Summer-Fall 2001

The Lowell Telecommunications Corporation (LTC) has watched the developments of community technology centers (CTC) in Atlanta with great interest: first, because some of the players involved in Atlanta have roots in the Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) access movement; second, because resources traditionally used by PEG access centers (channel bandwidth and cable TV franchise fees) were used instead for CTCs; and third, because the Atlanta Community Technology Initiative and Family Technology Resource Centers hold the promise of being outstanding models of Bridging the Digital Divide.

The LTC believes that PEG access centers are uniquely positioned within local communities to provide the leadership and vision for expanding access to training and technical resources in the context of Bridging the Digital Divide. PEG access centers have historically provided the training and the tools for individual self expression as well as socially relevant content to be produced by individuals and organizations. PEG access goes further by distributing this content on local cable TV channels.

This framework, of providing access to the means of production and distribution of content, can easily be applied to computer-based resources which are just now emerging in many of our communities. CTCs offer training in basic office applications which often leads to desk top publishing and the production of newsletters and flyers; basic Internet training begins with getting an email account and often leads to participating in discussion groups; learning to surf the web evolves into producing websites; downloading graphics, audio or video clips compels many to begin producing multi-media. In short, we see many people come to computer labs as content consumers but quickly learn that they can become content producers.

On this basis, there is substantial potential for partnership among CTCs and PEG centers. Studying the articles in this issue of Community Technology Review reveals just how much we have to gain by collaborating. We can share the human, technical and financial resources to sustain our efforts, including instructors, curriculum, equipment and bandwidth. Rather than competing for franchise fees and grant funding, we can work together to achieve common goals. The leadership for such collaborative efforts is just now emerging in both CTC and PEG access organizations, which holds great promise for building and sustaining a national movement committed to building community through technology.