Critical Questions for Community Informatics in Practice

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

Digital Inclusion as a Core Component of Social Inclusion

There is a large body of research that has examined digital inequities, inequalities, and divides—i.e., those countries, communities, and individuals digitally left behind or disadvantaged. Whereas we know quite a lot about what is lacking and for whom, there is less focus on what works to alleviate these inequalities and divides in a variety of cultural contexts. This thematic issue brings together scholarship on digital inclusion initiatives and research from over 20 countries and in the context of numerous aspects, including different types of initiatives as well as different types of target audiences for these initiatives. Each article provides unique insights into what does and does not work in various communities, making recommendations on what could be done to improve the examined initiatives. We hope that the breadth and depth of articles presented here will be useful not just for academic audiences seeking to broaden their understanding of digital inclusion and ‘what can be done’ rather than focusing on ‘what is amiss,’ but also for policymakers and digital inclusion initiatives who are eager to expand and advance their digital inclusion work within their communities

The Social Shaping of Cloud Computing: An Ethnography of Infrastructure in East St. Louis, Illinois

77th Association for Information Science and Technology Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, October 31 - November 5, 2014This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study of cloud computing in a human services organization in East St. Louis, Illinois. Previous social informatics studies have focused on the impact of computerization on urban welfare organizations. This research instead uses a “social shaping of technology” perspective to investigate the ways in which broader social, political, and economic forces shape cloud computerization and its consequences within a nonprofit organization that administers government-funded social welfare programs. The findings illustrate how the infrastructural tensions between external stakeholder demands and internal organizational needs significantly influenced a software as a service implementation project. In presenting this infrastructural analysis, I seek to fill a gap in the literature on the social shaping of cloud computing and its consequences in U.S. industrial suburbs, such as East St. Louis, where high rates of poverty exist.YesRefereed Conference Presentatio

Community Informatics Studio: A Conceptual Framework

This paper extends the theoretical framework underlying the Community Informatics (CI) Studio. The CI Studio has been described as the use of studio-based learning (SBL) techniques to support enculturation into the field of CI. The SBL approach, closely related to John Dewey’s inquiry-based learning, is rooted in the apprenticeship model of learning in which students study with master designers or artists to develop their craft. In this paper, we introduce our critical interpretive sociotechnical (CIS) framework as the conceptual framework underlying the CI Studio course and pedagogy. In doing so, we explain how the CI Studio can be understood a pathway for advancing community-defined social justice goals through critical pedagogy and participatory design techniques. We describe our embrace of both critical and interpretive perspectives as the foundation upon which the CI Studio supports the following ideas: Instructors, students, and community partners can collaborate as co-learners and co-creators of knowledge exploring current topics in community informatics; theory and praxis can be brought together in dialog to ground transformative, liberative action and reflection in community spaces; and multiple perspectives can be embraced to promote a culture of epistemological pluralism. We conclude by providing a set of principles that summarize our CIS approach, particularly for those who wish to use and further develop the CI Studio pedagogy in their own research, teaching, and practice.YesRefereed Conference Proceedin

The Social Shaping of Cloud Computing: An Ethnography of Infrastructure in East St. Louis, Illinois

ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study of cloud computing in a human services organization in East St. Louis, Illinois. Previous social informatics studies have focused on the impact of computerization on urban welfare organizations. This research instead uses a "social shaping of technology" perspective to investigate the ways in which broader social, political, and economic forces shape cloud computerization and its consequences within a nonprofit organization that administers government-funded social welfare programs. The findings illustrate how the infrastructural tensions between external stakeholder demands and internal organizational needs significantly influenced a cloud computing software implementation project. In presenting this infrastructural analysis, I seek to fill a gap in the literature on the social shaping of cloud computing and its consequences in U.S. industrial suburbs, such as East St. Louis, where high rates of poverty exist