for local development
- political rationale for the project
- financial viability and sustainability
- deployed technologies
- price for connectivity
- new value added services
- local development benefits
- complementary measures
The Charter is the product of the evaluation of current practices worldwide, and leverages the proceedings of the international conference "The Wireless City" held in Florence, Italy, in May 2006 and organized by the MIT Senseable City Laboratory together with the Province of Florence, the Municipality of Philadelphia and Cisco Systems. The Charter of Florence was presented to the Italian Minister for Technology and Innovation on 11 September 2006.
