Covington’s city-led initiative to bridge the digital divide in Covington by expanding access to free, public wifi was named one of the 50 most transformative “smart” projects in the world at the 5th Annual Smart 50 Award Gala in Columbus, Ohio.
Nearly half of all Covington residents have signed up for public Wi-Fi through “Covington Connect.” More than 780,000 online sessions with an average duration of over an hour have been hosted by Covington Connect.
The award puts Covington Connect in the company of such projects as a demand-responsive ride-sharing service in Australia, a data study that combined COVID-19 cases and human movement patterns in a province of Thailand, and a gunshot detection technology project in Florida.
Essam Elgusain, Covington’s IT Manager and System Analyst who plays a huge role in the initiative, attended the gala and accepted the award.
“Supporting a new innovative public service that has the capability to transform lives has been a humbling experience,” Elgusain said. “I don’t think we fully realize all the benefits we’ll be seeing in the future because of this.”
Covington Mayor Joe Meyer praised the work of the partners in the collaborative effort, which included altafiber (formerly Cincinnati Bell), the Housing Authority of Covington, Covington Independent Public Schools, local computer firms Blair Technology Group and ReGadget, and Houston-based non-profit Comp-U-Dopt.
“Covington Connect has been a fantastic partnership that strengthens thousands of our city’s families,” Meyer said. “The usage numbers are absolute evidence of the need and opportunity it provides.”
The need for a service such as Covington Connect became increasingly apparent during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 when local school districts sent students home. The districts employed a distance learning strategy. Many workers had to do their jobs remotely from home. Medical appointments transitioned to telehealth.
At the time, surveys showed 40 percent of Covington school children lacked regular Internet access, limiting their ability to participate in a meaningful way in their education.
Covington city officials met in the courtyard at the Hotel Covington in 2020 for a news conference that kicked off their initiative.
Covington Connect’s primary goal was to deploy a high-speed intelligent Wi-Fi network throughout Covington’s neighborhoods, public housing, and business districts by running new fiber and/or setting up 124 “hotspots,” or wireless access points.
It also included the distribution of 1,000 free computers to families of schoolchildren.
While allowing children to access school lessons from home was a primary goal, the free public Wi-Fi also enabled families to do everything from apply for jobs to see a doctor online to reserve a library book to attend a training seminar.
“Access to high-speed Internet is critical in order for individuals to access education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. It is also an essential part of economic development efforts,” said Jason Praeter, president & general manager of altafiber’s Network Division. “altafiber is proud to partner with the City of Covington and multiple partners on the Covington Connect initiative, which is creating more digital equity in the community, and leveraging Smart City technology to support local businesses.”
Elgusain said the project has been transformational for many previously underserved areas of the community.
He and his team worked tirelessly to help create Covington Connect and continue to maintain it, consistently checking on the 124 Wi-Fi access points to analyze data and verify accessibility, making sure the system provides the best possible access to the “information superhighway.”
During regular Wi-Fi site visits, Elgusain said it’s not unusual for passersby to stop and inquire why he’s staring at the sky with his laptop.
“I’ll point to a nearby Covington Connect sign advertising the Wi-Fi zone and, to their surprise, they’ll realize they have access to Wi-Fi,” he said. “It’s really exciting that we have something so innovative and cool to offer.”
