Keynote Speech

 

Terry Grunwald

http://www.makingthenetwork.org/

Introduction

I am delighted to speak to all of you today – in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin as part of a videoconference that demonstrates that you practice what you preach. I am a 12-year, somewhat battle-scared veteran of what you so wonderfully call Flaxroots Technology. Before starting in this field, I worked for years on issues like housing, rural development, and public health. Then I married a techie and got “hooked” – not on computers but on new possibilities. I saw a way to make things easier, quicker and cheaper for people like me -- a techno-klutz who didn’t (and btw still doesn’t) care about how machines work, but wanted new tools and new approaches in the struggle for social justice.

I’ve been privileged to serve as director of a nonprofit technology project for my home state of North Carolina and as a consultant for clients ranging from poor towns in the rural South to UK government agencies. It’s been a roller coaster ride.

I believe there is nothing today more fascinating and fulfilling than Flaxroots technology, but it really is tough work. I’ve made virtually every mistake possible: I pushed solutions in search of problems, tried to drag organisations into the Information Age before they were ready, cautioned people against actions that worked out just fine for them and have been slow to utilize the tools of my own trade.

But I have learned some things along the way and want to share my thoughts with you. To some of you, they may seem like biases. If so, great! These issues cry out for vigorous discussion. I hope you will use the Q and A following the keynote and the rest of this conference to make your views known.

I’ve titled this talk “It’s Time to Get Real” because I believe that Flaxroots Technology is coming of age. You no longer need to hear bromides, evangelistic thumping, and overblown hype about a digital utopia. To be sure, there is still a critical role for cheerleading, nurturing, and awareness building. But it is time to be honest about the challenges of working in this field and the level of commitment necessary to realize our visions.

The Magic of ICTs

Before raising tough questions, I want to make some things very clear.

I absolutely believe in the power of ICTs to change people’s lives – to build confidence and a sense of possibility. I believe in the power of ICTs to break down barriers – between people, organisations, cultures and sectors in society.

As a child of the 60s, I leaped on technology as a way to revive some of the magic and communal values of those times when social ideals seemed more possible to achieve. I believe in the power of ICTs to help us restore a moral and ethical foundation to society – to re-establish the idea of a “commons” -- public, community-centered places in cyberspace.

I believe in ICTs as an engine for innovation – and sometimes as a way for risk-takers within a bureaucracy to push the boundaries.

And I think the theme of this conference is just right. ICTs can make a world of difference for communities.

Terry’s 12 Guidelines for Getting Real about ICTs

I could not give a speech without including one of my infamous Terry’s lists. And in the spirit of this conference, I’d like to provide you with Terry’s 12 Guidelines for Getting Real about ICTs.

# 1: Make Technology reflect your Values

The Internet can be a scary place. It is rife with its own ‘axis of evil’: porn, spam, and viruses and with slick infotainment that promotes that great American ideal: to make the world safe for shopping. Giant companies like Microsoft and Yahoo are creating “walled gardens” – portals of online information that they tightly control. There are serious threats to our privacy. There are nasty, unpleasant people online. These dangers are not inherent in the Net, but reflect the values of people who make conscious choices about their actions and use the Net to enhance their effect.

A set of values underlies the way we apply ICTs. Every day I encounter people of good will and human compassion online who make their own conscious choices – speaking truth, sharing their knowledge, and reaching out to others. It’s the role of Flaxroots Technology to ensure that the Net promotes openness, inclusiveness, "bottom-up" approaches and a spirit of collaboration. But we all know that technology alone is not enough. You have to really, really want those things and make a personal commitment.

Getting real means working first of all -- from an ethical framework, being clear about the values you want to promote, and doing the hard work –both online and offline -- that is necessary to achieve them.

# 2: Start with the “why” questions

Pablo Picasso -- of all people -- is reported to have said, “Computers are useless… they only give us answers.” I think I understand. Communities need to start with questions and the question they need to start with is “Why?” Exactly what local needs can be addressed with ICTs? Again and again, I’ve seen projects fail to ask that simple question.

Each community must come up with its own answer. And it is not just a simple why, but “why this and not that”, “why at this time and not next year or 3 years from now when it is likely to be cheaper and more functional”, “why add technology to what’s already working,” or “why do it just for this group and not for those other folks next door or down the road who also need it.” And these can be very tough questions

The tendency is to jump straight to drawing “boxes and wires” diagrams. But in fact, the technology questions -- the “how” questions are the last questions you need to be asking.

Getting real means having a clear answer to the “why” question.

# 3: Learn about the Expanding Menu of Options

As people from different disciplines: community regeneration, media, activism, the environment, volunteering, and small business development get excited by ICTs, we see the range of options growing. Flaxroots Technology which once offered a few limited models: public access centres, community web sites, training classes -- maybe a community network, is beginning to blossom into a garden of possibilities.

Today, we have a host of new varieties that range from assistive technology for people with disabilities to laptop lending and virtual volunteers. People are beginning to grow ICT solutions from within existing organisations – ranging from welfare offices to pre schools such as the kohanga reo here in New Zealand.

The options are as varied as people’s imaginations. They can focus on a single population: the elderly, Maori, women or girls, people with disabilities, immigrants, the unemployed, artists, and community groups. They can address hardware recycling or discounted software needs. They can provide a continuum of training – from basic ICT skills to formal certification. They can set up a community helpdesk, host non-commercial web sites or assist in web design. They may operate at a single site such as a public access centre – then develop satellite locations, then begin to network existing locations together. In the States, regional community technology alliances are beginning to emerge. Some projects are virtual only. Increasingly, practitioners are finding that the real pay-off comes when they integrate technology into existing activities or combine new projects to work together.

Getting real means learning about all the Flaxroots Technology options available and understanding the trade-offs between them.

My colleagues at Making the Net Work – David Wilcox in London and Drew Mackie in Edinburgh – have created a Community Technology Game designed to help those planning ICT initiatives determine what mix of projects makes the most sense for their community. This tool is widely employed in the UK and is starting to be used in the States as well. Tomorrow I will be facilitating a hands-on workshop using the Game. I invite you to participate and perhaps try the Game in your own community.

# 4: Ensure Community Ownership of ICT Projects

I’ve seen many Flaxroots Technology programs fail because they neglect to ask people what they want. Savvy activists who have no problem making their voices heard on issues like affordable housing and education often feel uncomfortable around technology. As a result, they tend to give up power -- to local technophiles without experience in the community arena or to mainstream economic developers pushing a high tech corporate agenda. One thing needs to be made clear: non-techies can and in fact should be the ones crafting the strategies.

Make sure that community leaders and activists are involved from the very start. Community participation techniques can build their confidence to engage in ICT planning. In my experiences with the Game I’ll be demonstrating tomorrow, I could watch people’s faces and see 'light bulbs' going off in their heads as they began to connect IT solutions with their own lives and dreams for their community.

And remember participation does not end with the planning. Despite the hype, “build it and they will not necessarily come”. You need to be proactive. Go to the places they feel most comfortable: dairies, laundromats, churches, clubs and community centres. In Edinburgh, they go down to the local pub and ask, "Who wants to learn about the Internet?" Then they bring them to the centre in groups for a "Men at the Keyboard" session.

Don’t throw technology at people. Make it interesting. Make it fun. Have a laugh. Make sure there are biscuits and chocolates lying about. Start tech groups: Homework clubs, TechnoToddlers, Cyber Grannies. There’s even a "Wheels and Sticks" group for elderly and disabled people.

And once they cross the threshold, keep them involved. Ask their opinion. Let them choose what they want to learn. Encourage young people to design and manage their own ICT project – perhaps an Internet café. And once they develop basic competencies, enlist them in teaching others.

Getting real means giving local people a stake in ICTs – and keeping the focus on their needs and interests.

# 5: Identify and Build on Existing Resources

One of the things that always surprises me is that local residents – even in small communities often don’t know the ICT resources that are available right in their midst. I discovered this in a small coal-mining county in Appalachia– one of the poorest regions in America. In a county of a few thousand people, most people perceived there was little community access to computers. But after a few hours of poking around I discovered 125 computer workstations available to the public. They were in public schools, the local library, a small college, a media project, community centres, senior centres – in nonprofits, an employment office and even in the town hall. There was even a high-speed videoconferencing facility available at no cost, but nobody knew about it. The people who ran these facilities weren’t deliberately trying to keep it a secret; they just never took the time to publicize what they had. And they didn’t talk to each other.

The lesson is clear. Know the resources and tools that already exist or are planned for your local community – and not just the public access sites and IT skills training courses. Dig deeper to find the technology champions, sources for hardware donations, and computer labs locked up inside institutions – unused at critical times of the day.

Consider using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to map your assets – whether or not they are currently open to the public. Use these maps to identify duplications in service, untapped resources, underserved areas, and opportunities for collaboration.

Graphic map can be astoundingly powerful. And once you start mapping ICT resources, you may want to look at other issues: child vaccinations, housing deterioration, environmental hazards, bank lending practices. All of these have been mapped successfully in the States. If your resources are limited, see if a local college will take it on as a class project.

Getting real means knowing your community and making sure you build on what’s already there.

# 6: Always consider the Context

Flaxroots Technology is too often about setting up an attractive-looking web site or cool discussion forum. Or it’s about parachuting computers into a facility, getting the Internet connection to work, installing software and teaching MS office packages -- culminating in the photo opportunity of laughing children at computers.

However, ICTs do not operate in a vacuum. You need to pay close attention to the personal and social landscapes into which ICTs are introduced. Rural and urban settings, cultures and languages all affect the uptake. There are realities like slow-to-change organisations, peer pressure, and existing power structures. There are legacies of old conflicts. Individuals have unique interests and ways of learning that may not be easy to predict.

Allow projects to grow organically. Customize content and programming. Put yourself in the role of a web reader or learner or citizen. What do they want to see or learn or contribute? Seek out and listen to elders and informal leaders in the community. Build on what’s already happening. Don’t expect everyone to jump on board right away. Start with the “stones that roll”.

Pay close attention to personal learning styles. Does an individual do better in a group, one-on-one, or with an anonymous computer-based tutorial. Ultimately it is less important for people to understand how RAM works or how to create a table in Word than it is for them to maintain their dignity.

One suggestion I often make to groups planning a public access centre is to visualize themselves as a first time visitor. What would get them to walk through the door, what would they see when they entered, how would they like to be talked to, what services would they like to be offered, and what would make them want to return.

Getting real means understanding the personal, social, and cultural barriers that are common in ICT projects.

# 7: Help people work together more effectively – both online and offline

It is tempting to think that getting organisations or communities connected to the Net will immediately reap giant benefits. However, often what is needed is not just new technology – but also new ways of working together.

This Old - New matrix illustrates how the introduction of technology alone -- without a new approach will fail to achieve the desired outcome.

Box 1: Old approach, old technology

This is where most of us start. It means hierarchical organisations, the information flow tightly controlled, and few people in the know. Communication is by phone, fax, and snail mail. People feel left out and innovation is difficult. Those who want to make a change are frustrated, but they may manage to get into ...

Box 2: New approach, old technology

Here there is active networking, more openness, aspirations to collaborate and involve, but people are hampered by old technology, too many meetings, and many potential participants still out of the loop. The spirit is willing, but new tools are needed to bolster the collaborative impulse. Introducing ICTs into this situation can be very effective in reaching your ultimate goal: Box 4.

If you didn't get to box 2, but just dropped some computers and connections into your existing set up, you are in…

Box 3: New Technology, old approach

This all too common situation is the real trap. It’s characterized by funds for equipment and little for training -- with techies in the driver’s seat. Decision-makers have not “bought in” to the spirit of innovation and change. The community was not involved in the planning. Maybe a few people are benefiting, but many others are left out and there is no will to involve them. People don’t check email and web-based discussion forums are unused. In extreme cases, computers remain in their boxes unopened. People become cynical about technology.

The Goal, of course, is …

Box 4: New technology, new approach

Here you reach Flaxroots Technology nirvana. Online access and training for all and it’s just in time training when people are ready to learn and apply it. Community information is online, relevant, and updated regularly. The technology enables partnerships and rich, many-to-many dialogues. People are integrating ICTs into their work and into their personal lives. It happens organically in ways they could never have predicted. The technology enables them to leap on new opportunities.

Getting real means focusing on new ways of working as much as on the technology.

# 8: Invest in “knitting together” activities

Separate ICT “silos” dot the landscape of most communities -- clustering around separate funding streams. Previously I encouraged you to audit your assets – all of them. But once you know where they are, you will need to shake them loose from their institutional boundaries. In my own city, public access sites – with different target groups are sprouting up – within blocks of each other but their staffs have little time or inclination to communicate. Public schools close their media centres at the end of the school day. Colleges use videoconference facilities for distance learning classes but little else. Businesses may have computer facilities or a pool of potential employee-volunteers, but are never asked to share them.

There are all kinds of opportunities for collaboration – that remain untapped. But rarely is there anyone with a community-wide perspective in his or her job description.

One solution is to make modest investments in matchmaking activities that “knit together” people, places, equipment, facilities and projects. These activities might include facilitating, brokering, or convening. The work would be both one-on-one and in groups – both online and face-to-face.

Consider possibilities such as co-locating training facilities, bulk purchase arrangements for ICT products and services, joint design of community web sites, and integrating the Net into local arts or media projects. From the policy perspective, advocate for incentives that would open up those institutional walls to the wider community.

One of the best models I know is in the city of Seattle, which actually has a community technology planner on staff. He’s not a techie, but a former organizer with a 360-degree perspective. He suggests more efficient use of local assets, crafts incentives to break down local “silos”, brokers collaborations, builds coalitions to “grow the size of the pie” for everyone, and keeps his eyes open for new tools that “fit” local needs.

Getting real means accepting there will never be enough money to fulfill all our ICT visions and investing in strategies to maximize use of existing resources.

#9: Use ICT for social change – not only personal change

Flaxroots Technology supports problem-solving efforts for the community as a whole — not citizens as isolated units. Communities often ignore the access and capacity building needs of community groups. Projects need to support not only the students, but also the teachers and administrators. Not only disadvantaged populations, but also those who deliver services to them.

Offer new ways for organisations to talk to each other and for citizens to talk to their public officials. Strengthen the voice of previously disenfranchised members of the community. Support advocacy campaigns. Begin to think of ICTs as a model for linking all kinds of services – not only tech-based ones.

Getting real means looking beyond the needs of individuals.

# 10: Integrate the Local with the Global

There has long been what I believe to be a false dichotomy between geo-communities and virtual communities. I’ve heard it argued that virtual relationships undermine community-based activities. In fact, the two complement each other very well. Communities of practice -- in areas like housing or child welfare -- provide local communities with new models, funding information, and a collective voice to advocate for more resources to address local needs.

Local ICT projects provide these same communities of practice with sources of technical support for their affiliates and feedback from those ‘on the ground’.

Through a global perspective, local ‘niche’ businesses can find international markets, ex-pats can stay connected (and even support) the local community, schools and youth projects can participate in ‘twinning’ activities, and local citizens can maintain connections with friends and family in far off places— at little or no cost.

Getting real means integrating resources wherever they are found – on the Net or “on the ground”.

# 11: Create a balanced approach

Communities need to take a comprehensive view of ICT investments. Infrastructure and hardware are high-powered vacuum cleaners that tend to suck up all available resources. You want to think carefully about the scope and timing of your initiatives. The money saved by waiting a year to deploy broadband could be used to hire a volunteer coordinator, create a digital storytelling project, AND provide e-commerce support for small businesses. You will be building demand for telecommunications services and … who knows, next year there could well be more affordable broadband alternatives available from the private sector – or heightened interest in establishing a community-owned ISP.

Start-up money for workstations and faster connections should be balanced with revenue for tech support, facility maintenance, program development, modest web sites, and especially staffing -- all of which need to be sustainable. These strategic investments will ensure that expenditures, which benefit the telecommunications industry also, deliver on their promise to communities.

Getting real means creating a balanced portfolio of ICT investments.

# 12: Be willing to tackle the tough challenges

Flaxroots Technology pioneers recognize that solving the technical problems is relatively easy. The real challenges lie in the area where many ICT evangelists remain silent: the difficulty of helping people and institutions change old habits and ways of thinking. Practitioners in this field must struggle to understand and share insights about:

• How to help people admit what they don’t understand and how to respect their dignity and build their confidence in the process.
• How to find training techniques that use "everyday" metaphors to explain unfamiliar concepts.
• How to break through the "chicken and egg" syndrome whereby some people find it difficult to understand how the Internet can affect their lives until they actually use it, but are not motivated to use it until they understand how it affects their lives.
• How to create and sustain broad-based, constructive community dialogue online
• How to help people with low literacy skills use new technologies to improve their lives.

And while we are discussing tough challenges, we need to distinguish between the “sizzle” – projects by consummate marketers who know how to package their services for funders and the “beef” – (or as I should say in New Zealand, the “lamb”) those who deliver “the goods” with little fanfare – foregoing the photo opportunities and slick brochures.

Getting real means to be honest about what’s really working and what isn’t.

Challenge: Be a community

Flaxroots Technology works at the intersection of technology and community. It offers a public interest, values-based vision for the Information Age.

The reality is that this stuff is still very new and we can’t predict its final form or reach. We, as community activists have a role in shaping and nurturing that evolutionary process, but we cannot make it work for us and our values, as long it remains an abstract entity. As we all wade out into the surf, dipping our toes into this strange, new, somehow liquid environment, we need to understand its potential to create a more just and equitable society. It needs to deliver for us – in concrete ways. We need to experience the changes individually and collectively; we need to smell the victories that are possible. We need to infuse it with our needs, our dreams and it must to provide us with a glimmer of new strategies, new visions.

Whether you work in a school, cultural project, library, government program, or community group – you are part of the Flaxroots Technology community. You all have a "piece of the puzzle" and much to learn from one another about what it means to get real. So use this conference to speak honestly from your hearts and continue the conversation online.

Thank you.