[WSIS CS-Plenary] The Journal of Community Informatics: The"Sustainability of Community ICTs" Issue

[Gurstein, Michael]

(apologies in advance for any duplication) 

The second issue of the on-line peer reviewed Journal of Community
Informatics http://ci-journal.net is now available.  This issue takes as
its theme the "Sustainability of Community ICTs".  

Simpson provides a thorough and wide-ranging analysis of the
relationship between "Sustainability" and "Social Capital" and a very
useful theoretical introduction to both sets of concepts.   

Hearn et al  discuss the variety of organizational, and contextual
issues  as well as larger technical and industry issues which all impact
on "sustainability".  

Rideout and Reddick  present how, within the Canadian  context
sustainability has to be understood as evolving within a broad policy
(and government funding) framework.  

Tanner adds a most interesting and provocative discussion of the role of
"emotion" in (ICT-enabled) community "sustainability".  

Ripamonti, de Cindio and Benassi  provide a broad-based set of
observations and analyses exploring the sustainability issues which
cross-cut between on-line community networking and the physical presence
and organization of community networks .    
 
Van Belle and Trusler present an analytic case study of an on-going
community ICT project in a Developing Country context, warts and all,
and provide very useful insights into the "real world" of development
and community ICT . 

Musgrave approaches these same issues but at a portal and e-Government
level within a Developed Country context but interestingly reveals
somewhat similar institutional constraints on community ICT initiatives.

   
Schauder and his colleagues provide a most useful discussion of the
broader challenges and difficulties of "sustainability" of a government
funded ICT program in the Australian context.

The case studies presented from Merkel et al  (faith based organizations
in the USA) and Thompson  (universities and communities in Australia)
further our knowledge of how these issues are being handled in quite
specific institutional and economic contexts while the happy conjuncture
of the documents presented in the "Notes from the Field",  (including
WiFi in the Amazonian jungle, First Nations and Broadband in Canada, and
a WiFi Manifesto from the USA) indicates some of the dimensions and
broadly perceived significance of the applications and strategies we are
discussing.  

Points of View presented by Day and Gurstein address Community
Infromatics and Community Research and Community Informatics and
Disaster Management resepectively. 

Articles are still being accepted for the April issue of the Journal
(until March 7) and for the July issue (until May 15) which will have
the theme of "Community ICT's: Assessment, Evaluation and Knowledge
Aggregation".

Michael Gurstein, Ph.D.
Editor in Chief: Journal of Community Informatics
http://ci-journal.net