Design and implementation of the KioskNet system

• Published in: 2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Guo, S., Falaki, M.H., Oliver, E.A., Ur Rahman, S., Seth, A., Zaharia, M.A., Ismail, U., Keshav, S.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.12.2007
• Subjects: Communication system control; Computer architecture; Control systems; Costs; Hard disks; Linux; Personal communication networks; Security; Vehicles; Web and internet services
• ISBN: 9781424419906; 1424419905
• DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937417

Rural Internet kiosks in developing countries can cost-effectively provide communication and e-governance services to the poorest sections of society. Unfortunately, a variety of technical and non-technical issues have caused most kiosk deployments to be unsustainable. KioskNet addresses the key technical problems underlying kiosk failure by using robust dasiamechanical backhaulpsila for connectivity, and by using low-cost and reliable kiosk controllers to support services delivered from one or more recycled PCs. KioskNet also addresses related issues such as security, user management, and log collection. In this paper, we describe the KioskNet system and outline its hardware, software, and security architectures. We describe a pilot deployment, and how we used lessons from this deployment to re-design our initial prototype.