When IT Evolves Beyond Community Needs: Coevolution of Bottom-Up IT Innovation and Communities

This paper examines how innovative uses of IT artifacts and their repurposing to fulfill emerging or unsatisfied user needs (bottom-up innovation, BUI) develop in community settings. Based on a longitudinal analysis “HomeNets,” communities that developed residential internet access Belarus over 20-year period, we illustrate the development BUI is driven not only by innovating members but also interplay between members’ context technology context. We demonstrate these dynamics trigger goes beyond expectations actors impacts evolution long-term survival. our findings, model development. discuss theoretical implications highlighting role its processual unfolding intentions members.