The problem of including the excluded in the information society has been approached from a number of different positions, but most have been based within the confines of a local community or neighbourhood. This is because ‘public access’ to ICT is viewed as central to community networking or learning new ICT skills, and the primary strategy in many deprived communities has been to establish community technology centres25 (CTCs) (Pinkett, 2002). CTCs have been the focus of numerous studies relating to computer and Internet access and use, and their effectiveness has been well- researched and documented (Pinkett, 2002).
Funding bodies, the previous Labour government and the incumbent Coalition, have to-date focused largely on two key methods of creating access to ICT and the Internet for disadvantaged communities. These are via ‘wired up’ projects or through public sites where shared access to technology is made available. ‘Wired up’ projects are where homes in a community or location are connected together using a range of technologies. They include the ‘sourcing and roll out of the technology along with the development of a community website proved to be the primary focus for local project implementation’ (Devins et al., 2003, p. 8). For example, this has been accomplished using new or recycled computers with either: dial-up or cable modems; ADSL or
25 There are a variety of different names given to community based ICT schemes including: community informatics, community networks, network community, place based community network, place based virtual network, community-based ICT initiatives and local net.
wireless facilities; or set-top boxes to access the Internet via digital satellite or terrestrial television (Devins et ai, 2003).
Community technology centres offer resources to help bridge the digital divide primarily through the public’s ability to access computers and the Internet. The aim of ICT is to increase and widen levels of ICT use amongst excluded population - those with ‘low levels of income and education, ethnic minorities, the elderly and the physically challenged’ (Selwyn, 2004, p.21). In this way, public ICT sites play a key role in facilitating ICT use for non-users. They have become a key part of what is now referred to as digital inclusion strategies, such as the current governments ‘Digital by Default’ programme (UK Online Centres, 2012). The key defining feature of public sites is that they all provide physical and supported access to ICT in a social place away from home or work (Selwyn, 2003).
There are several reasons why place based initiatives are an attractive model for the deployment of ICT by policy makers and funding bodies. For example, they are much more cost-effective when compared to placing computers in the home. The responsibility for maintaining computer resources is often assumed by an expert situated in the CTC. Similarly, it is the CTC which also provides knowledgeable staff members to offer technical support and training. Furthermore, CTC’s are normally based within the community itself, creating a meeting place where peers and other community members can congregate in creating a pleasant social atmosphere (Selwyn, 2002). It is through these types of centre that ICT skills can be learned and the Internet used, which according to government policy affords people more opportunities to improve their lives in a range of areas. For instance, it can help in furthering their education, widening social contacts and finding employment.
2.7 Conclusion
The perceived arrival of the information society has led to a worldwide policy concern focused on the creation of a computer literate society. The main anxiety lies in the fact that many disadvantaged people do not have access to ICT and the Internet and are digitally excluded as a consequence - being on the wrong side of the digital divide. Being ‘connected’ enables people to access information and services. They can increase their social networks, take advantage of consumer savings and enhance their digital skills for personal or professional reasons. However, people who do not, or cannot, participate in the information society are most likely to be already socially excluded in most non-technological aspects of society. Policies aimed at introducing them back into mainstream society have focused on universal ‘one size fits all’ schemes. In addition, the original definition of the digital divide has also been explored and found to be too simplistic a term to distinguish between information ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, and a more complex set of digital inequalities is seen to divide society, just as a more complex set of social inequalities divide the non- technical world (van Dijk, 2012).
Nevertheless, there has been an array of social policy aimed at using ICT and the Internet as a regenerative tool. Much of the policy has concerned itself with utilising ICT and the Internet to help socially and economically regenerate deprived communities; particularly in relation to strengthening social networks and up-skilling the workforce to combating social exclusion. To help in understanding this thinking, the concepts of community and social capital have also been examined. The use of ‘community’ as a medium for many regenerative strategies can be gleaned from the literature; whilst it has become evident that the concept of 'social capital' has recently come to the forefront of many governmental strategies aimed at combating social exclusion.
Similar regeneration policies can also be found in other funding bodies which have engaged with the digital divide and the economic and social regeneration of deprived communities. As such, Chapter 3 presents a summary of the
European Union Objective 1 Programme in South Yorkshire, mainly because of the ‘case’ nature of this study. The central aim of this review is three-fold: to examine the economic decline of the region leading to its designation as an Objective 1 region under ‘European Structural Funds’; to highlight the role of the Structural Funds, particularly their aims, objectives and allocation; and to examine the nature of how ICT was deployed via the programmes Priority 3 - Measure 21. It is through this, and the preceding literature review, that the research area and questions for this thesis are defined and the subsequent chapters on methodology and methods are constructed.