Green Fee proposal for Portable Network Kit deployment

This proposal requests Green Fee funding to deploy a statewide digital resilience network using the Portable Network Kit (PNK) to strengthen community-led disaster preparedness and emergency response across Hawaiʻi. Housed in a waterproof, battery-powered, and solar-enabled suitcase, the PNK is an emergency standalone wireless system built with off-the-shelf hardware and open-source software. Crucially, when climate-driven disasters knock out local electrical grids and commercial telecommunication systems, the kit establishes an immediate offline communications network. Each portable kit functions autonomously with its own local server, chat service, and document editor, enabling communities to coordinate relief and share critical information locally without external internet access. Building on collaborative training workshops in Hawaiʻi, this initiative will train community-based organizations in environmentally vulnerable areas to build, own, and deploy their own kits. The result is a connected, locally led communication lifeline that strengthens community capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters across Hawaiʻi.