Visions, Participation and Engagement in New Community Information Infrastructures

Abstract

Through the past seven years, our research group has engaged in a participatory action research collaboration with a variety of community partners to explore understandings, possibilities, and commitments for a new community networking infrastructure in State College, Pennsylvania. This paper describes a case study of multifaceted information technology infrastructures, and of collaborating with the plethora of actors and institutions that are stakeholders in such infrastructures. Information technology projects increasingly depend upon the commitment and energies of a great diversity of stakeholders. Understanding better how such broad projects move forward is critical to society.