Community Technology Centers

Community Technology Centers (CTCs) are a key tool in community technology. Also known as telecenters, a CTC is an access point for a local community. On one level, they provide access to IT for a community, but their role expands beyond that. The universe in which a CTC exists is a community of locality, although they may often address a specific sub-population in an area, and its mission is to improve that community. In one sense they fulfill Mitchell’s digital village well idea, and can provide the sociological benefits from that construction. But the overall goal is to work for community development, and offer IT resources to enable a community to take steps towards that end. Since IT can be such a powerful tool for community development, and since individual access is expensive, a common, public point of access holds great potential.

CTC's also create the opportunity for synergy with other community services. By providing important community resources such as medical information or job training in the same community-oriented local as IT resources, one can draw more community members towards IT. This in and of itself is not the goal; access alone cannot turn around an individual or a community. But social service clients can improve the quality of their care with IT resources, tapping into medical information clearinghouses or e-government sites. Meanwhile, those drawn in my the Internet resources, either for a specific goal or just because computers are intriguing, can be exposed to important community resources, such as continuing education, or inoculation programs.

CTC’s provide the opportunity for community members to seek information on the web, but that is not always a one way pipe.

Allan Friedman
January, 2002