Community Technology Centers:

Neither caution nor optimism should obscure the heterogeneity of telecommunications and information technology. Not all past applications of rural communication technologies have had the same effect on rural communities. The telephone and the telegraph provide an interesting contrast. The primary users of the telegraph were businesses and the press, and the invention contributed to the centralization of information. As a result, such things as news reports became more standardized, and local editors became less important. On the other hand, telephone service allowed local as well as long-distance communication, and large numbers of individuals used it. This actually reinforced the ability of rural people to maintain their local and regional communication (Bonnet 1993, 98). Just as the residential telephone created community networks where walking distance may have inhibited them before, so do some new telecommunications technologies have a similar promise.

Unfortunately, there has been little systematic study to date of the possible link between improved telecommunications and positive community development. Many of the grandest claims about the potential benefits of telecommunications and information technology for rural areas come from futurists, and there is plenty of room for critique of these claims. Many futurists see technology producing a golden age of decentralized communities where power and prosperity diffuse from cities out into the countryside. However, it is difficult to dismiss the possibility that greater linking of rural areas with cities will facilitate greater "remote control" of the former by the latter (Warf 1993, 16). A more attractive form of economic development is that which increases the skill level of existing residents.

There are also risks to rural economic development that attracts business because skilled employees, professionals or businesspeople desire to live in a rural setting. Information and communication technologies have the potential to aid in the exploitation of poorer rural populations by businesses and elite classes. This may occur as a higher paid-professional and managerial class moves into an exurban area, raising the cost of living beyond the means of the original population (Calabrese 1991, 117). These newcomers also have a social impact. Calabrese criticizes the statement by Parker et al., "Telecommunications can foster a sense of community," by stating that it fails to say anything about what newcomers and existing residents have in common (Calabrese 1991, 120). The colonization of rural areas by well-educated professionals and managers with leadership experience can cause the displacement of established rural residents from their places in the society of their own community (Calabrese 1991, 109-110).

Yet what is the alternative for rural areas, but to deal with the challenges of telecommunications? Parker et. al. state this point well:

Laying fiber optic cables across a desert will not make it green. But the absence of modern telecommunications services will block economic development at any oasis....
For rural America, modern information technologies are double-edged swords. The distance barriers are falling for both rural businesses and outside competitors....
Yet there is really little choice. Given the competitive realities, rural businesses must compete as best they can while learning how to seize new opportunities. Good telecommunications ensures a broader array of choices and opportunities (Calabrese 1991, 115-116). It is difficult to imagine that many rural areas would prosper by turning their back on innovations. It would be foolhardy for any rural community to not plan to deal with the issues of new technology; the rest of the world will not wait to deal with these issues on their own terms. The promise of the community technology center is that it may provide a place for rural communities to introduce more effective tools for processing information and communicating, and at the same time have more control over the way it is done.

Workers are not the only ones who may need to learn about technology. There are several barriers to the successful adoption of new information and communication technologies by small businesses in a rural location. They may be lacking in technological sophistication, and be unaware of how to use new technology. Being small, they also do not command volume discounts, and may not be able to get higher quality service at their location if it is not already available. These problems are exacerbated in rural areas where credit is scarce ((Parker et al. 1992, 16-17). While in many fields, the practitioners already have a working knowledge of necessary terms, this is not necessarily the case in the field of rural telecommunications planning.[1] Telecommunications and computers have undergone such explosive growth in recent years that many concepts are poorly understood by most who work outside of the computer and telecommunications industries. Two reasons that state and local development officials are often not involved in telecommunications planning are they do not know what services could be available, and they do not know how they could use those services (The Importance of Collaboration Collaboration and cooperation are important in the development of rural telecommunication and computing infrastructure and services. By their very nature, rural communities tend not to produce the economies of scale that make it less expensive to provide an advanced telecommunications infrastructure, powerful computers, and well-developed networks. In urban areas, single organizations such as large corporations, school systems, and city government can operate systems that are beyond the reach of any single entity in many a rural community. Therefore, an important part of developing telecommunications and computing in rural places is organizing people and organizations to work together, and to pool resources and demand (Allen, Johnson, and Leistritz 1993, 33). The Office of Technology Assessment lists the following advantages for geographically-defined networks of computers and telecommunications that link up a wide variety of users in a rural area:

• Economies of scale and scope;
• Strengthening of cooperation and community ties through sharing;
• Overcoming the limits of technological expertise in single organizations or locations;
• An improved ability to make communications providers more responsive to rural needs (U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment 1991, 85).

  Collaboration has many possible variations that depend on the situation of particular rural communities. Gil Gordon, a consultant who helps set up telecommuting programs for companies, envisions centers, especially in rural and suburban communities that combine telecommuting, business incubation, computer literacy training, and library access (Yovovich 1994, 16). One form of collaboration is for additional users to tap into the excess capacities or resources of a large local user (U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment 1991, 84).

  The advantages of rural communications and information technology collaboration may be becoming clearer to national policy makers, which may result in this form of planning and action being favored. Single use networks have developed a nickname in Washington, D. C.--"stovepipe" networks--and generally are less favored for assistance for funding programs. This is because such systems are more likely to duplicate the capabilities of similar systems recently funded. The cooperative effort is preferred (Cisler 1994, 11). If outside funders are accepting the value of multi-sector collaboration, on top of its other apparent advantages, then rural communities should seriously consider it.

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  Last updated July 22, 1995
  by Christopher J. Campbell

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