Down-to-earth vision: Community based IT initiatives and social inclusion [in the UK: COMMIT report]

Report is based on research into UK community based IT initiatives, with the purpose of trying to identify factors which might be critical to their more strategic development through policy. The research involved project visits, in-depth interviews, informal interviews, a literature review, and a seminar with practitioners. Main points:

• A wide range of IT initiatives is being developed at local level in the UK, based on a variety of organisational structures and combinations of funding. While the community networking movement is clearly gathering pace and coherence, too many initiatives are struggling for survival and are finding their role distorted by the need to chase funding for their basic requirements. The project culture, through its short-termism and incompatible pace, can be very damaging and is not appropriate for initiatives seeking to ensure social inclusion in the Information Society.
• Community IT resource centres address a broad range of needs and fulfil multiple roles. Some of the roles can be categorised as 'commercial', some as 'community' or 'social'. In many cases it simply depends on what the user's purpose is.
• The report does not put forward any single model for community IT resource centres. It is clear that demand is very high for various 'community' functions, such as a 'drop-in' role. Services of this kind cannot be expected to make a profit. Nonetheless, local resource centres are wholly appropriate places to provide them in order to contribute to social inclusion. The fact that it is possible to generate income from certain other services does not detract from the need to ensure their continuation and stability, through public subsidy and appropriate management.
• The research indicates strong commitment among those working at local level, and a willingness to provide centres which have a mix of commmercial and community facilities. The clearest problem has been the inadequacy of the public support, to help people work out a functional equilibrium.

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