Access to Information
The centers, faculty, and staff working in this area investigate the wide disparities of access to information and information technologies throughout the world, providing research and data to help understand and explain these inequities. Our research informs the organizations, businesses and governments working to address these global problems at a local level by providing them with solid research to build solutions on, and helping them to understand the effectiveness and impact of those solutions for the populations most affected by unequal access.
Researchers
Centers & Institutes
Current Projects
Christopher Coward, Principal Investigator
This research program focuses on the public access to information and communication landscapes in 24 countries, with specific focus on the information needs of underserved communities and the role of ICT.
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Michael Crandall and Karen Fisher, Co-Principal Investigators
The Information School is working with Washington State University, the City of Seattle Community Technology Program, Stone Soup, NPower Seattle, and OneEconomy to raise the visibility and increase awareness of the impact Community Technology Centers have across Washington. The iSchool is identifying and collecting data demonstrating the value of Community Technology and its impact at the individual, community and societal level, and developing a framework that can be used for future data collection to provide consistent long-term visibility for these organizations. Partner Centers serve immigrants, inner-city youth, and other at-risk populations. The project’s overall goals are to define, promote and support policy objectives that will strengthen and grow the CT field; educate stakeholders; and advocate for change.
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This large-scale study aims to answer the question – what are the observable social and economic impacts of public access to ICT? Through in-depth, longitudinal and comparative research in 10 developing countries, a global group of researchers, led by CIS, will seek to uncover changes in the areas of employment and income generation, educational levels, civic life and engagement, government transparency and democracy, cultural language and preservation, and improved health, among others. The project explicitly considers negative impacts of public access as well.
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