Rich digital collaborations in a small rural community

In this chapter we describe experience in the design and installation of a low-cost multi-touch table in a rural island community. We will discuss the creation of the table including: pragmatic challenges of installation, and then re-installation as the physical fabric of the multi-purpose building (café, cinema, meeting area and cattle market) altered; technical challenges of using off-the-shelf components to create state-of-the art multi-touch interactions and tactile BYOD (bring your own device) end-user programming; design challenges of creating high-production value bespoke mountings and furniture using digital fabrication in an environment that could include sewing needles, ketchup laden sandwiches and cow manure. The resulting installation has been used in semi-in-the-wild studies of bespoke applications, leading to understandings of the way small communities could use advanced interactions. More broadly this sits within a context of related studies of information technology in rural developments and a desire to understand how communities can become users of the rich streams of open data now available, and, perhaps more important, offer ways in which small communities can become empowered through the creation and control of their own data

What's Going on in Community Media

What's Going On in Community Media shines a spotlight on media practices that increase citizen participation in media production, governance, and policy. The report summarizes the findings of a nationwide scan of effective and emerging community media practices conducted by the Benton Foundation in collaboration with the Community Media and Technology Program of the University of Massachusetts, Boston. The scan includes an analysis of trends and emerging practices; comparative research; an online survey of community media practitioners; one-on-one interviews with practitioners, funders and policy makers; and the information gleaned from a series of roundtable discussions with community media practitioners in Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Portland, Oregon

Leveraging Change: Increasing Access to Arts Education in Rural Areas

In 2015, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) received funding in the first round of collective impact grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to launch the pilot initiative, Leveraging Change: Improving Access to Arts Education in Rural Areas. The authors conducted research which included a literature review and interviews with arts education leaders in rural areas. Using the research compiled through this process, a pilot convening was held in western Massachusetts' Berkshire County to activate ideas, stimulate the exchange of information, and generate cross-sector collaboration focused on strengthening support for arts education in the region. This working paper is a summary of the research results and insights gleaned from this pilot initiative

New Hampshire University Research and Industry Plan: A Roadmap for Collaboration and Innovation

This University Research and Industry plan for New Hampshire is focused on accelerating innovation-led development in the state by partnering academia’s strengths with the state’s substantial base of existing and emerging advanced industries. These advanced industries are defined by their deep investment and connections to research and development and the high-quality jobs they generate across production, new product development and administrative positions involving skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)

The impact of local ICT initiatives on social capital and quality of life

This paper reviews the evidence for the effects of local ICT initiatives (‘community networks’) on neighbourhood social capital and quality of life and has been developed from the public SOCQUIT D11 report (Anderson et al, 2006)

Social Justice Documentary: Designing for Impact

Explores current methodologies for assessing social issue documentary films by combining strategic design and evaluation of multiplatform outreach and impact, including documentaries' role in network- and field-building. Includes six case studies

Research on WASH sector, environment and water resources in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Aggravated Fragmentation: Resistant SMEs in the Heritage Tourism Industry

Heritage tourism requires contributions from both public and private sector organisations. Aspects of the tourism product are provided by a range of government bodies resulting in a multi-sector approach to heritage tourism (Panyik 2011). This provision is dictated largely by strategic plans which are made at government level, with the intention that these will then be implemented in conjunction with the private sector. This can lead to fragmentation, a well-documented phenomenon in the industry, which is attributed to its unique structure (Gilmore 2003; Bornhorst et al 2010; Komppula 2014), requiring purposeful coordination and integration between stakeholders, which is a challenging task (Wray 2011). This research presents findings and theoretical insights from an investigation of strategic marketing planning practice of tourism organisations in Northern Ireland. Specifically, the research detected that SMEs operating in the region did so in contention with the strategic framework provided by government, given distain for the overall strategic system in place. Their activity appeared to mirror consumer resistance behaviour, from a B2B perspective. Subsequently, the specific aim of this paper is to conceptualise the SME as a business consumer within the tourism industry infrastructure, identify the extent of business consumer resistance and, uncover outcomes of such behaviour