The American theologist Reinhold Niebuhr famously stated that “man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Not all who witness the emergence of an information age can feel confident about the capacity of the new information and communications technologies (ICTs) to favour democracy over injustice. The technologies of politics are politically shaped (Sclove, 1995) and require a vigilant analysis of their development. They can just as easily act to reinforce and exacerbate existing social and economic divisions as they might act to foster forces for enhanced democratic activity (Loader, 1998). The pursuit of democracy therefore requires that those on the margins of technological and political development are provided with a voice with which to articulate their own interests and the opportunities to structure their futures.

This chapter provides an early analysis of an action research project designed to enable members of a post-industrial community situated in the North of England, to engage in the construction of a civil electronic network. The project is called Trimdon Digital Village (TDV). Its primary objective has been a critical consideration of the potential for ICTs to empower communities and enable them to secure their own development in conditions of rapid political, social and economic change. At its heart is a concern with the notion of ‘civil democracy’: a perspective which stresses that democratic activity is as much dependent upon the social networks of support, exchange and interaction which ground the day-to-day experiences of citizens and facilitate participation, as it is upon the rule of law, individual rights and representative institutions.

In the first eighteen months of its existence the TDV project, comprising a partnership of Trimdon2000, BT and the Community Informatics Research and Applications Unit (CIRA) based at the University of Teesside,UK, had established a small community network of three sites linked to the Internet. Community members had engaged in local learning courses on ICTs and developed their own community Website as a consequence of a two day workshop. Their awareness and confidence was sufficient by the end of this first period to enable them to provide significant critical feedback to ensure the modification of an AOL designed Website for UK Citizens Online Democracy’s (UKCOD) Freedom of Information project. Such achievements, however, should not mask the problems encountered in attempting to expand the participation of community residents, the challenges of community project management, and the difficulty of changing the cultures of information providers. The chapter is structured to first set out the context and objectives of the project; to describe the process; critically evaluate its development; and, identify some early lessons before concluding with some future directions.

Grounding Civil Democracy

A great deal of attention surrounding the issue of democracy and the new ICTs has tended to focus upon the re-engineering of government institutions and its potential to improve public services to citizens (Bellamy & Taylor, 1998). Whilst much of this literature has been of interest to policy makers it has also been criticised for failing to appreciate the revolutionary capabilities of the new media for democratic renewal (see Becker, 1998). At its most extreme this critique manifests itself as a supposed opportunity to replace government institutions entirely and thereby enable individualism to flourish. Cyber-libertarians such as John Perry Barlow (1996a, 1996b) have depicted the Internet as a place where individuals may roam the electronic frontier freed from the burdens of authoritarian government interference and able to create their own identities rather than being forced to adopt those which are politically constructed for them.^ⁱ Yet neither of these two very distinct approaches has much to say regarding the place of geographically based communities in regard to democratic politics. The more cautious public administration perspective tends to regard change as incremental and policy as a top-down process of providing information to the citizen. Whilst the cyber-visionaries emphasise communities as virtual spaces where computer-mediated communication between individuals is undertaken remotely.

The importance of communities for democratic governance originates with the forums, markets and other public spaces of the Ancient World. It remains however an important component for democratic politics today. The value of such locally based civil structures resides in the opportunities they offer for the development of what Robert Putnam describes as ‘social capital’: the “features of social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit.” (1995:67). It is thereby a context within which citizens learn how to engage in the democratic process and articulate the immediate concerns which affect their lives. For Putnam, the higher the stock of social capital that a community may draw upon, the greater likelihood of active participation amongst its citizens and of thus providing a higher quality of democratic governance. Together with other commentators however Putnam suggests that, in America at least, there has been a significant decline in civil engagement and a concomitant diminution of social capital.

There is of course nothing new in the predicted demise of community life. From the earliest theorists of the industrial revolution numerous writers have observed what they regarded as the fragmentation and atomisation of social life (Durkheim, ;Toennies,1957). Indeed, the current resurgence of interest in the notion of community may in large part be due to the profound economic and social re-structuring affecting almost all societies and which is said to be leading to the displacement of local social structures^ⁱⁱ. Yet the very concept of community itself remains stubbornly difficult to define (Plant, 197?) and the whole area of debate is prone to either idealistic panaceas or depictions of simplistic conformity. Our own attempts to analyse the nature of civil democratic relations which are mediated through electronic networks of discourse and information flows must therefore tread a path which is subject to many resilient pitfalls. We set out to resist the alarmist tendencies of those who prophesise the end of community life as much as the romantic delusions of those who wish for a return to some utopian past of community existence. Instead our aim is to assess the value of hard-wiring the virtual spaces of electronic networks such as the Internet to local forms of community communication and interaction.

The attempt to re-connect community relations to the body politic may seem anachronistic to those already convinced of the Internet’s capacity to transcend representative models of democracy. For them cyberspace appears as “the promise of a new social space, global and antisovereign, within which anybody, anywhere can express to the rest of humanity whatever he or she believes without fear. There is in these new media a foreshadowing of the intellectual and economic liberty that might undo all the authoritarian powers on earth.” (Barlow, 1996a). Yet it is precisely the inability of these libertarian prophesies to locate democratic politics into relationships of power, social support and cultural identity which prevents them from acknowledging the prospect that cyberspace may also be characterised by inequality, contestation and domination.

Moreover, we cannot yet be sure that the experience of unfettered free expression in a virtual environment may not more closely resemble an anomic ‘free fall’ through the net: exhilarating in its early stages but requiring a reliable support for effective grounding! Recent research into the effects of extensive online interaction would indeed suggest that remote communications can act to make us remoter (Kraut, 1998). Hours spent in front of a computer screen by individuals detached mentally from their most proximate milieu may not only result in a weakening of community responsibility but also contribute to a sense of personal anomie and rootlessness.

The need for roots was convincingly proclaimed by the French philosopher Simon Weil. “A human being has roots by virtue of his real, active and natural participation in the life of a community which preserves in living shape certain particular treasures of the past and certain particular expectations for the future.” (Weil, 1952:41). Community thereby enables the development of a moral identity. It is a space where notions of mutual dependence and social obligation can be formulated. A set of social relations where reciprocity and shared understanding can be developed. It thus acts to ground the very basis of democratic political activity. Without the real life opportunity for individuals to learn the skills for participation and deliberation in a context of free and equal shared respect for each others interests it may be assumed that the democratic imagination will be diminished. Such a forum to test and question both received and proposed political wisdom remains crucial to the existence of democratic liberties.

To assert that community structures and the social capital they engender can act to enable and stimulate democratic behaviour does not deny that such social relations can also sometimes do the opposite . Of course they can invoke feelings of conformity, narrow-mindedness and give rise to the oppression of diversity. But such debate (and its related research) cannot avoid its normative basis. We do not argue that community relations are morally superior per se only that some configurations of local social structures may be beneficial for enabling individuals to experience a multiplicity of roots and thereby contribute to the stock of social capital which a democratic polity may draw upon.

This is of particular importance because it foregrounds the necessity to consider electronic networks not just as a conduit through which individuals escape from reality but also as potential sources of creative interaction to nourish and develop debate about existing relationships, the construction of identities and the value of differences. That is, discourse entered into in cyberspace draws heavily from our rooted experience and its outcomes where appropriate can inform and strengthen our local ties. As Weil remarked, “reciprocal exchanges by which different sorts of environment exert influence on one another are no less vital than to be rooted in natural surroundings. But a given environment should not receive an outside influence as something additional to itself, but as a stimulant intensifying its own particular way of life.”(ibid).

There are now a growing number of examples of electronic community networks primarily from North America but also from other parts of the world (Carroll, 1996; Tsagarousianou, 1998; Hague, 1999). Accounts of these initiatives have tended to be somewhat descriptive and focus upon the positive characteristics of such endeavours. Howard Rheingold’s favourable depiction of the WELL (a virtual community largely based in San Francisco’s Bay area) is a memorable instance (1994). What is often lacking in such reports however is a critical appraisal which provides any negative feedback upon which to base further development. A notable exception to this pattern has been the research undertaken in Denmark to examine their ‘social experiments’ around ICTs and community development. (Qvortrup, 1987; Cronberg, 1990; Lauritzen, 1995). Cronberg in particular provides a detailed examination into the relative decline of the Danish electronic village halls or telehuses which despite early promise failed to maintain their momentum. Difficulties encountered included the challenge of obtaining a high level of participation amongst community members, the problems of overcoming organisational self-interest, the task of gaining and maintaining sustainable funding and the frustration of new technology promising more than it can deliver. Yet the Danish experience also provided strong indications of the conditions required for moving closer towards the creation of electronic democratic forums. Of paramount importance is that it suggested that greater success may result from active grassroots community action rather than top-down imposed structures.

Such findings have been valuable as guidance for the establishment and development of the Trimdon digital Village project. First amongst these has been the desire to work in partnership with community members and avoid the temptation of providing top-down technical directives. However well intentioned such impositions were always likely to be resisted by a community with a well established social network. Following the Danish experience an evaluation of using existing social structures and familiar venues as potential factors for the effective utilization of ICTs for community development was an integral part of the research design.

The village of Trimdon was chosen as a site for undertaking a social experiment in digital democracy in 1996. It was the consequence of a request from the Chair of the Trimdon 2000 regeneration project asking for advice and support from CIRA. Situated in the southern area of County Durham the community was typical of many rural villages in this part of Northern England which had once been heavily dependent upon the extraction of coal and other minerals. Pit closures made a significant impact upon the employment opportunities in the region. Increasingly residents were forced to seek work further afield whilst the unemployment level remained stubbornly high. Nonetheless, the collectivist ethos arising from the old traditional industrial industries had not been entirely displaced. A vibrant civil culture was easily discernable and the desire of a significant number of the 3,050 inhabitants to engage in a wide range of community activities was a good indication of the presence of a high level of social capital.

From the outset a clear directive of the project was that CIRA and other outside stakeholders would play a facilitating role in the development of the community. Advice and support would be given to the Trimdon2000 community regeneration group to assist them in their deliberations and decision-making. Solving the community’s problems for them was however to be resisted. Consequently the first task of designing, distributing and analysing a questionnaire as a part of a community appraisal was undertaken by local residents themselves with the appropriate aid of CIRA researchers. This comprised extensive discussions with community members over their chosen methodology and its respective strengths and limitations. The provision of some training to enable the group to utilize the statistical package SPSS and undertake data input through the use of a University laboratory. And finally some critical feedback upon the first draft of the appraisal report written by the community members.

Such a process is by no means unproblematic. The resulting questionnaire was certainly far longer and liable to produce larger quantities of data than the CIRA researchers would have designed for themselves. Moreover, a desire for some residents to include highly ‘leading’ questions to provide a personalised statistical stick with which to beat a particular public service provider led to an in-depth discussion about research ethics and objectives. Yet even at this early stage the activity was important for testing the nature of the relationship between community and stakeholder. In the event the process of mutual adjustment enabled both parties to learn important experiential lessons from the exercise. Of particular note was the impressive 44% response rate^ⁱⁱⁱ which the researchers would not have predicted. Moreover, the very participation in the process produced a strong ‘ownership’ of the results by the residents (frequently quoting percentages to support discussion) and thus the potential for effective future action by the community. Significantly, 68% of respondents supported the establishment of some form of information and communication centre in the village and an indication of the sorts of information they would like to be able to access.

TDV was therefore one of several community development initiatives arising from the village appraisal. Its specific objectives were:

The attainment of these objectives would be sought by attempting to adhere to the following guiding principles:

First, the project would attempt to embed the technology into existing community social structures and would try to avoid the temptation of imposing technological solutions upon the community from outside. Second, and relatedly, the project team would comprise members of the community as well as researchers to enable residents to take ‘ownership’ of the project’s development. Third, the researchers role would be to facilitate and support community decision-making. Fourth, the use of existing facilities and social networks would be adopted to foster a flexible multi-site community network. Lastly, that a strong partnership at the ‘local’ level of a broad range of community groups, public, private and voluntary information providers, educational establishments, policy-makers and elected representatives, and telecommunications businesses and consultants should be developed.

By the summer of 1997 a village communication system comprising a local network of three sites was established to provide access to a range of multimedia technology. The locations were Trimdon Community College with a computer laboratory of five networked PCs, two printers and an network server, and Trimdon Library and Trimdon Labour Club both of which were provided with a single on-line multimedia machine. (the number of locations has recently increased to include the two remaining primary schools and the Black Bull village pub) This initial network was designed to have the potential for providing a reasonable flexibility of access according to opening times and personal preference.

The computer lab in the Community College provided an ideal location for much of the training which would be required to develop relevant skills. It was clear from early discussions that courses will need to be tailored to meet a diverse range of client needs and demands. To this end the project was committed to developing and evaluating a variety of local learning courses to suit a range of community members. The site is also adjacent to two primary schools which would enable access to the technology for pupils during the day as well as allowing wider community education in the evenings and weekends.

Awareness of the potential usage of the network by members of the community led to an early request to establish their own web site. This was duly arranged by undertaking a work shop exercise involving residents, web designers and selected facilitators. Commencing on a Friday evening the first session was devoted to exploring the interactive qualities of the media through discussion and demonstrations of various examples. The following Saturday could then be used to identify, through participative group work, how the community wished to portray itself electronically, structure its site for ease of access, and establish the principle sources of information required for social interaction. With a deadline of 3.00 p.m. to ‘go live’ with the site a high level of activity was ensured amongst the participants. The event was also important for including a different set of community members into the project as well as motivating existing enthusiasts. (see fig 1)

A further development of the project worth noting during this first period was the opportunity it provided as a test-bed for UK Citizens Online Democracy’s (UKCOD) Freedom of Information project. UKCOD had already been responsible for developing some highly innovative web sites designed to facilitate participative citizenship (Coleman, 1999) and were in the process of working with AOL to build a site around the UK Governments White Paper on Freedom of Information. By now quite cognizant with websites the residents of Trimdon Village offered an ideal panel to test the properties of AOL’s prototype. With only a few days remaining before the White Paper was due to be published it came as something of shock therefore when the community members highlighted what they considered to be the poor quality of the site not only visually and textually but also navigationally. Against the clock however AOL were able to significantly re-design the site and incorporate many of the suggested improvements made by the Trimdon audience. (see fig.2)

Trimdon Digital Village which was officially launched by the UK Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Tony Blair in August 1997, is only in the very formative stages of its development. Consequently, the evaluation which follows provides some initial lessons which will form the basis for the next stage of the project.

This section of the chapter draws upon the ongoing evaluation of the TDV project undertaken by CIRA researchers and is primarily based upon data from a postal survey of all Trimdon residents conducted in February 1998^{^iv}.

Eight months after public access to the TDV computers was established, some 37% of survey respondents reported that someone in their household was making use of them. The figures for the respective sites are 24% making use of the Community College computers, 16% making use of the Library and 14% making use of the Labour Club. Two important conclusions can be drawn from this data: First, notwithstanding the very valid argument that TDV ‘users’ are more likely to have responded to the survey than ‘non-users’, the fact that 37% of households report making use of TDV just eight months in can be regarded as a qualified success. However, whichever way you look at it, it remains the case that only a minority of Trimdon residents report making use of the facilities. Second, the ‘spread’ of users between the three sites provides a ringing endorsement for the ‘multi-site’ design of TDV. The evidence clearly suggests that different people are accessing the TDV computers at different sites depending on their existing ‘lifestyles’. The principle that maximising access to ICTs requires a commitment to siting them in locations that people are comfortable with and already make use of in relation to work, leisure and education would appear to be sound.

Of course, overall levels of usage can only tell us so much about the success of TDV in broadening physical access to ICTs. It is equally, if not more important to consider the socio-economic profile of users. There is a strong thread in the academic literature on the social shaping of technology which suggests that the diffusion of ICTs may simply replicate, perhaps even exacerbate, existing social, political and economic inequalities, leading to the creation of an excluded ‘information poor’, both concentrated in particular geographic areas and existing in all areas as a marginalised section of the population (see e.g. Loader, 1998). If TDV is to be seen to be addressing this possibility, then it must provide access to ICTs for those who are relatively disadvantaged.

On a first glance at the evidence, TDV would appear to pass this test with flying colours. Trimdon Village as a whole, with its “history of pit closure and manufacturing decline coupled with the small size and weakness of the present local economy” (Trimdon Village Economic Appraisal, 1998: 1) represents a geographic community in danger of being marginalised in the ‘Information Society’. Furthermore, there are no significant differences in the level and type of use being made of the Trimdon computers by survey respondents in terms of a range of established indicators of socio-economic status, including housing tenure, car ownership and employment status.

However, if we dig a little deeper, evidence of a potentially skewed uptake begin to emerge. Some of this evidence comes in the form of disparities on certain indicators between the TDV survey data and that contained in the 1998 Trimdon Village Economic Appraisal (based on 1991 census data) and other sources. For instance, 77% of survey respondents reported car ownership as compared with 54% in the census; 68% reported that they were owner-occupiers as compared with 42% in the census; 93% reported telephone ownership as compared with 87% for the whole of the Northern Region (Regional Trends: 1995-96)^{^v} Whilst this evidence must be treated with caution, it does at least raise the possibility that non-respondents are both more likely to be both non-users of TDV and relatively disadvantaged in socio-economic terms.

The survey throws up what is, perhaps, more compelling evidence in relation to the notion that those who are ‘community oriented’ and socially networked in real space will be disproportionately more likely to take advantage of the possibilities for electronic networking in cyberspace that are offered through TDV. The single most significant variable in terms of determining the likelihood of being a TDV ‘user’ that can be identified from the survey concerns the respondent’s level of involvement with the overall Trimdon 2000 project^{^vi}.

As Figure 3 shows, respondents who are actively involved with the Trimdon 2000 project, are significantly more likely to make use of the TDV computers than those who are not. This finding is consistent with research on diffusion of innovations which suggests that early adopters of innovations typically “have more social participation than later knowers” and “more exposure to interpersonal channels of communication” (Rogers, E.M., 1983: 169). What it points to, however, is a need to seek ways of maximising the diffusion of the uptake and benefits of TDV beyond the relatively well connected group of people that are involved in the wider Trimdon 2000 project.

A key stage in acceptance of any innovation is knowledge or awareness of the product or service itself and its potential benefits. Much awareness raising activity concerning TDV has been undertaken, yet, at the time of the survey, a significant minority of respondents were not aware of the availability of the Trimdon computers (29% were unaware of the Labour Club and Library Computers; 22% were unaware of the Community College facilities). Some 58% of those respondents who were previously unaware of TDV indicated that someone in their household might now make use of the computers. One might reasonably expect that, a further year down the line, levels of awareness will be significantly higher and many of the ‘unawares’ will be converted into ‘adopters’.^{^vii} Nevertheless, this data underlines the importance of awareness raising to the success of any community informatics project.

Survey respondents were asked about a number of other factors that might present a barrier to using, or making more use of, the TDV computers. Their responses are summarised in Figure 4 below.

By far the biggest single barrier to use of the TDV computers is a, real or perceived, lack of ICT skills amongst respondents (44%). This is the case despite the fact that only 14% perceived there to be a lack of training courses. This highlights the importance of providing training in an accessible and non-threatening environment that is tailored as far as is practical to the needs of the individual user (or potential user). A recognition of the importance of this issue lies behind CIRA’s advocacy of and experiments with a ‘local learning’ approach which seeks to move away from ‘off the shelf’ courses delivered in remote and potentially off-putting College or University environments, towards bespoke training that is embedded in the local community. Of course, maximum flexibility and ‘user- friendliness’ in community embedded training is also heavily dependent on informal training and the efforts of ‘cascade trainers’ within the local community (see Section 4 of this paper).

Besides those identified in Figure 4, respondents were asked to identify any further factors that limited their use of the TDV computers. The most popular response here was personal ownership of a PC.^{^viii} ( 32% of respondents reported ownership).

In order to provide a rough measure of the ‘value added’ by TDV in terms of ICT skill levels as perceived by community members themselves, respondents were asked to rate their overall ability with computers before they used TDV, and again at the time of the survey, on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 representing “no knowledge of personal computers”; 5 representing “good working knowledge of personal computers”). The results are summarised in Figure 5 below.

Clearly TDV has made a considerable impact on users perceived skill levels. The proportion of people reporting ‘no knowledge’ of personal computers has halved from 26% to 13%. Similarly, those reporting an above average skill level (scores of 4or 5) have increased from 39% to 60%.

At the time of the survey, there remained a high demand for additional training. Some 48% of respondents reported that someone in their household would like training to help them make use of the TDV computers. Furthermore, it would appear that much of the training required is at entry level. Some 66% of those requiring training indicated a need for a ‘basic introduction to computing’. Significant levels of need for training in standard office applications (word processing, database, spreadsheets) were also evident. Encouragingly, there were also fairly high levels of interest in training in the more interactive elements of the latest ICTs ( 64% expressed an interest in Internet training, 48% in learning to use e-mail, and 41% in designing WWW pages).

Much of the use being made of TDV at the time of the survey appears, at first sight, fairly mundane. For many, it has been a case of acquiring basic keyboard and computing skills through formal or informal tuition. A fairly standard range of basic office software packages are amongst the most used software (word processing (67%); spreadsheets (56%); database (31%)). There is evidence to suggest a somewhat lower uptake of the interactive aspects of ICTs (only 8% of respondents reported using e-mail; 24% reported that they used the computers to communicate with friends/ relatives; and 16% that they used them to communicate with business/work contacts. That said, some 63% of respondents had used the computers to access the Internet.

The most popular reasons for using the computers were to ‘do things related to a course of study’ (59%) or learn how to use a particular software package ((42%)^{^ix}. Beyond these educational uses of the computers, the most cited reasons for using them were to pursue a hobby (37%) or to play games (36%). Whilst some may pour scorn on these recreational uses of TDV (particularly in relation to lofty aspirations concerning enhanced democratic practice), it is worth reiterating that the project is premised on the belief that the utilisation of ICTs in pursuit of a strong civil democracy is dependent upon broadening access to ICTs and that this is best achieved by introducing ICTs as a tool to enhance existing patterns of work, leisure and civil activity. The uses of ICTs to co-ordinate the lobbying of an MP on a particular issue, or to arrange meetings and share information amongst pigeon-fanciers, or to share in a game of ‘Doom’, are all valid and potentially productive.

When those who were making use of TDV were asked about a range of possible benefits, the most cited benefit was ‘easy access to useful information’ (see Figure 6 below). Clearly, for many users, fast and easy information retrieval is a key draw of TDV. This makes it vital that the information content provided through TDV is of a high quality and relevance to users (actual and potential). It is worrying in this regard that statutory agencies responsible for information provision appear reluctant to embrace community based initiatives such as TDV. Of course, it is to be hoped that familiarity with the information handling capacities and potential of ICTs might lead to a ‘bottom-up’ push for statutory agencies to provide the required content from community members themselves. If we couple such a possibility with the ability of community members to become providers of electronic information themselves (witness, for example, the TDV web site), then we really can begin to get excited about the prospects for a civil democracy enriched by ICTs.

It is certainly the case that the TDV project appears to have the support of the Trimdon community. The entire project has been owned and driven by community members through the Trimdon 2000 group, and was embarked upon following the endorsement of 68% of respondents in that group’s community appraisal survey of all households in Trimdon. Eight months in, 91% of respondents in the evaluation survey indicated their support for the project.

What has been presented here are some observations on the uses being made of TDV at the time of the evaluation survey in February 1998. Many exciting and innovative initiatives have been introduced in the intervening year. An analysis of these initiatives must await the results of the planned follow-up survey.

Since the TDV Project started we have learned an enormous amount about the potential of ICTs from a community perspective and the challenge and complexity of engaging individual citizens in the process. Paradoxically, improving people’s access to information and communication methods, has not been hindered in Trimdon, to any great extent, by the availability of the technology itself, but by the human resources required to market the benefits, train the residents, provide technical support, and win over both sceptics and those who have a total lack of confidence in their own skills and personal potential. Community and technical development clearly need to go hand in hand.

At the same time, we have also seen a steady increase in the use of the community based computers and the internet by both young and old in Trimdon (as we can testify from the ever increasing telephone accounts!) and we believe that ‘community connectivity’ is resulting in a drip, drip effect in the consciousness of many residents who are starting to understand the benefits of the technology for themselves and act as advocates within the community.

Although we have acknowledged from the start of the project that the aim is to ensure that all residents in Trimdon have free access to Computers and the Internet, TDV has been part of a wider community regeneration programme which is designed to tackle economic growth, social and health care development, environmental improvements and lifelong learning. This has created raised a dilemma. Namely that while it is beneficial for T.D.V. to develop alongside other community initiatives, the time devoted to T.D.V. by community leaders has been watered down through involvement with these other projects. Inevitably then, tensions have emerged between various initiatives and the relative priority afforded to each of them. What we have learnt from this is the importance of clarity regarding all the projects that have become part of the wider Trimdon 2000 regeneration scheme, acknowledging that differences will always exist concerning priorities and the importance of regular reference back to the community for guidance and clarification.

A second challenge has arisen from being over ambitious. This is partly related to the expectations we have had about taking people with us, as well as the range of I.C.T. activities we have asked the community to engage with. We have found that encouraging and sustaining community participation is both complex and labour intensive. Although we have engaged a fair number of I.C.T. enthusiasts, connecting a critical mass of residents to the network has so far eluded us. We expected more people would be interested in the project and participate on a voluntary basis than has been the case. A general lack of community skill and confidence just wasn’t really anticipated.

Additionally, we haven’t been clear enough about what we want residents to get involved with. The range has been too wide and diverse. It has included a community owned and run web-site, e-mail access, computer graphic design, web-based local history project, internet shopping scheme, web based community notice board, video conferencing and I.T. training courses.

The problem we have had with training has been the pitch and the quantity. The pitch has been too high for some residents and too low for others. Initially, we attempted to provide a general training package for everyone which was customised for individuals in the sessions. This was unsuccessful and the drop out rate was high. More recently we have left the local further education college to provide basic skills training, with specialised web-page design training, for more advanced participants, being provided by the University of Teesside.

The quantity of training has been limited. This is reflected in the overall resourcing of the project. One of the lessons learnt has been the importance of training residents who can act as cascade trainers for other people in the community, rather than expect everyone to receive formal tuition.

We under-estimated the amount of technical support required. Consequently, residents have become frustrated and angry at times when hardware and software systems have failed or problems encountered which cannot be locally resolved. The location of Trimdon, in a rural community 10 miles from all major centres, has exacerbated this problem

Challenging prejudice and scepticism has been a major task. Some people have taken the view that the project is a publicity stunt on behalf of Tony Blair, who is the local M.P., and that it will not be sustained in the longer term. Others are genuinely frightened of new technology and don’t really want to risk exposing their own lack of knowledge and understanding by engaging with the process. Yet others believe that access to information and communications technology is not as important as jobs, health care, crime, and physical regeneration. Selling the tangible benefits of ICTs is essential for the project’s acceptance and success.

Whilst the project is grateful to BT and European grant aid which have provided the bulk of the financial support, long term sustainability remains a primary yet elusive strategic goal. The main reason for this is the high cost of connectivity. Moreover information providers, such as the health service, local Government and the benefits agency still tend to be overly bureaucratic and paternalistic in their approach. Fragmentation within and between various organisations doesn’t encourage ‘bottom up’ community participation and ownership, but rather a ‘top down’ we know best mentality.

It might be argued that much of the activity taking place in relation to TDV has little bearing on the goals of (re)engaging people in politics and strengthening the democratic process. However, we have argued elsewhere for an all-embracing conception of civil democracy in terms of which “any and all community use of ICTs to enhance self determination and promote collective endeavour is central to the achievement of ‘strong democracy’” ( see Hague and Loader, 1999). We have also argued that vital questions of ‘ownership and control’ and ‘access’ must be addressed and resolved if ICT related democratic activity is to become widespread and meaningful. In terms of the former, we have argued that the design and ownership of ICT applications within civil society should reside at local community level. Relating to the latter, we have argued for a broadening out of the debate about access to ICTs to encompass physical access to the technology, access to information, access to ‘community networks’, access to decision-makers, and access to a basic source of income -this latter point emphasises a symbiotic relationship between economic regeneration and democratic renewal (ibid).

The TDV project, and CIRA’s work in general is grounded in the belief that most people have little interest in ICTs per se, but that for most people there is a ‘hook’ that will convince them to ‘try out’ the latest ICTs as a tool to enhance their existing activities (and, perhaps, open up a range of additional ones). This approach sits in contrast to that adopted by many governments, including the United Kingdom, who seem to sell the benefits of the ‘Information Society’ in largely negative terms associated with the social and economic exclusion awaiting those communities and individuals that are not prepared to travel the ‘Information Super-Highway’. Again, the literature on innovation diffusion is illuminating here. Research shows that ‘preventive innovations’, i.e. those designed to ward off some undesired future state or event, have a relatively lower rate of adoption than innovations that are designed to emphasise positive benefits to the adopters lifestyle (Rogers, E.M. 1983: Ch. 5).

The critical analysis of the lessons we have learned in the course of developing TDV is intended to provide a grounded insight into the complex challenges the project has faced in its first stage of development. Whilst the problems are many and varied, they are not insurmountable and the success and recognition of the venture considerably outweigh the difficulties. What does remain clear from our work is the interpretation that civil democracy in the information age is as much about community development and the fostering of social capital as it is about technology. The extent to which the latter is able to facilitate the former may well act as the surest measure for electronic democratic governance. As the Trimdon community come to accept that TDV is not a passing fad or novelty, they are slowly starting to show confidence in what they might achieve for themselves, which in turn may act to extend their democratic rights and responsibilities both locally, nationally and globally.

References

Barlow, J.P. (1996b) ‘Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace’, Cyber-Rights Electronic List, 8^th February.

CURDS (1997) The Northern Region in the Information Society: An outline benchmarking study and SWOT analysis Newcastle: Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne

Kraut, R. Lundmark, V(1998) ‘Internet Paradox: A Social Technology that Reduces

Lauritzen, B. & (1995) ‘On the Way to the Electronic Forum?’ in J

Loader, B.D. Lovenduski & J Strange (eds) Contemporary Political Studies. PSA, Vol 2

Loader, B.D. (1997) The Governance of Cyberspace: Politics, Technology and Global Restructuring, London:Routledge

Loader, B.D. (1998) Cyberspace Divide:Equality, Agency and Policy in the Information Society, London:Routledge

Plant, R., Lesser. H. (1980). Political Philosophy and Social Welfare, London: RKP

Tsagarousianou, R., (1998) Cyberdemocracy:Technology, Cities and Civic Networks,

i For a critical view of this perspective see B. D. Loader (1997) The Governance of Cyberspace: Politics, Technology and Global Restructuring, London:Routledge.

ii In the UK, for example, the New Labour administration has made community regeneration a key aspect of its social and economic policies. It features significantly in debates about ‘the third way.’ The work of ‘communitarians’ in America, which predates these discussions, has also made an important contribution to this concern about the diminution of communities and its consequence for social cohesion and economic wellbeing.

iv The survey was based on a postal questionnaire sent to all 1200 households in Trimdon Village. Of these, 133 were returned, representing a response rate of 11%. A soon to be conducted follow-up survey will provide much needed time-series data.

v Of course, caution must be exercised as these data sets are not strictly comparable , not least because of the time-lag lag between the two sets of data. In particular, the discrepancy in the figures for owner-occupancy can be partly explained by the effects of ‘right to buy’ legislation.

vi The Trimdon 2000 project was conceived in 1995 when a group of local residents were discussing possible events to mark the coming of the new millennium. This led to a desire for a wider community regeneration initiative. A public meeting was held from which a project group was established. The Trimdon 2000 group holds regular open meetings (paraphrased from ‘Old Trimdon Ward: Appraisal Report’: 1998)

viii 32% of respondents reported ownership of a PC. A telephone survey conducted in mid-1997 by CURDS at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne put the figure for the whole of the Northern Region at a little over 40% (CURDS. 1997)

ix It should not be forgotten that the acquisition of ICT skills is, in itself, an important step towards a civil democracy supported by ICTs. Indeed, the ICT skilling of Trimdon community members is contributory to the viability of the Community Call Centre enterprise (see Section 4 of this report) that will bring jobs to Trimdon and address, in part, the need for access to a basic source of income that is part of an all-embracing conception of access to ICTs.

Brian. D. Loader is Co-Director of the Community Informatics Research & Applications Unit (CIRA) based at the University of Teesside, UK. He is the General Editor of Information, Communication & Society (iCS)

b.d.loader@tees.ac.uk

Brian D Loader

Paper prepared for

Grounding Civil Democracy

References

Lauritzen, B. & (1995) ‘On the Way to the Electronic Forum?’ in J