Digital Technologies Connected Communities

The extent to which not for profit, goal oriented groups used technology to communicate between themselves, other groups and key influencers was investigated using a literature review, on-line survey, interviews and workshops. Consultation proved difficult owing to the lack of up-to-date information on such groups, legacy issues and their transient nature.

However, the results triangulated well; groups were using ICTs, including social networking to communicate. But, significant barriers to the use of ICTs were found, including
an 'over-reliance' on group 'experts'
steep learning curves
inadequate levels of technological support
lack of technological literacy and uptake of technology by group members

For influencers (such as policy makers), technology mediated communications were considered in a similar way to other correspondence and were seen as broadening community engagement. But, without the support of a chief executive and a stronger evidence base for the quality of such information, the influencers were left to follow the latest trends in ICT developments. Other problems included a lack of overall literacy of the population, both in terms of ICT and language.

The outputs include a fact sheet, a set of on-line resources for groups, and project documents, all available on the project website: http://dtcc.yolasite.com/