bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Digital Cultural Heritage and Social Sustainability
Authors: Liew Chern Li , Chowdhury Gobinda
Published: December 2020

This research investigated factors that were perceived to contribute to the social sustainability of cultural heritage information services. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen users, guided by three broad questions: 1. Which factors they consider are important for DCH services to be socially sustainable or to achieve social sustainability? 2. What indicators they perceive from current DCH services that suggest social sustainability? 3. What they believe to be the main challenges for DCH services to achieve or maintain social sustainability? Social sustainability of DCH information services was associated with: strategy and policy, advocacy and community engagement, equity, cultural sensitivity and literacy, assessment and evaluation.
Critical Questions for Community Informatics in Practice
Authors: Wolske Martin , Rhinesmith Colin
Published: December 2020

Randy Stoecker noted in 2005 that CI remains underdeveloped as a field of practice as long as it does not have its own set of ethical guidelines. While Averweg & O’Donnell published a researcher-focused set of guidelines in 2007, a full-scale work for CI practice has not yet been completed. Workshops employing a range of collaborative techniques have been held at the last three Community Informatics Research Network conferences, identifying perspectives and ideas from attendees regarding ethical CI practice and guiding critical questions. This paper is published as a means to widen the audience reviewing and commenting on these.
Agency and technology
Authors: Villanueva-Mansilla Eduardo
Published: December 2020

Editorial for Volume 13, issue 1.
Local Economic Impacts of Investments in Community Technology Centers: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Jayakar Krishna , Grzeslo Jenna
Published: December 2020

Although community technology centers (CTCs) provide a host of services that may have economic consequences, few studies have attempted to empirically assess the impact of CTCs on local communities. Controlling for broadband availability and demographics, this study found that there is a small but positive and significant impact of CTC quality on median household income, at the county level. In addition to bridging the digital divide for disadvantaged populations, our research shows that there are also quantifiable economic benefits from CTC investments.
Scholarly Impact: a Bibliometric and Altmetric study of the Journal of Community Informatics
Authors: Naude Filistea , Van Biljon Judy
Published: December 2020

Demonstrating scholarly impact is a matter of growing importance. This paper reports on a bibliometric and altmetric analysis conducted on the Journal of Community Informatics (JOCI). Besides the bibliometric analysis the study also looked into JOCI article-level metrics by comparing usage metrics (article views), alternative metrics (Mendeley readership), and traditional citation metrics (Google Scholar citations). The main contribution is to provide more insight into the metrics that could influence the citation impact in Community Informatics research. Furthermore, the study used article-level metrics data to identify, compare and rank the most impactful papers published in JOCI over a 12-year period.
PIE News. A public design project toward commonfare
Authors: Botto Francesco , Teli Maurizio
Published: December 2020

The new poor are a group of people composed by precarious workers, working poor, NEETs and people left behind by the safety nets, accounting for approximately 25% of the European population. Commonfare is a new collaborative form of welfare provision based on equitable governance and grassroots democracy, entailing the involvement of diverse stakeholders to facilitate the bottom-up arousal of collective practices tackling the needs of the new poor. The paper describes the concepts and building blocks of the PIE News project, a public design project which started in July 2016 with the aim to foster the emergence of commonfare as an alternative model to satisfy the needs of the new poor. PIE news leverages on 3 pilots (Italy, Croatia, Netherlands) with grassroots organizations in order to create a commonfare model through the development of a Collective Awareness Platform and a Digital Currency tool. The network supporting the project is constituted by organizations that account for approximately one-hundred thousand social media contacts. These organizations include ethical banking, networks of associations, activists for basic income, and many others.
Empowerment of women through an innovative e-mentoring community platform: implications and lessons learned
Authors: Parmaxi Antigoni , Vasiliou Christina , Ioannou Andri , Kouta Christiana
Published: December 2020

This article presents an overview of an e-mentoring community platform that intends to promote women’s empowerment. Women face the so-called glass ceiling effect, the barrier that keeps them from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements. We aim to eliminate the stereotypical profile of women as excluded from economic, political, and professional life and promote women’s empowerment, equality, and social coherence. To this aim, we aspire to develop Womenpower, an innovative e-mentoring community platform that intends to link women mentors and mentees in the areas of academia, business, and healthcare. Given the nature of this endeavor, there is a need to approach the development of the e-mentoring platform as a horizontal process and democratize the design, allowing for different perspectives of stakeholders to be heard and determine the design decisions. This article delineates the approach adopted for democratizing the design process and maximizing intended users’ involvement in the development process. Finally, we conclude with implications for researchers and practitioners in Community Informatics and recommendations for promoting the participation of women in the fields of academia, business, and healthcare.
The Supportive Roles of Adults in Designing with Young Deaf Children
Authors: Korte Jessica Lauren
Published: December 2020

Involving users in the research and design of new technologies is particularly relevant for groups affected by digital exclusion and lacking in cultural power, such as people with disabilities, people from cultural minorities, and children. Design with young Deaf children lies at the intersection of these three groups, as the medical community defines physical deafness as a disability; Deaf communities around the world identify as minority cultural groups with their own languages; and young children traditionally lack power in interactions with adults. Deaf children bring particular needs, abilities and experiences related to their youth, physical deafness and cultural Deafness to the technology design process, making their involvement in design vital. Their involvement presents a unique set of challenges and ethical considerations, including matters of consent and behaviour management. Adult involvement in supportive roles can facilitate young Deaf children’s involvement in design activities and address some of the challenges of designing with Deaf children.

This article presents a case study that involved young Australian Deaf children as design partners, with their family members and Deaf and hearing education professionals in supportive roles, for the purpose of providing recommendations to researchers and designers who wish to undertake similar design activities with young Deaf children and supportive adults. The case study involved a series of 30-minute design sessions with four Deaf children (ages 3-5). Reflections on this case study will discuss the roles adult design team members took throughout the design sessions, the benefits and challenges of involving adults as members of design teams with young Deaf children, and ethical considerations to be addressed when designing with young Deaf children in design teams. The article concludes with recommendations for researchers and designers conducting design sessions with young Deaf children and adult supporters, so that young Deaf child designers are well-supported and have the freedom to explore their preferences, desires, requirements, and to contribute to design solutions.
The Online Lab
Authors: Schutt Stefan
Published: December 2020

This article reports on a 2016 pilot of a video-based technology mentoring program undertaken with young Australians with high functioning autism who are socially and geographically isolated. Many young people with autism live with deep social isolation due to their difficulties in mixing easily with others; this is further exacerbated for those living in geographically remote areas. These young people are subject to acute forms of exclusion, yet have long tended to be highly adept at the use of technology. The Online Lab is based on The Lab, a national network of face-to-face technology and social clubs for young people with high functioning autism. The pilot involved 25 remote or regional young people from three states. Synchronous weekly online sessions were led by expert mentors, with up to six young people participating via the Zoom video conferencing platform.

The evaluation combined qualitative methods that could be administered remotely with local methods and de-identified usage statistics. It drew on the notion of ‘differentiated spaces’ as devised by Lye Ee Ng in her doctoral work at The Lab, which recognises that online, offline and personal spaces interact to facilitate different forms of social interaction. The evaluation concluded that the pilot was a ‘qualified success’; The Online-only format working effectively for some types of participants with high functioning autism, but less so for others. A number of related findings and recommendations will be outlined in this article. This article will also outline how these findings have been incorporated into the rollout of The Online Lab by The Lab organisation in 2017 and 2018, and how the program’s subsequent activities are, in turn, feeding back into The Lab’s understanding of how to effectively use technology for mitigating social isolation.
Margin to Margin: Arts-Based Research for Digital Outreach to Marginalised Communities
Authors: Sarantou Melanie Augusta , Akimenko Daria , Escudeiro Nuno
Published: December 2020

This article discusses the artistic activity titled ‘Conversations with the edge’ that was executed by communities in Australia, Russia and Finland, and curated for an exhibition at the Helinä Rautavaara Museum in Espoo, Finland in 2017. This activity was created in the context of Margin to Margin: Women living on the edges of the world, a larger arts-based research project that took place between four geographical margins: outback South Australia, Finnish Lapland, Russian Kola Peninsula and Namibia. Margin to Margin was a collaboration between artist communities with the aim to explore the relationship between art-making and empowerment of makers living and working ‘on the edges’. The aim of the project was to understand the realities marginalised communities face whilst giving voice to these communities by exhibiting their art in various formats, stimulating digital participation and utilising technology for digital inclusion. The purpose of the article is to develop a model that will guide virtual arts-based project mediation for digital outreach in both urban and regionally situated marginalised communities.
Developing a Framework for Sustainable Information and Communication Technology Platforms for Resource Scarce Rural Communities
Authors: Foko Thato
Published: December 2020

In attempting to bridge the digital divide and provide access to ICTs the South Africa government deployed telecentres to rural areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide some insights into what makes telecentres sustainable. The ICT Platform project (Platform) is the initiative between the South African government and the CSIR.  For this study the Technology Acceptance Model is utilised. The main research methodology will be qualitative multiple case study research with interpretivism as philosophy. The results show the importance of community leaders, project champions and users in the adoption and use and in ensuring the financially, socially and politically sustainability of ICT Platforms.
The nature of ‘document work’, and its implications for radical community archives and their holdings
Authors: Wright Steve
Published: December 2020

Around fifty years ago, much of the world experienced a new cycle of mass social unrest. In their wake, the movements of that time have left a mass of records and other documents (typically leaflets, journals, newspapers, posters and bulletins). Today, many of these materials are curated by community-based archives that continue to identify in some manner both with those movements and their successors. But what might these materials be able to tell us about the ‘document work’ (to use Ciaran Trace’s useful concept) that originally led to their creation and use – and, in a broader sense, the experiences of the movement participants who utilised them as integral components of their political engagement? This paper will explore the meaning of document work within the practices of members of Potere Operaio [Potop], one of the most influential of the revolutionary groups formed in Italy during the late 1960s, before concluding with some brief reflections as to the implications of this for the present day work of radical community archives
Internet non-use among the Canadian older adult population: General Social Survey (GSS)
Authors: Ali-Hassan Hossam , Sekharan Vineeth , Kim Theresa
Published: December 2020

Benefits of Internet use for older adults include the ability to access informational resources, facilitate social connections and use online communication resources. Further research on identifying the characteristics of older adult Internet non-users is warranted. The present study aims to examine the prevalence and characteristics of Internet non-use among Canada’s older adult populations. The analysis was based on the 2016 General Social Survey (GSS)– Canadians at Work and Home. Analysis was restricted to Canadians of 65 years of age or older. The outcome was Internet non-use, which was defined as having not used the Internet in the 30-day period prior to survey data collection. Demographic, socio-economic, health related, and social support and relationship factors were considered for a multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Overall, the prevalence of Internet non-use among Canadian older adults was 31.9%.  Characteristics significantly associated with Internet non-use included: lower educational achievement, decreased socioeconomic status, poor mental and physical health, having a partner / significant other, and being a cigarette smoker. The province of residence was significantly associated with non-internet use with residents of Quebec being at increased odds of non-internet use compared to residents of British Columbia (OR =2.09, 95% CI= 1.51-2.88). Additionally, increased age among older adults was associated with increased likelihood of not using the Internet. The findings from this study can be used as the basis for future research and to aid in the development of effective policies and programs directed towards the needs of this unique population.
Women Connect: Phase 2 Report
Authors: Webb Susan , Jones Kate
Published: December 2020

Women Connect: Phase 2 Report
The K-Net Story: Community ICT Development Work
Authors: Beaton Brian
Published: December 2020

An introduction to a web streamed video clip highlighting the work and the philosophy behind the construction and operation of the Kuhkenah Network (K-Net).
The Canadian Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking (CRACIN): A Research Partnership and Agenda for Community Networking in Canada
Authors: Clement Andrew , Gurstein Michael , Longford Graham , Luke Robert , Moll Marita , Shade Leslie Reagan , DeChief Diane
Published: December 2020

The Canadian Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking (CRACIN) is a collaborative partnership amongst academic researchers in Canada, international researchers in Community Informatics, the three principal federal government departments promoting the "Connecting Canadians" agenda, and community networking practitioners in Canada. CRACINs substantive goal is to review the progress of community-based information and communications technology (ICT) development in the context of Canadian government programs promoting the development and public accessibility of Internet services. Central issues to be explored include the sustainability of community networking initiatives, along with an examination of how the Canadian community-based initiatives contribute to: the amelioration of "digital divides"; the enhancement of economic, social, political and cultural capabilities; the creation, provision, and use of community-oriented learning opportunities; and the development of community-oriented cultural content, open source software, learning tools and broadband infrastructures. The over-arching goal of our research is to begin the systematic documentation and assessment of the development of community-oriented ICT capacity and services contributing to local learning, to the strengthening of relations in and between communities, and more generally to community-focused social and economic development in Canada.
Towards a Neo-Apartheid System of Governance in Latin America - Implications for the Community Informatics Guild
Authors: Robinson Scott S.
Published: December 2020

Towards a Neo-Apartheid System of Governance in Latin America - Implications for the Community Informatics Guild
Community Portals: A False Dawn over the Field of Dreams?
Authors: Musgrave Stephen James
Published: December 2020

The context is that of UK local government portals, over the period from 1999-2004.

The study finds that few existing portals enable on-line access to back office systems to enable self-service interactivity for citizens.

Current activities are analogous with a False Dawn in Community Portal development, due to gaps and current inadequacies of portal capability.

The Field of Dreams future gives alignment between emerging development in Enterprise Portals in the commercial sector; Grid Computing emanating from the eScience community; and the need for Community Portals in the Public Sector.
Sustaining Community Access to Technology: Who Should Pay and Why.
Authors: Rideout Vanda N , Reddick Andrew J
Published: December 2020

Based on their research on several national, regional, local projects, and an analysis of the Canadian federal governments main Internet public access programs, the authors argue that as the digital divide has evolved and changed, changes in a conception of this and approaches to sustainability are required. This requires defining sustainability in terms of supporting community organizations that provide social development and related content and services to the public, with support for core services, content development as well as technical access and networking. The authors further argue that governments, and in particular the federal government, has the primary role for providing sustainability funding at the community level to address the digital divide and development goals.

A conceptual approach is required that extends our understanding of the problem of the digital divide and sustainability to the everyday lived circumstances and needs of citizens and their local communities. Such an approach also permits us to consider sustainability in terms of being primarily a role for governments to provide funding to the community service organizations that provide services at the community level in order to address inequalities and under development. Funding should be used for technical services, the development and maintenance of core operations (staff, volunteers, overheads) and content services that can be accessed using communication technologies.
Sustaining and transforming a community network: The information continuum model and the case of VICNET
Authors: Schauder Donald , Johanson Graeme , Stillman Larry
Published: December 2020

The paper explores a case in the sustainability of community networks through perspectives both of theory and policy. It introduces the information continuum model (ICM), a teaching and research model developed and used at Monash University since about 1997 . The diagnostic potentialities of the ICM are critically explored by applying them to the case of VICNET, the main community networking agency of Victoria which, after ten years of successful operation, finds itself at a policy and funding crossroads. The model offers a framework for analysing sustainability and transformation. The paper concludes by identifying strategies for VICNETs future, and foreshadowing work required further to develop the ICM as analytical tool in community informatics.
A Note on these "Notes from the Field"
Authors: Gurstein Michael
Published: December 2020

A Note on these "Notes from the Field"
How Wi-Fi came to El Chaco
Authors: Stoll Klaus
Published: December 2020

How Wi-Fi came to El Chaco
Community Wireless Networking and Open Spectrum Usage: a Research Agenda to Support Progressive Policy Reform of the Public Airwaves
Authors: Meinrath Sascha
Published: December 2020

Community Wireless Networking and Open Spectrum Usage: a Research Agenda to Support Progressive Policy Reform of the Public Airwaves
Community Networking as Radical Practice
Authors: Graham Garth
Published: December 2020

The practitioners of community networking sense that its nature as a Movement is ending. But what does that mean? As daily life online becomes ordinary, and as capacity to engender community online becomes an ordinary function of daily life, what is effective in advancing community networking as a community of practice? How can we get a clear view of community networking as radical practice in social change? Finding answers to these questions requires, in part, defining the roles of technologies and individuals in the structuring of social networks in unexpected ways. Effective community networking then occurs when individuals act cooperatively to make the Internet "happen" more rapidly in support of the need for community and the need for change in local governance.
Structuration, ICTs, and Community Work
Authors: Stillman Larry , Stoecker Randy
Published: December 2020

This paper reports upon the outcomes of an action research project which took place with a network of neighbourhood houses (community-based organisations) in the Western Region of Melbourne, Australia. Our first aim was to engage community-based organisations, through participatory action research techniques, to develop information and knowledge management plans for an electronic community network. Our second was to integrate structuration theory and theories of participatory action research, in order to provide a new context for understanding how ICTs can be used with community-based organisations. The paper reports on the major issues found in the research, and plans developed to address those issues.
Report From the Field: The RICTA Meeting Video
Authors: O'Donnell Susan , Walmark Brian , Kenny Cal
Published: December 2020

A short video produced about the founding meeting of RICTA has been made available for viewing online. The new Canadian research network RICTA  Research on ICT with Aboriginal Communities  held its first meeting in Balmertown, Ontario, with videoconference links to 10 locations across the country.
KiHS: Bridging the Traditional and Virtual Classroom in Canadas First Nation Schools
Authors: Walmark Brian
Published: December 2020

KOs Internet High School (KIHS) provides Grade Nine and Ten students from remote and isolated First Nation schools in Ontarios far north with the opportunity to receive a high quality secondary school education without having to leave their families and communities. Until KiHS, students as young as fourteen had to leave home and attend school in urban communities. With KiHS, these students can remain home during these critical years and are better equipped both academically and socially to cope with the challenges of city life when they choose to complete their high school education in the south. For more information, see www.kihs.knet.ca
Free internet as agent of community transformation
Authors: Williams Jocelyn E. , Wallace, PhD Catherine M. , Sligo Frank
Published: December 2020

Does the internet empower communities or perpetuate the status quo? Can universal internet access resolve education, employment, and other social gaps? We report on our longitudinal assessment of low income community access to free internet in New Zealand, in terms of new internet users (1) community belonging, (2) internet connectedness, and (3) civic engagement. Findings show internet connectedness may have only a minimal impact on community capacity due to constraints such as family transience, difficult domestic circumstances, inadequate project resourcing, and poor literacy. Internet ubiquity may not be a strategically useful social objective unless contextual limitations are recognised and addressed.
Enabling the Local as a Fundamental Development Strategy
Authors: Gurstein Michael B.
Published: December 2020

Enabling the Local as a Fundamental Development Strategy
Towards a Code Of Cyberethics
Authors: Averweg Udo Richard
Published: December 2020

Ethics and accountability are some of the cornerstones of public management. One of the ways in which ethical standards in the public service can be promoted is by developing a Code of Conduct that set a standard of behaviour to be followed. The diversity of information and communication technologies (ICT) and increased use of ICT have created a variety of ethical issues. In this paper, the process for formulating a Code of Cyberethics for eThekwini Municipality in South Africa is described. The development of such a code will also ensure service delivery that responds to citizens’ needs and improves the communication process with citizens.
Digital Inclusion without Social Inclusion: The Consumption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Homeless Subculture in Central Scotland
Authors: Buré Claire E.
Published: December 2020

This pilot study examined how homeless people in central Scotland integrate and appropriate mobile phones and the internet into their everyday lives, and the various meanings these information and communication technologies (ICTs) come to hold. It was found that digital inclusion does not necessarily lead to social inclusion into mainstream society, since homeless individuals tend to use ICTs in ways which reinforce the patterns and practices of their subculture  there is not a standard way of making use of technologies. Many homeless people thereby remain socially excluded in numerous ways despite their somewhat regular use of ICTs. It also emerged that mobile uptake can actually be more inclusive than internet uptake.
A Cost Maturity Model for Community Informatics Projects in the Developing World
Authors: Lochner Ferdie C.
Published: December 2020

A Cost Maturity Model for Community Informatics Projects in the Developing World
Effective Communication in Virtual Adversarial Collaborative Communities
Authors: De Moor Aldo , Weigand Hans
Published: December 2020

Effective communication helps communities to achieve common goals, but is especially hard to achieve in virtual adversarial collaborative communities. In these communities, the matching of widely differing objectives as well as interests is very complex. We study a case of a virtual adversarial collaborative community in which the common goal was to author reports assessing the amount of true consensus on forestry policies. We use discourse ethics theory to derive communication norms that are a prerequisite for making communication in adversarial collaborative communities more effective. Based on these norms, we make some recommendations on the design of supporting communication systems.
Special Section on Learning in Communities: Introduction
Authors: Carroll John M. , Bishop Ann Peterson
Published: December 2020

Community learning is an area of investigation that goes to the heart of community informatics as we attend to questions of how knowledge is shaped and shared at the local level. This special section of the Journal of Community Informatics is based on a multidisciplinary workshop organized by John Carroll and held in August 2005 at Penn States School of Information Sciences and Technology. It contains an informal report of the workshop, as well as mini papers contributed by some of the participants.
Designing Technology for Local Citizen Deliberation
Authors: Kavanaugh Andrea , Isenhour Philip
Published: December 2020

Citizen participation in democratic processes in the United States has been facilitated and enhanced since the mid-1990s with the diffusion and adoption of computer networking. In its current form, however, the web strongly favors information consumers over information producers. Emerging technologies, such as web logs and wikis, seek to address this deficiency. In a series of focus group interviews, adult residents in Blacksburg and Montgomery County, Virginia reported on their needs, awareness, and other aspects of the use of these new tools.
Developmental Learning Communities
Authors: Rosson Mary Beth , Carroll John M.
Published: December 2020

Developmental Learning Communities
Youth Interns and The Strategic Deployment of ICTs for Public Access
Authors: Gurstein Rachel , Pell Susan
Published: December 2020

This paper connects discussions of ICT use as developed through the Canadian government Community Access Program , with the experiences of the CAP Youth Initiative. While it is argued by policy designers that youth internships would bring needed human resources in the form of social and training skills to the technical infrastructure provided by CAP, it was unfortunately the case that the necessary oversight resources, networking opportunities and effective reporting mechanisms were insufficient to suppot this and as a result the programs have not achieved the degree of success which might otherwise have been possible at the community level.
The Cserénfa experiment.
Authors: Lengyel Gyorgy , Eranusz Eliza , Füleki Dániel , Lőrincz László , Siklós Viktória
Published: December 2020

The Cserénfa experiment. On the attempt to install computers and Internet in a tiny village in Hungary Authors: György Lengyel, professor of sociology, Corvinus University of Budapest, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, gyorgy.lengyel@uni-corvinus.hu Eliza Eranusz, Ph.D. student, Corvinus University of Budapest Department of Sociology and Social Policy Dániel Füleki, junior research fellow, Corvinus University of Budapest Department of eBusiness László Lőrincz, Ph.D. student, Corvinus University of Budapest Department of Sociology and Social Policy Viktória Siklós, Ph.D. student, Corvinus University of Budapest Department of Sociology and Social Policy Abstract The research aimed at studying social impacts of network-based and organized IT-learning in a local community. At the beginning of the project courses were organized, then computers and Internet accesses were made available for families, and we asked them to provide help for others on a voluntary basis. The turnout of the village Telehouse (the public eAccess point) was monitored at the same time. Focus groups, interviews, computer generated documents and diaries of the participants were the major sources of the research. As for the primary impacts, by the end of the experiment IT knowledge and related aspirations increased although side effects, like envy and frustration also did occur. The Internet activity of the participants was predominated by recreation and not by information gathering or resource extension. As far as wider social aspects are concerned, at the beginning of the project villagers thought that people were reserved, mistrustful and unprepared to help, and this mood did not change much to the end. While children learn basic IT skills in the elementary school adults are worse off in this respect. Therefore organizing courses for them was popular and proved to be useful. Another policy result is that outplacing to networks and the Telehouse satisfy more or less the same potential demand thus it is not advisable to apply both of them in a small settlement. Word count: app. 7500
My Experience with the Sengerema Community Multimedia Centre (CMC)
Authors: Ncheye Felician Bakoya
Published: December 2020

A Personal Reflection on the Experience of Using an Community Multimedia Centre in Tanzania.
A Design Theory Approach to Community Informatics: Community-Centered Development and Action Research Testing of Online Social Networking Prototype
Authors: Bourgeois David T , Horan Thomas A.
Published: December 2020

Over the last two decades, there has been increasing attention to the array of information and technology (ICT) applications that can be used for creating community information systems. This paper adopts takes a design theory approach to the community-centered development and testing of an online social networking prototype. The action research project was conducted in a college setting, where an online software system as designed and eventually used by 273 students over a six week period. A follow-on survey and interviews suggested the system was promising in terms of its influence of several dimensions of social capital, though a more extensive field testing would be needed to fully explore these statistical relationships. The paper concludes with a discussion of refinements that may be useful in using a community-centered design approach aimed at creating community information systems.
Network Capital: an expression of social capital in the Network Society
Authors: Acevedo Manuel
Published: December 2020

Social capital is a measure of social cohesion, and an important indicator of human development. There are various definitions of social capital, but all make reference to the relationships and social practices that favor collaboration among members of a particular society in order to pursue collective goals.

As communities are increasingly defined by interests, besides by physical proximity, they are becoming organized into social networks. It then becomes relevant to examine social capital produced withing networks, which could be termed network capital. Network capital could be understood as a measure of the value that communities structured as social networks and using network tools (in particular computer networks) generate for themselves, for others and for society as a whole. Thus, it would be a kind of social capital specific and exclusive to what we call the Information Society (or in Castells terms the Network Society).
Trapped in the Digital Divide: The Distributive Paradigm in Community Informatics
Authors: Eubanks Virginia E.
Published: December 2020

This paper argues that over-reliance on a distributive paradigm in community informatics practice has restricted the scope of the high tech equity agenda. Drawing on five years of participatory action research with low-income women in upstate New York, I explore the ways in which distributive understandings of technology and inequality obscure the day-to-day interactions these women have with ICT and overlook their justified critical ambivalence towards technology. Finally, I offer unique insights and powerful strategies of resistance suggested by my research collaborators in a drawing exercise intended to elicit alternative articulations of digital equity. If we begin from their points of view, the problems and solutions that can and should be entertained in our scholarship and practice look quite different.
The concept of community and the character of networks
Authors: Arnold Michael V
Published: December 2020

Many case studies have examined Community Networks and we have at hand a good many rich and well grounded accounts of local experiences and outcomes as they have been observed in local circumstances. This sort of detailed, highly contextualized empirical work is essential to an understanding of contingent phenomena such as the performance of a Community Network. What we also need though, are theoretical approaches that are abstract enough to interpret the character and performance of differently situated Community Networks. The concept of community, the character of networks, and the implications of marrying the two, need to be teased out.

To this end, I suggest that Community Networks be understood analytically as amodern hybrids that derive their ontological characteristics from a conflation of binaries. From this analytic perspective the Community Network is seen to be a sociotechnical assemblage that hybridizes the social and the technical, and not a set of technologies brought to bear on the social. The innovative feature of this particular form of sociotechnical assemblage, from an analytic point of view, is that it brings together community and network as both ontological concepts and as empirically observable phenomenon.

The characterization of the assemblage as a community but also as a network is thus critiqued, and the differences between these two abstractions are explored, and it is further argued that the contrary ontology of the assemblage manifest structures that are at once heterarchic, and hierarchic.
Q: Where is the Wealth of Nations? A: In Communities.
Authors: Gurstein Michael
Published: December 2020

Q: Where is the Wealth of Nations? A: In Communities
A Comment Prompted by Andy Williamson's “A Review of New Zealand's Digital Strategy”
Authors: Graham Garth
Published: December 2020

A Comment Prompted by Andy Williamson's “A Review of New Zealand's Digital Strategy”
Overnight Internet Browsing Among Cyber Café users in Abraka, Nigeria
Authors: Adomi Esharenana E.
Published: December 2020

This paper is a survey of overnight browsing service use in cyber cafés located in Abraka, Nigeria. Data were collected by means of questionnaire from 61 clients who were in 5 cyber cafés to make use of the overnight Internet access service, while frequency counts and percentages were used to analyze the data. It was revealed that a majority of the users (59%) were males, the age range of 21-25 ranked first (50%) as users of the service with students as the major users. It was also discovered that 60.7% of the respondents use the overnight Internet service to enable them have enough time to explore the services and resources of the Net; computers/internet response ranked first as a factor which determine the cyber café used for the service, 68.8% of them seek information to supplement their course work during the overnight service but sleep is a constraint faced by most of the clients followed by inability to open some sites/web pages. It is recommended that cost of internet access be reduced to NGN30.00 per hour to encourage cyber café users to use the internet for long duration during the day and individuals/organizations should archive their documents/files to prevent site disappearance.
Surveys of the use of information and communications technologies by community-based organisations
Authors: Denison Tom , Johanson Graeme
Published: December 2020

Abstract This paper aims to fill an international gap in knowledge about the adoption of information and communication technologies by third sector organisations. In Australia, the United Kingdom, USA, and Canada, such research that exists into the usefulness of the spread of ICT into community-based organizations, is limited in its coverage and by its tendency to rely on a management approach to analysis. This paper summarizes findings of all of the identifiable surveys, compares their findings, and proposes the use of Social Network Theory as a more useful lens through which to analyse current developments.
Internet Cafés in Asia and Africa  Venues for Education and Learning?
Authors: Furuholt Bjørn , Kristiansen Stein
Published: December 2020

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the use of Internet cafés in two developing countries; Indonesia and Tanzania. The research is based on surveys of about 500 respondents in the two countries, supported by in-depth interviews. The findings show that Internet cafés are used for competence development today, and that they have the potential to be suitable arenas for human resource development for a wide range of users. For the users, access speed and price are important obstacles to increased use. More research is needed to see how Internet cafés can attract new user-groups to help reduce the digital divide within a developing country.
Editorial: Community Informatics with a Latin American Accent
Authors: Gurstein Michael
Published: December 2020

Editorial: Community Informatics with a Latin American Accent
El rol de las TIC en la educacion: Experencia del programa escolar de monitoreo ambiemental de la subcuenca del Cotahuasi, Perú
Authors: Caceres Luis
Published: December 2020

La artículo describe la experiencia de la implementación del programa de monitoreo ambiental, sus logros y limitaciones, las lecciones aprendidas y los retos. Se centra en el proceso asumiendo el uso de las TIC como parte de este y por lo tanto, entendiéndolas como un medio y no un fin dentro del proceso educativo, en este caso particular, orientado al fortalecimiento de la relación escuela-comunidad como parte de una estrategia de desarrollo local sostenible dentro de un espacio representativo de alta montaña como la Subcuenca del Cotahuasi.
Telecentros comunitarios: un espacio para la participación y formación ciudadana. La experiencia de Manizales, Colombia
Authors: Vallejo Montoya Eugenia
Published: December 2020

Los Telecentros en la ciudad de Manizales, Colombia, fueron una iniciativa del gobierno local y se integraron a los planes de desarrollo constituyéndose en un proyecto que contribuía a los propósitos  locales para hacer de la ciudad una sociedad del conocimiento; este reto ha convocado a los alcaldes de diferentes vigencias a dar continuidad a la articulación de las tecnologías de la información y comunicación a los procesos de desarrollo social de Manizales.
Innovations in Microfinance technologies
Authors: Gagnon Gisèle
Published: December 2020

An experience to implement PDA technology has been done in Mali, in 2003-2005, to modernize banking operations for a microfinance institution (MFI). This project gave the occasion to experiment the mobile technology, but also the possibility for the poor population to have access to financial services, even if they are far from a large city (rural sector). The low cost of this approach, the facility to use it for the MFI employees, were the main reasons to choose the PDA technology in a limited environment. And it was a success...
Some Thoughts on ICT in a Developing World Context
Authors: Gurstein Michael
Published: December 2020

Some Thoughts on ICT in a Developing World Context
Some perspectives on understanding the adoption and implementation of ICT interventions in developing countries
Authors: Ashraf Md. Mahfuz , Swatman Paul , Hanisch Dr. Jo
Published: December 2020

Research in the multi-disciplinary domain of ICT and Development indicates there is potential for information and communication technologies (ICT) to contribute to a nation’s socio-economic, socio-technical and socio-cultural development. With this in mind, developing countries have been rushing to implement ambitious ICT projects in rural areas through the direct/indirect supervision of institutions such as the World Bank, the United Nations (UN) and other donor/local agencies. These interventions aim to provide positive developmental impacts on people’s lives at an individual, group or community level. Interestingly, the main focus of the interventions has been on the implementation of ICT projects themselves, rather than on understanding their impacts at the recipient or community level; and such lack of understanding has led to many failures of ICT projects as reported. This paper highlights some important perspectives on research into ICT and Development while understanding the intentions behind the adoption and implementation of ICT interventions in developing countries. We propose a framework to encourage further investigation into ICT-led development projects which explicitly acknowledges the perspectives of: (i) the funding bodies, (ii) the organisations responsible for undertaking the intervention, and (iii) the to-be-affected community/ies, both dynamically and in context.
Introduction to the Special Issue: Wireless Networking for Communities, Citizens and the Public Interest
Authors: Powell Alison , Meinrath Sascha D.
Published: December 2020

Introduction to the Special Issue: Wireless Networking for Communities, Citizens and the Public Interest
Towards Place-peer community and civic bandwidth: a case study in community wireless networking
Authors: Cho Hanna Hye-Na
Published: December 2020

This article presents findings from an ethnographic case study of one urban Community Wireless Networking (CWN) group, Wireless Toronto.  A key purpose of the study was to understand, "what do CWNs have to do with “community”?"  Diverse notions of community were found to be central parts of volunteers' discourse, especially when trying to understand their overall rationale for provisioning free (public) wi-fi.  To this end, the article offers a conceptual framework comprised of ideas related to social capital, community networks, community informatics, and (socially constructed) visions of technology.   In all, the study argues that the social impact of CWNs is both practical and symbolic-ideological.
Setting Long Distance WiFi Records: Proofing Solutions for Rural Connectivity
Authors: Pietrosemoli Ermanno
Published: December 2020

802.11 WiFi technology is commonly used for creating wireless networks with a range of about one hundred meters. With careful planning and proper antennas, this same equipment can be used to make point-to-multipoint links of tens of kilometers and point-to-point links of hundreds of kilometers. This paper presents some experiments at distances of up to 382 kilometer  that were performed in Venezuela from April 206 to July 2007, as well as an affordable instrument setup for long distance antenna alignment.
Saving Toronto Hydro Telecom's One Zone project from itself: alternative models for urban public wireless infrastructure
Authors: Clement Andrew , Potter Amelia
Published: December 2020

This field note examines the development of a major municipal Wi-Fi service and how its private-sector financial and governance model has reduced its potential benefit to the public.  It discusses the case of Toronto Hydro Telecom, a publicly owned corporation, and its One Zone WiFi project, which appears to be faltering despite initial optimism and technical success. Had the company chosen to pursue a more publicly oriented model, rather than a commercial competitor approach, it could be using the same technologies and publicly-owned assets but yielding much greater financial and social benefits in the long term.  In this regard Toronto Hydro Telecom can serve as a cautionary tale that encourages other municipal governments with similar assets to take a different route.
Life after Connectivity: the Impact of the Community Mesh Network in Mahavilachchiya, Sri Lanka’s E-village
Authors: Bhagat Alisha
Published: December 2020

This paper examines the impact of a community wireless mesh network established in the village of Mahavilachchiya, Sri Lanka. The “e-village” in Mahavilachchiya, created through a partnership between government agencies and a local NGO, features Sri Lanka’s first wireless mesh network and has been operational since October, 2006.  This paper incorporates data collected from the government run ICT agency and partner organizations, as well as observations of daily Internet use in Mahavilachchiya. Additionally, a survey on Internet use was administered to 35 students in Mahavilachchiya. The current reach of ICT in the village is examined and recommendations are made for the implementation of future e-villages.