Who is behind SCEWN?

SCEWN is a project of SVWUX which is a special interest group of the non-profit Sbay.org. It was motivated by people with many years of experience and frustration in the service of disaster communications. SVWUX members are technical and public service professionals who have learned from their professional experience in Silicon Valley that there are more modern and effective means of communication than are currently employed in a disaster response. They believe their communities deserve better and see ways it can be delivered. They collectively invest time without compensation working towards this advancement for the sake of the communities in which they live and work for the stability of the region in general. It is motivated out of cooperative self interest and not an act of charity. However, it is envisioned that much of what is developed on behalf of Silicon Valley will be of exemplary benefit to the world at large, and SVWUX actively supports this synergy. For example, SCEWN is an affiliate and active participant in the Disaster Management Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University - Silicon Valley Campus.

Leadership of SCEWN.

Is SCEWN seeking to be a commercial enterprise?

There is a very active effort underway to enable components of SCEWN to become economically self-sustainable. Originally conceived as a community cooperative, the network management necessary to responsibly serve its client base has emerged as a task too time intensive to be adequately handled by ad hoc volunteers while maintaining service at a level at or surpassing the expectations of its subscribers. There is an expectation that dual roles may remain that could be divided between a non-profit and a for-profit. SCEWN continues to date as a project of the non-profit Sbay. For commercial efforts, see InfraLink.