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Report
Networks and Community Compiled 008
NETWORKS AND COMMUNITY : January 16, 1994
Networks and Community is devoted to encouraging
LOCAL resource creation & GLOBAL resource sharing.
compiler : Sam Sternberg samsam@vm1.yorku.ca
This 2nd report of 1994 is a special edition
The regular edition will be posted tomorrow with the usual range
of reviews, resources and summaries.
------ WHY CREATE COMMUNITY NETWORKS? ---------
Vice President Gore's latest statement on the administration's
approach to the NII was made last Monday. Once again it failed to
specificly acknowledge the existence of community computing
systems. This Monday the first specific mention may appear in the
announcement of a proposal for development zones.
Since the writers of these speeches are aware of the
existence of CIVIC systems, they clearly don't understand their
importance. This special issue of the newsletter will focus on a
discussion of the costs and a review of the benefits of community
computing systems. The ideas expressed are those I have gathered
from a wide variety of documents, postings to listserves, and
personal experience.
Anyone interested in locating and reviewing the available
materials can get a guide to sources and an extensive annotated
bibliography of material about community based systems on request
from:
<samsam@vm1.yorku.ca>
This issue will cover the benefits to Governments, Businesses,
Social service groups, and individual citizens. The benefit to
individual citizens is the bottom line. Community computing
facilities allow individuals access to services and systems
without their having to "enroll"in a wide variety of specialized
networks. This brief exploration of the economic, cultural, and
political consequences of such systems is meant to encourage
debate and discussion.
I won't discuss the potential technology because what is
important is the way its used; and almost all of it is already
here; it just isn't cheap...yet.
WHY THE SOCIAL CONTEXT MATTERS
This year's Nobel prize in economics went to two American
scholars.
Most of media coverage of their work emphasised the fact that one
of these scholars "proved" that slavery was economically viable.
Those stories missed the primary importance of the work. For it
proves that the social environment defines and supports the
economic environment. In the context of the NII this means that
America's economic success; and in particular the ability to
share that success throughout society, is dependant on the nature
of the social environment that supports it.
As with all new ideas this one hasn't spread far yet. But its
meaning is simple. In mixed economies like the U.S. or Canada,
the role of the public in creating a healthy society and a viable
economy is not secondary - its primary. Public activities and
attitudes enable commerce and entrepreneurship.
Its very common to have a "good" business environment and a
defective social system. The current situation in Mexico is a
fine example.
The U.S. does not need to support community computing systems.
But, failing to do so will both damage its economic
competitiveness and help continue the growing deterioration of
its urban culture. Japan, recognizing the importance of universal
access, has already set 2015 as the date by which every one of
its homes will be connected.
Community based knowledge services are the best means to assist
the public in ENABLING efficient commerce and effective
government as a part of a vibrant and harmonious culture.
Community computing will not solve any of America's critical
problems. It will make all of them much easier and less expensive
to solve.
===================== ECONOMICS ====================
First I will give the economic argument very briefly and then
flesh this out below.
1 - government savings from electronic communication could be
substantial
2 - the amount saved varies directly with the rates of
participation in data type information flows. More participants =
more savings.
3 - the force most likely to generate the highest participation
rates is a civic network. Simple access to multiple services and
information resources provide the attraction that will bring in
users. The least cost access will bring the highest participation
rates.
Free access is needed for special populations.
With the highest possible rates of participation - 90% or over
The savings to government operations alone, would more than pay
all direct costs for building the civic computing system. Even
realistic estimates of current savings suggest that investing
only 12% of potential savings would fund the development nicely.
(numbers provided below)
4 - The benefits to government will be secondary to those
received by the governed. The primary benefits will be derived
from putting knowledge to work at the highest possible rate of
utilization. The multiplier effects of high participation in
information access and creation include:
A - higher small business survival rates
B - higher employment generation
C - improved education in traditional schools, at work and at
home.
D - improved health and welfare through better information access
and more efficient resource utilization.
E - overall social benefits will include reduced ecological
impacts, faster rates of dissemination of best practices,
faster rates of invention and operational practice improvement,
intensified business and labour competitiveness, and at the same
time enhanced social cooperation.
f - there will be substantial social costs, including the decline
of physical postal service, traditional publishing etc. But all
are well worth the price.
I believe that only civic networks can squeeze the maximum
benefits from this investment in global information technology.
They compliment and will encourage all specialty commercial and
non commercial networks.
THE NUMBERS
To use the United States as an example;
The current annual expenditure of all level of government exceeds
1.3 trillion dollars.
American studies estimate that 3 to 5 % of that amount is spent
communicating with the public. Being conservative, 3% amounts to
39 billion dollars per year.
Today perhaps 25% of households have computers and could
immediately participate in community computing systems if
motivated to do so. The potential participation rates for
businesses and institutions are much higher - they already are
near 100%. If half those household participated next year the
potential savings would be 5 billion dollars.
They can't participate because the systems aren't in place. There
are also very good reasons for not building a system overnight.
To take advantage of the learning curve with new systems; its
important to build the network over a period of several years.
Otherwise it will be difficult to absorb what is learned.
Still, investing - for example - half the potential current
annual savings each year - 2 billion for 1994, would rapidly
repay itself. While not every dollar currently being spent can be
saved; existing studies show that in most cases the amount saved
will exceed 50% of those current communication expenditures.
PUTTING KNOWLEDGE TO WORK
The key to all of this is making the best possible use of our
accumulated ( and rapidly growing ) cultural inheritance.
The easier it is for someone to find the information or
assistance they need precisely when they need it; the more
everyone benefits from sharing knowledge resources. Each use of a
piece of information will on average multiply the social benefit.
Synergy - the increased benefits of bringing separate ideas
and activities together - is in turn the reason why making as
many services and as much information as possible available from
a local community based source is so important.
The MULTIPLIER EFFECT will be at work. Economists use the phrase
to describe the effect of you spending money with someone else;
who in turn spends the money with others. Each transaction
spreads the impact. Information works the same way. Sharing it
does not make it disappear, it just improves someone else's
chance of using it productively.
THE MEANS TO BE INFORMED - PARTICIPATION RATES
Still, none of this will be realized fully unless everyone has
the means to be informed. Illiterates and those with limited
reading skills could benefit by the inclusion of single point
access to a combination of local phone based information lines
and national 800 numbers. Civic networks are appropriate
organizations to do this.
A combination of 4 factors will help make the participation rates
the highest possible. Each coming year will see increased
participation and benefits.
1 - several innovative low cost systems ( under $100 dollars
) for home based access to the Internet are about to come to
market. These can make the hardware costs affordable for almost
all households.
2 - many early users will act on behalf of those currently
without access to provide the benefits of access to them. This
kind of mutual assistance on the part of individuals is worth
encouraging.
3- proposed legislation and advancing technology will lower
the cost of network access. Hopefully low cost local lines will
also be encouraged by upcoming legislation.
4 - many organizations like libraries, business assistance
centers, community centers, and ethnic or cultural organizations
want to act as access points for those they serve who are
currently without personal access.
THOSE WITH THE GREATEST NEED HAVE THE LEAST ACCESS
The special needs of the poor, elderly, disabled and immigrants
can be met at the least possible cost by using the system of
civic networks to lower the expense of service provision. The
speed of service provision could go up. The quality should also
improve.
CONSUMER ORIENTATION
Meeting actual as opposed to perceived needs is important. Civic
nets are both community controlled and subject to constant
redesign by the community. A major problem in social service has
been disseminating information about successful programs. Such
dissemination occurs rapidly and naturally within the context of
civic networks.
QUALITY OF SERVICE - MOVING FROM INFORMATION TO ASSISTANCE
The presence of civic networks will encourage innovation and
improve present services. Most yellow pages list shelters today.
But they can't tell you if any spaces are available. An online
service makes it easy to coordinate all the shelters in a
community and allow a single inquiry to locate the available
resources. This example can be multiplied hundreds of times.
SOURCES OF INNOVATION & RATE OF INNOVATION
Most real innovation comes from small businesses and publicly
supported research facilities. The personal computer industry is
a perfect example. Many of the pioneers left major companies -
after asking to develop their ideas internally and being refused.
The sooner such groups have access to the nets the better. At
startup every penny counts. Providing new small business with
cheap access will only improve their survivability and increase
their contributions to both job creation and innovation. Once the
money starts coming in they will turn to higher quality
commercial services for their access.
SOURCES OF EMPLOYMENT
With most new employment coming out of the small business sector
and a significant amount of unemployment resulting from layoffs
at large corporations; its imperative to provide cheap access to
to the small business sector.
Electronic information is the main source of business
information; and much new information is only available
electronicly. Even more is available in print only at a later
date. But most small businesses currently make no use of such
sources because of the cost and difficulty of obtaining access.
With the volume of knowledge doubling every decade its vital to
the health of the business sector for all participants to have
access to electronic information sources.
Communets will play a major role in enabling a dynamic
private sector by making available publicly subsidized resources
for entrepreneurial activity. The U.S. government is displaying
global leadership is providing Internet access to publicly funded
data collections. Civic nets can also provide access points to
commercial data bases.
COST OF CITIZEN - GOVERNMENT INTERACTION
There will be a great deal of waste and duplication of resources
and facilities if every government department and level of
government sets out to build its own access facilities and
networks. This fact is already driving a great deal of the growth
of the Federal Government's Internet activities. The same is true
for all other institutions and organizations. The least cost will
be incurred when all resources are accessible from a single set
of locations.
SIMPLIFYING ACCESS - ONE PLACE TO LOOK
In the absence of a concerted effort to build a system of
community based NII access facilities, There will inevitably be
enormous waste. Special networks are needed for education and
health and other users. But such networks will themselves benefit
from higher usage if there is a general public acceptance and use
of community networks. Giving everyone one place to look is the
simplest way of expressing the diminished importance of location
that results from network access.
THE RISE OF THE VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION - DISAPPEARING BOUNDARIES
Community based networks are a significant change in the process
of human cultural development. They will be recognized as being
at least as important as the introduction of printing.
They permit the creation of virtual organizations. These flexible
new forms of organization are characterized by the ease with
which intellectual resources from any source can be brought to
bear on any problem. The first evidence of the power of such
virtual organizations can be seen in the extraordinarily rapid
development and deployment of the public domain networking tools
which characterize the Internet.
MAKING THE GLOBAL, LOCAL
Anyone participating in the a local community network,
potentially has the ability to engage any and all other users of
interconnected systems in some shared interest.
MAKING THE LOCAL, GLOBAL
And anyone outside of a community can tap the resources of that
community from any other connected site on the globe.
Every business or organization on the Internet is automaticly a
multinational business, and at the same time a local business in
every community with a connection to the Internet. And every
individual is also citizen of the globe in a very direct way.
PUBLIC - PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
While I have made an argument for public support of community
computing; its just as important to have support from the
business community. A non commercial system of community networks
is the best support a system of commercial networks can have. It
teaches people the benefits of network access. It simplifies
their communication with businesses and thereby lowers the cost
of doing business. It trains people in the skills needed to
utilize electronic media. And it opens the globe to every
business.
Sophisticated services will benefit from having civic nets carry
the burden of introducing the public to the world of global
electronic communication and services. People who have a strong
need for such services will turn to commercial vendors for
superior service and improved access. Supporting civic nets is
the cheapest way business can support the development of a market
for more sophisticated services.
PUBLIC - PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS
Both governmental and non governmental institutions must be
encouraged to participate. The so called third sector of non
profit organizations constantly suffers from a lack of resources
even as it exhibits enormous duplication of services. Access to
community networks will help resolve some of those problems.
DISTRIBUTED PRODUCTION OF GOODS, SERVICES, AND KNOWLEDGE
Manufacturers already recognize that few products today can be
made entirely from components made locally. The same is becoming
true of services and knowledge. Non local information resources
help create efficient and productive local services.
DISTRIBUTED UTILIZATION OF GOODS, SERVICES AND KNOWLEDGE
Outstanding local services can rapidly grow to serve locations
around the globe. Either directly, through franchising, or by
imitation. Improvements made anywhere can be shared and have
local impacts.
INCREASING THE RATE OF PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
All of this has feedback effects. The more local-global
interaction; the faster systems evolve and the sooner
unneccessary resource usage declines.
PARTICIPATION RATES
Participation rates really are the key to all of this.
PARTICIPATION IN INFORMATION CREATION
Good ideas can come from anywhere. Mclelland Iowa is the home of
Schola, the planet's most sophisticated global satellite based
educational project.
PARTICIPATION IN INFORMATION USE
Schola is already having an impact in Russia and China, while at
the same time, its using Russian and Chinese resource to improve
language studies across the U.S. and around the world.
VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION
>From a social perspective, the most wonderful aspect of civic
networks is their ability to encourage voluntary participation in
projects that benefit others.
PARTICIPATION IN POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND GOVERNANCE
In the long run each of us will benefit substantially from the
ability of improvements in governance to be shared. And in our
own increased ability to participate in the regulatory and
legislative decision making which affects us.
DO WE REALLY NEED A NEW SET OF INSTITUTIONS
The question still remains. Why do we need to create a separate
system of organizations to do this. Why can't the schools or the
libraries do the job.
For the same reasons public libraries evolved as an institutional
system separate from schools.
First, fundamentally different organizations need different means
of administration and operation.
Second, organizational conflicts of purpose and turf protection
will negatively impact the development of civic networks if they
are simply given to an existing institutional group to run.
An example of the kind of resistance to change that can be
expected from any existing institution follows.
This is from Publisher's Weekly - January 3 1994
BOOKS WHILE U WAIT by Paul hilts, John Mutter, & Sally Taylor
The article describes current instances of in-store on demand
publishing. It then goes on to speculate.
"Imagine what would happen if all bookstores converted to on
demand ,..Printing plants wouldn't be necessary. Wholesalers
would have no books to stock and distribute. Publisher'
Warehouses would not be needed....
A sale would be a sale - returns would no longer exist.
Publisher's wouldn't need to tie up money in inventory; paper
wouldn't be wasted; freight costs would vanish; a book would
never go out of stock or out of print. In addition the new
technology could be a boon for independents. With on-demand
printing, they could claim to offer as many titles as chain
stores offer today. A shop the size of the smallest of
today's bookstores could "stock" a million titles. "
How receptive is the industry likely to be? A little later the
article explains " Proposals to do on demand cd music publishing
by IBM and Blockbuster are being met cooly. "Publishers say that
this new system could make their current manufacturing and
distribution capabilities redundant - perhaps useless."
Each of us as citizens has an obligation to ourselves and our
neighbors to see the we get the most for our tax dollars. And
that means we have to have community based networks.
------------------------------------
NETWORKS and COMMUNITY is a public service of FUTURE DATA; a
partnership of researchers and research system designers. Our
research resources include all commercial and non commercial
nets, along with over 200 cd-rom databases, 50,000 magazines and
more than 30 million books. For commercial services contact
Gwyneth Store - <circa@io.org>
This newsletter is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN and may be used as you
see fit. To contribute items or enquire about this newsletter
contact Sam Sternberg <samsam@vm1.yorku.ca>
.
