perhaps of greatest significance from the perspective of Civil Society and of communities is the overall absence of measurement and thus inclusion in the economic accounting of the value of the contributions provided to, through and on the Internet of various voluntary and not-for-profit initiatives and activities
September 1, 2011
Among other things I’m involved in a variety of discussions in several venues on Civil Society and the Internet. This below is part of my contribution to one of those discussions and specifically on how to “measure the Internet economy” in this instance from a Civil Society perspective. One of the basic understandings of the… [Read more…]
July 19, 2011
What I find so positive about this is that the DoL is taking the issue of a potential Data Divide seriously and is devoting some of its development resources to responding by providing tools that those with more limited technical experience can use to design applications for using DoL data.
March 28, 2011
Michael Geist, a frequent commentator on Canadian telecom and Information and Communication Technology related policy issues, has provided a list of issues he would like to see addressed in Canada`s upcoming national election. On looking at his list, especially in light of what I consider to be the major (policy and other) deficiencies in Canada`s… [Read more…]
January 13, 2011
In an important article in the current issue of the Journal of Community Informatics , Hungarian Sociologists Csótó Mihály and Szilárd Molnár examine the development of the “Information Society” in Hungary from the perspective of those who are being left behind in its development and the impact that this is having on innovation and development in Hungary as whole. Their analysis and observations have relevance far beyond Hungary or even Europe and link quite directly into a similarly important newspaper article on the recurring Digital Divide among Afro-Americans and Hispanics in the US, by Jeffrey Washington of Associated Press and reprinted in USA Today and the Washington Post among other places.
August 2, 2010
Many (most) countries in the world have in the decade just passed, developed and at least partially implemented what may be called a “digital development strategy”. These strategies are based on a perception that the kind of economic activity that has resulted from the technical/digital development taking place in Silicon Valley and similar such locales particularly in the US is a necessary element of the economic development strategy for any/every country that wants to be competitive and thus prosperous at this time in economic history.
July 3, 2010
It would be great but perhaps unrealistic to expect that any of those with responsibility in the Canadian Digital Economy policy consultation reading my earlier blogpost on that subject. But perhaps one could hope that the folks on Parliament Hill might take a look at a report by the very highly regard publication and research… [Read more…]
June 28, 2010
The recognition that a digitally enabled and effective economy is founded on a digitally enabled and effective society seems somewhere to have been lost. Lost as well seem to be the recognition that the greatest skill in a digital economy as in any other economy or in society overall is the capacity to learn and that learning how to learn, a function of a broader and more humanistic education rather than a “skills oriented” one, is probably a more important and useful preparation for a digital future overall. Equally lost is an understanding that economic innovation is a subset of broader social innovation which in turn comes from a critical yet practical immersion in prevailing cultures and practices. The response then from a Community Informatics perspective to the questions posed by the Digital Economy Consultation would be as follows
March 18, 2010
If, as seems likely, the Harper government’s Digital Strategy is presented without any linkages or consideration of its relationship to CAP or the issues which CAP has been attempting to resolve then the victory of blinkered market ideology over commonsense in a digital era will be complete and Canada will slip ever further behind its allies and competitors in these most crucial areas.
September 25, 2011
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