Terms

Commentary

Terms

• Civic Sector:
  

  (A) a synonym for "civic society;"
  (b) one of many smaller groups within the larger society with a concern about issues which affect the group as a whole.

• Civil Society:
  

  That part of society in which disagreement can occur in an agreeable (or at least not violent) manner

• Community network:
  

  A community network is a general term for a computer-based system that is intended to help support geographical communities and or communities of interest by supporting, augmenting, and extending already existing social networks. Community networks generally provide free web space, e-mail and other services for free. Community network organizations often engage in training and other services and sometimes are involved in policy work as well. See the Seattle Community Network for an example.

• Community networking:
  

  the process of developing community networks.

• Community technology centers:
  

  A community technology center is a physical location in the community that provides access to computers and the Internet. These centres can also provide training courses,such as introduction to the internet.

• Community:
  

  The term "community" generally assumes one or more meanings: (1) A community can be comprised of people who live together. That is they may live in the same geographical area. (2) They are "like-minded" or share the same community of interest to some degree, as they perform the ordinary as well as extraordinary human activities together, including working, playing, meeting, discussing, eating, relaxing, selling and buying, celebrating, commemorating, mourning, or just hanging around. Beyond these two definitions, there is also a "sense of community" (the third usage), in which community members have a sense of belonging to a greater social unity.
  Another definition:
  A COLLECTION OF INDIVIDUALS WHERE EACH SENSES S/HE HAS SOMETHING IN COMMON WITH THE OTHERS.

• Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW):
  

  The computer science discipline that studies how computers can be used to support collaborative work.

• Computer Supported Community Work:
  

  An alternative of CSCW that places "community" as the key recipient of the discipline.

• Cyberlibertarianism:
  
  
• Cyberorganizer:
  

  Another policy direction relies on a conception of information technologies as socially transformative, and facilititates the self-organizing of marginalized and impoverished people in order to be agents for social change and to transcend the duality of today's information cities. We call this policy direction cyberorganizing, and this policy direction rests very much within the sector of public computing.

• Democracy:
  

  The political philosophy that all people should participate in making governmental decisions democratic governance - the implementation of democracy through the actions of government.

• Digital City:
  
  
• Digital Divide:
  

  The "digital divide" is a much contested term that originated in the U.S. to describe the gap between those people who have access to the Internet (the "information rich") and those with poor or no access ("the information poor"). Many people have pointed out that the "digital divide" usually accompanies other types of "divides", predominantly economic but also gender or ethnic "divides" as well. The existence of these other divides creates tensions as to which ones should be given the most attention. Europe, the U.S. and other national governments have established programs devoted to bridging the "digital divide."

• Electronic Democracy:
  
  
• Free-Net:
  

  An expression coined by Thomas Grundner, first for the Cleveland Free-Net, and then for 100 - 200 more "Free-Nets" primarily in the U.S. and Canada but, also, in Europe and Asia. Free-nets represented a very popular model for free, public access to the Internet and other electronic services including community-run question and answer forums on a variety of topics including medical information, automobile repair, and social services. Free-nets predated the World Wide Web and were text based. They often used a "building" metaphor to organize the information on the systems ("the library", "the schoolhouse", etc.). "Community networks" is a more generic name for a geographical community-based public network. Many of the Free-Nets were members of the now-defunct National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN).

• INGO:
  

  Independent Non-governmental Organization

• NGO:
  

  Non-Governmental Organization

• Nomadic Teleworking:
  

  'Nomadic' workers are those whose primary work activity entails considerable necessary travel and for whom their 'place of work' is 'wherever they happen to be'. Salespeople and service engineers are examples. It also includes many executives, who with notebook PC and mobile telephone, want to use all the facilities that technology can offer, such as voice and fax mailboxes, messaging services, and remote access. Nomadic teleworkers usually have at least some office facilities at home, but their main concern is to have ready access to good facilities "on the road". Their needs are gradually being recognised by airports, airlines, hotel chains etc, for example through the provision of "networker friendly" hotel rooms with easily accessible jack points for modems.

• Plug-in:
  
  
• Portal:
  
  
• Public access:
  
  
• Public policy networks:
  

  An idea with its roots in hugh heclo's notion of an 'issue network' a collection of individuals, organizations, and groups that seek to influence or are influenced by actions within a specific policy arena. Contrasted with 'iron triangle,' where there is a much tighter connection between agency(ies), congressional (sub)committee(s), and those benefitting from or being regulated by actions within a specific policy arena.

• Public Sector:
  

  "...Public administration will refer to running any organization that is not a private, profit-making enterprise." (page 11, grover starling, 1998, "managing the public sector," fifth edition, fort worth: harcourt brace college publishers.) "...Public administration will refer to running any organization that is not a private, profit-making enterprise." (page 11, grover starling, 1998, "managing the public sector," fifth edition, fort worth: harcourt brace college publishers.)

• Public Space:
  

  any "space" that is physical (a public park, for example) or virtual (an electronic forum on the Internet, for example) that is accessible by all people.
  

• Public Sphere:
  

  A concept developed by German philosopher Jurgen Habermas in his book "The Transformation of the Public Sphere" to express the idea of settings where people can freely enter in and discuss issues which also connects to power structures and can, thus, contribute to social change.
  Another definition:
  This is synonymous with public arena. This is the greater domain of world-wide communication to which all people with access to modern methods of communication can attend and be aware. If an article is printed in a newspaper, the message of the authors enter the public sphere.
  This specifically suggests that the greater public is now aware of the message. This is different than a public space. A public space is a field that is accessible by anyone. A town square is a public place.
  

• Social activism
  

  This is focused activity for the purpose of making society better. For example, if I am a member of a community, and I organize a program to provide food for people who are hungry, I am engaging in social activism.

• Social activity
  

  This is interpersonal behavior that influences emotional relationships between people. For example, if I go to a celebration and dance, I am engaging in a social activity.

• SME:
  

  Small and medium sized enterprises

• Social Capital:
  

  A term popularized by Harvard University political scientist Robert Putnam that represents the latent capacity of a community to support itself (through community organizations and skills and interests of community members, for example). It is often characterized as having three components: trust, norms, and (networks?) (reciprocity?) Putnam's research reveals a steady erosion in social capital over the past 40 years by almost all measures. Commerical broadcast television is often singled out as a culprit for this erosion.

• Social Informatics:
  
  
• Telecenters:

  Traditionally, each business function gathered its staff together at one location - the finance department might be in one town, customer support operations in another. But computers and telecommunications now enable any team to work well together regardless of whether they are in the same office, the same town or even the same country. "Telecentres" reflect this thinking. Each employee travels to the office that's most convenient to him or her - either the closest or the one that's easiest to reach by public transport for example. The "team" works together through electronic networking. Telecentres may be company owned or the company may take desk space in a multi-company telecentre. When an employee changes jobs, there's no question of relocation, only the lines on the organisation structure change.
  When an employee leaves or is promoted or has another form of career move, the company can replace him or her with the most suitable person, regardless of geography. ETO http://www.eto.org.uk/faq/faq02.htm#telecentres

• Telecottage:
  

  "Telecottage" is a word taken from Sweden, where the concept was born. In its purest sense it is a community resource centre, often supporting rural users. Such centres are equipped with the latest technology such as computers, faxes, photocopiers, Internet connection and videoconferencing equipment, where local people can train or work using the resources provided.
  ETO Definition
  http://www.eto.org.uk/faq/faq02.htm#telecentres
  A special class of telecentre, named because of its origins in rural villages. The telecottage movement started in Scandinavia and has now spread to many other parts of Europe - for example there are thriving telecottages in Ireland, France, England, Wales and Scotland. Telecottages may be converted country cottages, redundant farm buildings or parts of school premises - or they may be conventional office buildings.
  The original focus of telecottages was to bring technology and relevant skills to people in remote villages who lack opportunities to gain these skills by working for "hitech" employers, who have generally clustered in and around urban centres.
  Most telecottages still have this as an important part of their rÒle - they provide training in the basics of PCs, word processing, spreadsheets, desk top publishing and, more recently, email and electronic networking. For those with their own PCs etc, the telecottage provides access to more expensive equipment - for example a high quality printer.
  Telecottages also aim to play a part in economic regeneration, by helping local people to find work that uses these skills, either for local companies or on a telework basis for distant employers. In many cases they have introduced the technology to local companies as well as inviduals.
  There is also often a "social" rÒle, providing local home-based people with the basis for a network of contacts and somewhere to "meet round the coffee machine" as people do in a conventional office setting.
  Many telecottages operate on a somewhat fragile basis financially, being dependent on a combination of grants and supported training. To date the market has been difficult for people "selling services at a distance", coupled with the fact that many telecottage managers have only limited commercial experience and marketing skills.

• Telework:
  

  The common element across all aspects of telework is the use of computers and telecommunications to change the accepted geography of work. The term "telework" is often interpreted by the media and people generally to mean "home based teleworking" (see below), but this is misleading. Telework can have many forms and characteristics, as shown by the other terms explained below. "Telecommuting" is a term most widely used in the USA, while "telework" is the expression most commonly used in Europe.
  ETO
  http://www.eto.org.uk/faq/faq02.htm#definition
  The popular press, TV etc generally use the term "teleworker" to mean someone who works at home instead of commuting to an office. However "teleworking" can also include working at a local telecentre instead of commuting to a distant office, in which case the teleworker certainly isn't a "homeworker".
  The International Labour Office (ILO) uses the term "traditional homeworkers" to denote people working at home on tasks like knitting or stuffing envelopes etc. and sees this as clearly distinct from "teleworkers". These kind of "traditional homeworkers" are sometimes called "outworkers" and generally are low paid and in insecure jobs or working on a piece work basis with no contract of employment. In contrast a teleworker may be a manager, a senior professional or another very highly paid and highly valued employee who finds it more convenient to work at or near home some of the time.
  This distinction between "teleworker" and "homeworker" may well become important in Europe, since there are moves to develop new regulations to protect "homeworkers" against exploitation,which might be very valuable to traditional homeworkers but be regarded as interfering and restrictive by other kinds of teleworkers.
  From ETO European Teleworking http://www.eto.org.uk/faq/faqhmvtw.htm

• Televillage:
  

  This concept is an extension of the telecottage and is very much about lifestyles and preferences. The idea is to develop a whole community that's highly geared to the future work and lifestyles environment of the networked economy - the whole village is "wired" and each home is fully equipped with an internal network connected to the village network and through broad band communications to the "global village". This is thought to be attractive to certain kinds of self-determining and successful people, who want to combine a rural lifestyle with excellent access to the "information highways".
  A televillage is being developed near Crickhowell in Wales and the idea is being discussed in other environmentally attractive areas such as the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland. Several such projects are at various stages of development in North America.
  ETO
  http://www.eto.org.uk/faq/faq02.htm#telecentres

• Transnational Advocacy Networks:
  

  A term developed by Keck and Sikkink ("Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics"; Cornell U. Press, 1988) to describe how activists form and use social networks that extend across national boundaries to define, discuss, and develop campaigns. TANs consisting of American and English activists were important players in the effort to abolish slavery in the US in the mid 1800s. Human rights, womens' liberation, labor, and environmental are particularly active and globally distributed.

• Voluntary sector:
  
  

Commentary

Arthur Morin
Douglas Schuler
Matthew Simpson
Natasha Kleimenova
Sue Webb