Should communal computing facilities cohabit with public facilities?

Abstract

Reasons for establishing communal computing facilities (CCF) in existing public facilities vary from lower setup and operating costs, to easy access for intended users. We explore how CCFs operate in existing public facilities and the effects of these environments on the operations and usage of CCFs. Informed by findings of studies on CCFs in disadvantaged communities, this paper notes a number of merits and demerits of setting CCFs in existing public facilities. We note that hosting institutions may contribute towards achieving CCFs critical success factors. On the negative side, hosting institutions may limit the type of users for CCFs.