[Nets-seminars] Reminder: Seminar this Thursday at 2 PM: Information Access Under Poor Connectivity, Lakshmi Subramanian, New York University

[Kyle Jamieson]

> Dear all,
> 
> Lakshmi Subramanian from New York University is doing some very interesting work on networking in developing countries under poor data connectivity. Should be a worthwhile talk; everyone encouraged to attend!  Details follow.
> 
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> 
> Information Access under Poor Connectivity
> Lakshminarayanan Subramanian
> New York University
> 
> Time: 2-3 PM Thursday, 2nd June
> Place: Foster Court 130
> 
> Abstract
> 
> Consider three different worlds of poor network connectivity:
> 	• Scenario 1: A user in Africa uses a cheap mobile device with voice and SMS as the only data connectivity channel (140 bytes per message and each SMS costs money).
> 	• Scenario 2: A university in India has good connectivity which is shared simultaneously by 400 users. (Per user share = 2 Kbps)
> 	• Scenario 3: A school in Kenya has a computer but no Internet.
> In this talk, I will describe a range of techniques we have developed to enhance information access in these three scenarios of poor connectivity. 
> 
> In Scenario 1, we have built an entire SMS-based protocol stack for mobile applications being used in India, Mexico and Ghana as well as a live SMS search engine in Kenya. We are also rolling out a data-over-GSM voice stack to support data connectivity over cellular voice. 
> 
> In Scenario 2, I will describe why some of the fundamentals of network protocols break down in these regimes and why we need a completely new Web architecture for these types of networks. We have deployed early versions of our system in a few schools and universities in India, Kenya. 
> 
> In Scenario 3, I will describe how we can use vertical search engines to deliver a vertical slice of the Web in a hard-disk and provide an offline searchable and browse-able Internet. This system has been used in schools in India and Kenya as an educational tool for students and teachers. 
> 
> This is joint work with several others with Jay Chen being a primary leader for many of these projects.
> 
> Bio
> 
> Lakshminarayanan Subramanian is an Assistant Professor in the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU. His research interests are in the areas of networks, distributed systems and computing for development. He co-leads the Networks and Wide-Area Systems(NeWS) group and the CATER Lab at NYU which focuses on innovative technology solutions to problems in developing regions. Recently, he has co-established a new Center for Technology and Economic Development (CTED) at NYU Abu Dhabi which brings together students from several disciplines (CS, economics, healthcare, education, policy). He is the recipient of the  NSF CAREER Award (2009), IBM Faculty Award (2009, 2010) and C.V. Ramamoorthy Award. 
>