Eight ICT* Innovations that Promote New Ways of Working

US community networker Terry Grunwald identifies how information and communication technologies (*ICTs) can make a real difference in our communities.

In all the focus on the Digital Divide and access for disadvantaged populations, we have "missed" what I believe is the most critical benefit of new technologies for our communities — the new ways of working that the online world makes possible. Community Networking — properly understood addresses both the Digital Divide issues and the new participatory potential of the Net. Here are some of the innovations that have changed, are changing our world.

1 Many-to-many communication -- a truly revolutionary concept that has never before been available to human society

2 Everyone an information consumer; everyone (potentially) an information publisher -- the billboard (web page) of a grassroots organization is the same size as the billboard (web page) of Bank of America or Walmart

3 The Internet (and its many applications) -- distinguished by the economic anomaly that the more people who have it, the more valuable it becomes for everyone

4 A new meritocracy — that clearly reveals who freely shares useful information and experience (and who doesn’t)

5 Online tools that support openness, broad-based participation, "bottom-up" feedback, and collaboration — the challenge, of course, is in applying them in the real-world

6 A fast-changing environment that rewards adaptability, agility, practicality, and innovation — which is difficult for communities within the current funding environment in which they must operate

7 The ability to sustain, broaden, and enrich relationships -- in between face-to-face meetings, on a cross-sector and cross-issue basis, through engagement with new points of view

8 A hyperlinked information and communication structure -- that allows us to "slice and dice" ourselves up into a multiplicity of identities and find commonalities with others. These commonalities are important for both local communities and communities of interest — and allow them to complement one another

Needed: national policies to build on these innovations…

How can government and foundation initiatives promote and support these new ways of working– cross-sector and cross-issue partnerships, inclusiveness, open decision-making, and "bottom-up" thinking? This is the most exciting vision of Community Networking and it needs to be reflected in new national policy initiatives around ICT.

* Information and Communication Technologies. A term widely used in the UK and Europe, but which unfortnately has not yet been embraced in the US (which still employs the business term "IT"). It’s important not to forget the "Communication" bit.