Abstract
The gap between those who understand the complexities of community requirements and the information technologists who can build the technologies represents a central focus of concern with Community Informatics (CI) research. This paper explores how different assumptions about the utility of information during this innovation process leads to poor communication between researchers and practitioners. Braman’s four-part hierarchy is a useful vehicle to investigate this as she seeks to include a range of actors such as policy makers, technologists and community members. A number of case study examples are explored to illustrate the value of Braman’s work for CI.
An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/11915034_125.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lamberton, D.M. (ed.): The Economics of Communication and Information. Edward Elgar Publishing Company, Cheltenham (1996)
Braman, S.: Defining information. Telecommunications Policy 13(3), 233–242 (1989)
Given, J., Goggin, G.: Choosing Telecommunications? Consumers in a Liberalised Privatised Telecommunications Sector. Media International Australia 96, 1–134 (2000)
Shearman, C.: Strategies for reconnecting communities: creative use of ICTs for social and economic transformation. In: Marshall, S., Wallace, T., Yu, X. (eds.) Closing the digital divide: transforming regional economies and communities with information technology, pp. 13–26. Praeger, Westport (2003)
Milward-Oliver, G.: Maitland+20: Fixing the Missing Link. The Anima Centre, Bradford-on-Avon (2005)
Gurstein, M.: Effective use: A community informatics strategy beyond the digital divide. First Monday 8(12) (2003), available on http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue8_12/gurstein
Bijker, W.: Sociohistorical technology studies. In: Jasonoff, S., Markle, G., Peterson, J., Pinch, T. (eds.) Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, pp. 229–256. SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks (1995)
James, J.: Information Technology and Development: a New Paradigm for Delivering the Internet to Rural Areas in Developing Countries. Routledge, London (2004)
Rosenberg, N.: Economic development and technology transfer. Technology and Culture 11(4), 550–575 (1970)
Hill, S.: The Tragedy of Technology: Human Liberation Versus Domination in the Late Twentieth Century. Pluto Press, London (1988)
Macdonald, S.: Technology beyond machines. In: Macdonald, S., Lamberton, D., Mandeville, T. (eds.) The trouble with technology, pp. 26–36. Francis Pinter, London (1983)
Arrow, K.: Economic welfare and the allocation of resources for invention. In: Nelson, E. (ed.) The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity: Economic and Social Factors, The Universities-National Bureau Committee for Economic Research, pp. 609–626. Arno Press, New York (1962)
Machlup, F., Mansfield, U. (eds.): The Study of information: interdisciplinary messages. Wiley, New York (1983)
NSW Department of Commerce: Joint Commonwealth and New South Wales Community Technology Program: Final Project Report. NSW Department of Commerce, Sydney (2004)
Geiselhart, K.: The electronic canary: sustainability solutions for Australian teleservice centres. Community Teleservices Inc. A report commissioned by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Australian Government, Wangaratta (2004)
Simpson, L., Daws, L., Pini, B.: Public internet access revisited. Telecommunications Policy 28, 323–337 (2004)
Chand, A., Leeming, D., Stork, E., Agasi, A., Biliki, R.: The impact of ICT on rural development in the Solomon Islands: the PFNet case. University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji (2005)
Lamberton, D.M.: The Information Economy revisited. In: Babe, R. (ed.) Information and Communication in Economics, pp. 1–33. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht (1994)
Slater, D., Tacchi, J.: Research: ICT Innovations for Poverty Reduction. UNESCO (Asia Pacific Regional Bureau for Communication and Information), Delhi (2004)
Mattoo, A., Mishra, D., Shingal, A.: Sustaining India’s services revolution: access to foreign markets, domestic reform and International negotiations. The World Bank, New Delhi (2004)
Srinivasan, A., Awasthi, P.: Building a knowledge society: the role of the informal sector. In: ICEG 2003 - Internation Conference on E-Governance, India Institue of Technology, New Delhi (2003)
Simpson, L.: Community Informatics and sustainability: why social capital matters. The Journal of Community Informatics 1(2), 79–96 (2005)
Seward, R.: Radio Happy Isles: Media and Politics at Play in the Pacific. University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu (1999)
Molnar, H.: Communication technology: in whose interests? In: Marjoram, A. (ed.) Island Technology: Technology for Development in the South Pacific, pp. 104–117. Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd., London (1994)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Tibben, W. (2006). Communications Breakdown: Revisiting the Question of Information and Its Significance for Community Informatics Projects. In: Meersman, R., Tari, Z., Herrero, P. (eds) On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2006: OTM 2006 Workshops. OTM 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4277. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11915034_39
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11915034_39
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-48269-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48272-7
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)