Reports Address Distressed Communities and the Digital Divide

The Digital Divide may be an oft-discussed topic in today’s economic development world, but questions still remain on how to reduce the phenomenon. Two recently released reports offer possible solutions as to how distressed communities might overcome the Digital Divide.

Identifying Technology Infrastructure Needs in America’s Distressed Communities, prepared by the Office of Economic Development at the University of North Carolina and funded by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), analyzes the role that information and communication technology (ICT) can play in helping distressed communities bridge the Digital Divide.

The research strives to answer how ICT, specifically, can help distressed communities advance economically. A qualitative analysis of 13 case study communities, all of which fell under EDA’s definition of "distressed," and the effect of ICT-related initiatives in these communities, was performed. The communities varied geographically and included rural and urban locations.

The report provides 12 lessons learned, including the following:

* The success of ICT projects is most probable if the condition and accessibility of existing infrastructure is good. The lack of traditional infrastructure makes success more difficult to attain, but not impossible.

* Significant demand is crucial to induce the private sector to make ICT investments.

* Flexibility and adaptability is an essential success factor. A local community can still prosper by amassing its own resources if public-sector partners are not able or willing to help.

* Cooperation among business, government, and education leaders is necessary.

* ICT infrastructure, being more complex, requires a workforce with skills that are continually upgraded. Simply installing ICT hardware or infrastructure is not enough to be successful.

The report offers several recommendations. Affordable high-speed broadband networks, knowledge institutions to help people understand how hard infrastructure can be used to solve problems, and networks of leaders are the types of infrastructure that is needed in distressed communities, the report contends. It further outlines major constraints in rural areas such as a lack of knowledge of current infrastructure, technology plans not integrally connected with overall economic development plans, lack of critical mass of population or business, and a deficient local tax base or political will necessary for proper investment.

EDA should synchronize its investments with local and state planning efforts to avoid duplication and leverage local effort and resources, the report suggests. EDA also should emphasize the importance of partnerships among government, industry, education and nonprofits, it says. The report concludes EDA should require applicants to demonstrate their investment in physical ICT infrastructure is connected with the long-term economic development strategy of the region.

Identifying Technology Infrastructure Needs can be downloaded at: http://www.osec.doc.gov/eda/pdf/UNC-Luger_Complete.pdf

America’s Inner Cities Wired to Compete: A Report on Inner City Broadband Readiness and E-Business Technology Adoption, analyzes the availability of broadband services to inner-city businesses and considers the adoption of e-business technologies.

Released in November 2002 by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the report offers two major findings:

* The availability of broadband is just as prevalent in inner cities as in downtown or suburban locations in the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Until recently, inner cities on average had greater access than the suburbs. And,

* Inner city businesses appear to have similar adoption patterns for e-business to those of companies elsewhere.

These findings present three opportunities, the authors say. First, economic development officials can use the extensive accessibility of broadband in their marketing and development strategies. Second, technology providers can advance their efforts to inform small and mid-sized companies on e-business. And third, policy makers, business associations, academic institutions and development agencies can aid in accelerating e-business technology implementation.

America’s Inner Cities Wired to Compete is available at: http://www.icic.org/research/pdf/Wired%20to%20Compete.pdf

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2002. Information in this issue of SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.