Building ICT networks is all well and good but maintaining them is key. One of these keys is having a good monitoring system in place. For both rapid deployment networks & more long term ones, one possible solution is a remote centralized monitoring solution. Using a a service like Linode (linode.com) and a ready to use system monitor solution like GroundWork (groundworkopensource.com) along with a VPN it should make it possible to stand up a systems monitoring system in no time flat. While I haven't field tested this particular idea yet, at my current job we use a similar system. It even works over VSAT.
The"crisis" of tent cities due to economic conditions in the United States is a great opportunity, for both public welfare support & testing of new ideas.
You can't build ICT networks with out whiteboards, nor can you do a lot of other wonderful things. The modern replacement for the blackboard, this is a simple low coast way to get ideas on the wall.
