Designing Wireless Sensor Networks as a Shared Resource for Sustainable Development

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are a relatively new and rapidly developing technology; they have a wide range of applications including environmental monitoring, agriculture, and public health. Shared technology is a common usage model for technology adoption in developing countries. WSNs have great potential to be utilized as a shared resource due to their on-board processing and ad-hoc networking capabilities, however their deployment as a shared resource requires that the technical community first address several challenges. The main challenges include enabling sensor portability: (1) the frequent movement of sensors within and between deployments, and rapidly deployable systems; (2) systems that are quick and simple to deploy. We first discuss the feasibility of using sensor networks as a shared resource, and then…