Papers & Presentations
Community-Intitiated Technology as a Regional Organizing Tool
Barbara Peschiera, Executive Director, Columbia Foundation/ Columbia Technology Center, St. Helens, Oregon, USA
Introduction:
Columbia Foundation is a non-profit formed in a rural Oregon county in 1995 with a mission to "Create and nurture an environment which values life-long learning and building community relationships."
The Foundation formed a public/private partnership with the city of St. Helens, conducted a $2 million capital campaign to build a center where a public library and community telecenter are co-located. The center opened in May 1996. The Foundation entered the telecommunications arena because it viewed technology as a community-building tool, because the rural community had no local dial-up access to the Internet through the private sector, and because computer training and access were lacking locally.
The mission of Columbia Technology Center is "To provide our community with a window to a wider world by enabling learning opportunities within an ever-changing environment."
The collaborative process used to create the goals of the project, to identify community needs, to raise the funds, manage construction and operate the technology center involved hundreds of residents and volunteers.
Presentation Outline:
I. Access to technology is becoming an essential tool for functioning in community: Examples focus on participating in democracy, accessing education, conducting business and improving communication.
II. Technology provides access to Constitutionally guaranteed rights: Citing provisions in the US constitution, Bill of Rights, Constitutional amendments and the Civil Rights Act.
III. Community networks augment traditional hubs of leadership, education, gathering, government information and education: Citing the impact our center has had on library usage, participation in public dialogue, distance education, local businesses, youth, seniors and delivery of public services.
Community leadership is critical: Columbia Foundation is now viewed as a collaborative, innovative and neutral convenor by many non-telecommunication sectors (economic development, health care, education, other non-profits). The presence of Columbia Foundation is important because community access does not guarantee community capacity.
V. Community networks are a catalyst for public policy: Now viewed as the model for community telecenters in Oregon, Columbia Foundation is now involved in shaping telecommunications policy, funding, implementation and legislation. The community-initiated model is heretical to traditional state government models for delivering services, but is also more responsive, flexible and successful than top-down attempts to "aggregate demand."