Learning > Community Network Readiness Assessment

Community Network Readiness Assessment

Important Update: Our moderated courses are now offered as self-paced experiences. Learn on your own schedule and at your own pace.

What is the Community Network Readiness Assessment course?

Over 2 billion people are still offline. Community networks, built and governed by the people they serve, are one of the most powerful ways to close that gap. This course guides you through the seven critical tasks needed to evaluate and prepare for a successful community network.

You will work through each task step by step: identify the community your planned network would serve and the champions who would sustain it; define the functions and services it should provide; determine the regulatory requirements for legal operation in your context; identify appropriate technology choices; build a financial model that supports long-term sustainability; and establish an organizational and governance structure. The course concludes with an introduction to Community-Centered Connectivity Initiatives (CCCi), the global framework and community of practice your network could join.

Throughout the course, you will apply each concept to a fictional rural community, through interactive scenarios, case studies from real networks, and short videos. You will capture your decisions in worksheets that build toward a complete readiness picture.

What are the course objectives?

Understand the function and services of a community network
Gain a broad understanding of the planning and deployment of a community network
Learn about the strategic and sustainable organizational structures and partnerships of community networks
Assess the financial sustainability of establishing a community network
Assess whether a community will benefit from and be able to sustain a community network.

Who should attend this course?

This course is designed for community champions, network engineers, and ISP operators exploring a community-led model. No prior networking experience is required.

You should attend this course if you:

Have a solid understanding of how to plan and deploy a community network in your area
Understand the social impact objectives of building a community network
Become a local partner of the Internet Society or support a community to deploy a community network
Understand the policy and regulatory dynamics involved in building a community network
Understand the strategic organizational and operational structure of community networks
Learn how to make a community network financially viable and sustainable

How do I enroll in a course?

How do I access the learning platform as an Internet Society member?

As an Internet Society member, you can log into learning.internetsociety.org with your member login credentials. There is no need to create a new account. If you do not remember your login information, select Forgot Login? to be emailed your username and receive a link to reset your password. Once logged in, you will be able to view the course catalog and select the course you’d like to enroll in.

How do I access the learning platform as a non-member?

Both guests and Internet Society members can access the learning platform. To register as either, click Register on the login box at learning.internetsociety.org. Next, either register as a member or click on the guest registration form to register as a guest. Once you create an account, you can use the credentials you created (username and password) to log into learning.internetsociety.org. Once logged in, you will be able to view the course catalog and enroll in courses.

How do I enroll in a course?

Browse available courses in the course catalog or use the search bar to find the course you would like to enroll in. On each course page, click the “Enroll” button in the top right corner of the page to immediately be added to a course. Once you have successfully been enrolled, you will be able to see the course under “My Courses and Learning Plans”. You will also be able to see information about the course instructor, view the course’s forums, and access any modules that are available. If the course has not yet started, you will not see any modules until the day the course begins.

How do I join the waitlist for a course?

If you are on a course page and the button in the top right corner of the page reads “Enroll (Waiting List)”, this means the course has reached the maximum number of participants able to enroll. You can click the button to join the waitlist for the course and you will be notified if a spot becomes available.

How do I select the right course format?

When browsing the course catalog, you will see multiple versions of the same course available. All courses are available in English, French, and Spanish so first select the right language for you. You can do this by selecting the language of your choice in the left-hand filter in the course catalog or choosing the course that denotes the correct language (EN=English, FR=French, ES=Spanish).

You also have the option to choose the format that will work best for your connection type. All courses have 3 format options: high bandwidth, low bandwidth, and text-based for all connections. You can filter by bandwidth option in the left-hand filter on the course catalog or select the “Additional Information” tab when viewing a course to see which bandwidth connection you have selected.

If you have any questions about which version is best for you, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] to get assistance.

Enroll Now

Self-paced tutorial

Duration:
2.5 hours

Available in
English, French and Spanish

Enroll Now