Anna Picco-Schwendener
Lorenzo Cantoni
ABSTRACT
This study explores whether it is possible to automatically assign a user of a Municipal Wireless Network (MWN) to one of the previously identified user groups, using only the very small amount of data available at the moment of connection. To do so, researchers classified the users of the “WiFi Lugano” MWN into business travelers, leisure tourists, and locals in two different ways: 1) based on the users’ network usage, and 2) based on the users’ declared reason for being in Lugano. The two groupings allowed creating a two-tiered classification tree with cross validation resulting in a set of classification rules that would subsequently enable the system to assign future users to one of the three groups by using only a few variables known at the moment of connection. The identified rules make it possible to significantly increase the probability of a correct assignment over that of a random assignment. The study thus provides a general framework for automatically classifying users of a MWN with very limited available data, which can be applied also to other MWNs. Being able to distinguish users of a MWN at the moment of connection could allow the city to communicate in a more targeted way with each user group, for example through the use of tailored landing pages and thus to improve its relationship with citizens (G2C), businesses (G2B), and visitors (G2V).
- Afanasyev, M., Chen, T., Voelker, G. M. and Snoeren, A. C. Usage patterns in an urban WiFi network. Networking, IEEE/ACM Transactions on, 18, 5 (2010), 1359-1372. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Blackman, C., Forge, S., Bohlin, E. and Clements, B. Forecasting user demand for wireless services: a socio-economic approach for Europe. Telematics Informatics, 24, 3 (2007), 206-216. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Burns, R. P. and Burns, R. Business research methods and statistics using SPSS. Sage, 2008.Google Scholar
- European Union. WiFi4EU. Free Wi-Fi for Europeans. (2018a). Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/inea/en/connecting-europe-facility/cef-telecom/wifi4euGoogle Scholar
- European Union. WiFi4EU initiative: how will it work? (2017b). Retrieved from http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-17-1536_en.htmGoogle Scholar
- Forlano, L. Anytime? Anywhere?: Reframing Debates Around Municipal Wireless Networking. Journal of Community Informatics, 4, 1 (2008a).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Fraser, E. The Failure of Public WiFi. Journal of Technology Law & Policy, 14 (2009), 161.Google Scholar
- Hudson, H. Municipal wireless broadband: lessons from San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Telematics and Informatics, 27, 1 (2010), 1-9.Google ScholarDigital Library
- Kalbaska, N., Janowski, T., Estevez, E. and Cantoni, L. E-Government Relationships Framework in the Tourism Domain. A First Map. In Inversini, A. and Schegg, R. Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2016. Springer, 2016, 73-86.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Lambert, A., McQuire, S. and Papastergiadis, N. Public Wi-Fi: Space, sociality and the social good. Australian Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 2, 3 (2014), 45.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Lehr, W. Measuring the Internet: The data challenge. 194. OECD Publishing, 2012.Google Scholar
- Middleton, C. A framework for investigating the value of public wireless networks. In 35th Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy. 2007.Google Scholar
- Ojala, T., Hakanen, T., Salmi, O., Kenttälä, M., Tiensyrjä, J. and Närhi, P. Characterizing the usage of a large municipal WiFi network. MobiCom, (2008).Google Scholar
- Picco-Schwendener, A. Social dimensions of public large-scale wi-fi networks. PhD Thesis, Università della Svizzera italiana, 2018.Google Scholar
- Picco-Schwendener, A. and Cantoni, L. Tourists and Municipal Wi-Fi Networks (MWN): The Case of Lugano (Switzerland). In Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015. Springer, 2015, 565-578.Google Scholar
- Picco-Schwendener, A., Reinhold, H. J. and Cantoni, L. Usage Practices and User Types of a Municipal Wi-Fi Network: The Case of “WiFi Lugano”. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance. ACM Press, 2017.Google Scholar
- Refaeilzadeh, P., Tang, L. and Liu, H. Cross-validation. In Encyclopedia of database systems. Springer, 2009, 532-538.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Tapia, A. H., Kvasny, L. and Ortiz, J. A. A Critical Discourse Analysis of three US municipal wireless network initiatives for enhancing social inclusion. Telematics Inf., 28, 3 ( 2011), 215-226.Google ScholarDigital Library
- Tapia, A. H., Powell, A. and Ortiz, J. A. Reforming policy to promote local broadband networks. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 33, 4 (2009), 354-375.Google Scholar
- Techopedia. Cross-Validation. 2017, March/2 ( n.d.), 1.Google Scholar
- Yovanof, G. S. and Hazapis, G. N. An architectural framework and enabling wireless technologies for digital cities & intelligent urban environments. Wireless personal communications, 49, 3 (2009), 445-463.Google Scholar
- Zhang, L., Zhao, L., Wang, Z. and Liu, J. WiFi Networks in Metropolises: From Access Point and User Perspectives. IEEE Communications Magazine, 55, 5 (2017), 42-48. Google ScholarDigital Library
Recommendations
Digital transformation in the national tourism policies
dg.o 2019: Proceedings of the 20th Annual International Conference on Digital Government ResearchConsidering the fast way in which digital technologies are being developed, improved, and adopted by society, governments need to take advantage in order to better serve citizens, businesses and all other relevant stakeholders. Tourism governance is not ...
Usage Practices and User Types of a Municipal Wi-Fi Network: the Case of "WiFi Lugano"
ICEGOV '17: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic GovernanceIn recent years, many cities around the globe implemented Municipal Wireless/Wi-Fi Networks (MWNs) as part of their strategies towards becoming "smart" cities. While initial initiatives had very ambitious goals and often struggled implementing them, ...
Individual Empowerment through Digital Governance: Proposing an Assessment Framework for India
ICEGOV '17: Proceedings of the Special Collection on eGovernment Innovations in IndiaAdoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) in governance contexts is considered empowering for governments and citizens. Digital Governance aims at transforming internal processes, structures and working practices leading to greater ...
Comments