Communications Breakdown: Revisiting the Question of Information and Its Significance for Community Informatics Projects

The gap between those who understand the complexities of community requirements and the information technologists who can build the technologies represents a central focus of concern with Community Informatics (CI) research. This paper explores how different assumptions about the utility of information during this innovation process leads to poor communication between researchers and practitioners. Braman’s four-part hierarchy is a useful vehicle to investigate this as she seeks to include a range of actors such as policy makers, technologists and community members. A number of case study examples are explored to illustrate the value of Braman’s work for CI.