The Community Technology Toolbox Grows into a Garage: How to Tune-up your Strategy
by Terry Grunwald and David Wilcox
As the Community Technology (CT) movement mushrooms, the small toolbox
of models once known simply as community access networks, community
technology centers, community web sites, and training classes has grown
exponentially.
The little toolbox has now grown into a rather messy and poorly
organized garage. Let's take a peek.
Over here we see some valuable tools that do very similar things but
seem to have different labels like CTCs, 21st Century learning centers,
Neighborhood Networks centers, media centers, etc. That’s
confusing. Over there we find a collection of training curricula
tools but with specialized attachments for youth, women, seniors,
immigrants, job seekers, etc. At intervals we see these tall cabinets
with labels such as schools, colleges, business, government agencies
(perhaps we should call them silos) that contain an excellent array of
useful implements, but what’s this? … most of these cabinets seem to be
locked. Still, there are lots of gems here: a mobile lab, a set
of wireless solutions, a nifty little computer-based family literacy
program. This garage just need some tidying up, a labeling
system, and some keys (lets call them incentives) to unlock those
silos. And you know, many of these tools don’t work too well for people
with disabilities. That needs to be fixed, too. But all in all, this
garage is chock full of treasures. For community leaders,
it’s hard to know where to start.
The choices are daunting—but also offer immense opportunities:
• to help community leaders think more strategically
• to promote wider participation and “buy-in” by
diverse and excluded populations
• to customize these tools to meet specialized local
needs and capitalize on local assets
• to promote more integrated strategies based on
partnerships and collaborations
Choosing and applying these tools presents a number of challenges as
well:
• Disempowerment. Savvy grassroots leaders often feel
uncomfortable around technology issues. Consequently they give up power
--to “boxes and wires” enthusiasts or economic developers pushing a
high tech corporate agenda.
• “The Candy Store Syndrome” Community leaders are
rarely aware of all the tools available. Therefore when they see
a high profile model they determine they want some of that “shiny
candy” – whether or not it makes sense for their own community.
• The “Silos”. In most communities
technology resources tend to cluster intra-institutionally around
discrete funding streams but may not be open to all citizens.
• No one is responsible for a 360 degree view. Because
institutional “silos” don’t publicize their resources no one is aware
of all the tools.
Need help? Here are six guidelines to improve community
decision-making around technology:
1. Survey your local CT garage. Know the resources
and tools that already exist or are planned for your local
community. See the checklist
of CT building blocks.
2. Map your CT Assets. Use GIS techniques to
create a visual display of access sites, computer labs, training
programs and other geographic based assets – whether or not they are
currently open to the public.
3. Empower citizens to select appropriate CT tools
based on local needs. Community support and “buy-in” to tech
initiatives evolve naturally with participation in early
decision-making. See <http://www.makingthenetwork.org/pgame/index.htm>
for games and simulations developed by colleagues David Wilcox and Drew
Mackie of Making the Net Work which help with this.
4. Find out what works – and what doesn’t. When
possible, buy the battle-scared pioneers a beer and probe for the
real-life problems that didn’t show up in the case studies.
5. Seek a balanced approach. Don’t make all
your CT investments in one section of the garage. Infrastructure
and hardware tend to be high-powered vacuums and suck up available
funding. Favor people as much as technology.
6. Participate in the CT networks. Stay current
with the latest tools through discussion lists, e-newsletters, web
casts, and conferences. Pay special attention to the
techno-realists that speak from solid experience and activate your
hype-antenna.
Selecting the right tool for the job is getting more and more complex,
as the choices continue to grow. Today a garage; tomorrow Home
Depot? But remember that Community Technology is ultimately
not about the technology and what it can do, but about the needs of
communities and the ways technology can be used strategically to meet
those needs.
Terry Grunwald a member of the international Making the Net Work collaborative, is a consultant in the strategic use of technology for communities and nonprofit organizations. For eight years, she served as the project director of NCexChange, the first statewide program in the U.S. designed to meet the networking needs of the nonprofit community.
David Wilcox is developing programs for centers and networks in the UK inspired by lessons from the US and informed by UK experience of community development and partnership building.
