Many of us carry our smartphones everywhere we go, enjoying the immediate access to information and services these devices afford us. Yet many of us also seek out and use Wi-Fi as we move around the spaces we inhabit.

Join us for a special presentation by Dr Catherine Middleton, Professor in the Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management at Ryerson University discussing various approaches to providing Wi-Fi in public places, examining reasons why it is offered and used, and question what “public” really means in the context of Wi-Fi.

Catherine’s research focuses on consumer adoption of new communication technologies, with specific interests in mobile devices, and on the development of fixed and wireless broadband networks. She is also interested in how Canadians use (or don’t use) the internet in their daily lives.

Catherine currently holds a SSHRC grant to investigate the development of next generation broadband infrastructures in Canada. Previous projects include investigation of the use of ubiquitous communication technologies (like Blackberries) in organisations (working with ITM colleague Ozgur Turetken), and a SSHRC International grant examining the Australian National Broadband Network pilot in Tasmania and the Alberta SuperNet.

She was the Principal Investigator for the Community Wireless Infrastructure Research Project, funded by Infrastructure Canada. Catherine has a PhD from the Schulich School of Business at York University (Toronto, Canada) and an MBA from Bond University (Gold Coast, Australia).

Image by Alan Levine via Flickr/CC BY 4.0