About the CNA project

This project is funded through the ESRC as part of the ESRC-DTI-EPSRC People at the Centre of Communication and Information Technologies (PACCIT) LINK Research Programme. It is a joint venture between the University of Brighton and SCIP (Sussex Community Internet Project)

Project Aims and objectives

It is the central proposition of this research that planning and implementing of community ICT initiatives based on existing community assets and meeting community needs is pivotal to the strengthening of internal and external social network ties for healthy communities. Through the utilisation and development of a range of participatory methodological tools and approaches this project aims:

• To investigate the potential, for adoption by geographic communities and communities of practice/interest, of network technologies (including mobile telephony) as tools for building and sustaining social capital. [inclusion & participation]
• To test, through social network analysis, the impact of ICTs on the social ties and cohesion of community groups and networks through active communications and information flows.

This investigation will be conducted by successfully achieving the following objectives:

• Develop and test a new and innovative participatory action research methodology known as community network analysis.
• Construct theory of Community Network Analysis.
• Plan and operate participatory learning workshops that facilitate both the development of ICT skills and the contextualised consideration of community networking.
• Create a model of participatory collaboration that empowers local communities by illustrating how community members, with little or no technical expertise, can work in partnership with systems designers to design useful and usable community communications applications.
• Design a community communications prototype, which utilises network technologies to promote, support and sustain community network ties.
• Advance a framework of participatory design criteria that informs policy makers, practitioners and researchers of the significance of community ICT practice.

Project plan (subject to change!)