E-governance Questions/Issues to Explore

Bridging the Digital Divide:

Does bridging the digital divide solely mean bringing everyone over to full computer use, or is there another way? Can we develop technologies that fully utilize the collaborative capabilities of wikis and other internet tools, but still involve people who choose not or cannot access the internet?

For myself, I am still struggling with the answers to these questions. Because these questions are large issues and difficult to "get your hands around" so to speak. I have decided to apply them to one of my work processes to see how I could have made it more inclusive with technology.

Last year I conducted a Small and Rural Fire District Facility Assessment. As part of that process, I conducted a survey of all 390 fire protection districts and then convened a focus group to come up with recommendations. I received a 60 percent response rate on my survey, but because most districts could not afford the cost or time spent for travel to a focus group, the participation in the group was less than 15 people.

How could I have made this process more inclusive with technology? Perhaps I could have taken the focus group product and then created it as a Wiki that other districts could have added to. Of course 25 percent of the districts who responded to my survey did so through a paper survey rather than an email so this additional step may have excluded those 25 percent on the wrong side of the digital divide and skewed the data to reflect weathier districts that could afford internet access.

Chosing whether to use new technologies continues to be a struggle for me, as it likely is for many other researchers. It is extremely important to be aware of the tradeoffs and find ways to counteract them as appropriate for the group you are researching. I am very glad, however, to be aware of these new tools that could be a powerful aid to government research.