The following message from Julie Fesenmaier of Temple University's Business School (Philadelphia, US) was seen on the list of the Australian chapter of the Community Development Society (which I subscribed to as an info source for a class I taught, and have stayed on since the traffic is low and it sometimes has some interesting info). DZO
--------------------------------- Don't miss this exciting two-part telecommunications policy panel at the CDS conference in Baltimore! We'll be providing information from the experts and then discussing telecommunications policy and how we reach underserved individuals and communities. Whether you are an expert or just interested, the information and the discussion will be of interest to you (and important for your community!). At the conference, this session is offered on Wednesday, June 29, 2005. More information and for a full program, visit http://www.comm-dev.org . "Telecommunications policy is where the Association for Community Networking meets the Community Development Society. Public/Private is great, but the public's right to pursue its economic and community interests cannot be blocked." Michael Maranda, President, Association for Community Networking. Panel One: David Meets Goliath -- Giving Communities a Voice in Telecommunications Policy. Communities are interested in developing telecommunications infrastructure and providing service, but are often precluded from doing so by state and federal regulation. Local self-determination, a strongly held value of the Community Development Society, implies that organizing to provide a community voice in these policy decisions is of utmost importance. This discussion will focus on examples, community organizing, and the policies which determine local options. Panel Two: Linking Research to Practice and Policy -- Improving Technology Access and Use Among the Underserved. Rural residents and ethnic minorities are among the many groups on the "wrong side" of the digital divide. Is the issue simply a lack of infrastructure, or something more? We present results from several projects exploring technology access and use in geographically, economically, and politically excluded communities. We then discuss common challenges these communities face and suggest ways they can be overcome through context- and culturally-appropriate programming and technology policy reform. Register on line at http://www.comm-dev.org Hope to see you there! For more information about these panels or questions, contact Julie Fesenmaier at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- End forwarded message ----- _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
