Near Cloud: Low-cost Low-Power Cloud Implementation for Rural Area Connectivity and Data Processing

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) has enabled growth in developed countries and urban cities through improvements in communication systems, devices and applications. In rural areas, especially in developing countries, ICT penetration is not as high, often due to lack of available infrastructure and funding. With the increasing availability of Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, low-cost large-scale deployments have become possible even in rural areas. We design, develop and implement, Near Cloud, a cloud-less platform that allows users and IoT devices to communicate and share information. This is built on top of a wireless mesh network (WMN) of low-cost, low-power IoT devices and deployed in areas where there is little to no Internet connectivity. To inject ICT and help bridge the digital divide in rural areas, Near Cloud provides functionalities such as web servers on nodes, accessibility to all users via Wi-Fi, and various data processing including image processing and machine learning. We will show applicability of Near Cloud in improving rural education, health care facilities, disaster response and agriculture.