Coalition Fall 1995 Meeting: Project Briefings and Synergy Sessions
Davis Community Network Project Briefing - CNI Fall 1995
The Information Technology Division of University of California, Davis (UCD) is
working under a three-year (7/93 - 6/96), $500,000 research contract with the
California State Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in a project
investigating telecommuting, and the use of data networking, community computer
networks, multimedia and video teleconferencing as new forms of mobility and
transportation. Caltrans is providing 80% of the funding, with a 20% match by
UCD, and the project has the following three components:
Telecommuting - Davis Community Network
Information Technology developed a testbed community network in Davis which can
support telework, telelearning, teleshopping, telemedicine, telebanking, and
electronic democracy to provide an environment for research by a UC Davis
faculty member, Dr. Patricia Mokhtarian, on telecommunications as
transportation, and the effect of such resources on trip demand. The testbed
also serves as a research environment for analyzing wide area networking
technologies, and the attributes of "smart communities." Organizers of the
community network included representatives from the local business community,
the City of Davis, the University, the Chamber of Commerce, the Davis school
district (K-12), the local newspaper, the county library, the Davis community
television station, and PBS television station KVIE-TV 6. This testbed has
formed the basis for ongoing community network services for Davis, through a
not-for-profit organization which is now operating and maintaining the network
services (DCN). Public information providers (e.g., directory of City Services)
and commercial services (e.g., telebanking, teleshopping) must be supported in
order to satisfy the research requirements.
UCD provided staffing and technical support for data communications planning;
technical assistance with initial set-up and installation of the equipment and
software associated with the network; and connections, operation and user
support of the network for the first eighteen months of the research contract.
User support, administrative support of the not-for-profit, and coordination
of user training is now being performed jointly by the DCN non-profit and Davis
Community Television (a public access cable television organization and a
partner to the Davis Community Network effort).
The project also includes feasibility analysis of several networking
technologies for support of the community network, including ISDN, wireless and
cable television, with pilot projects using each type of technology where
possible. Finally, the project required the identification and packaging of
software and documentation for support of these telecommuting activities and
the community network, and initial training of the testbed participants (both
information providers and information consumers). Five hundred testbed
participants were recruited in order to provide a sufficient research
population; since March of 1995, the DCN has been recruiting the "Davis First
1000" (participants with paid subscriptions), and is almost half way to its
goal.
Telecommuting - Neighborhood Office Centers
UCD is also working with Caltrans to research wide area networking amenities
and support for residential-area based offices (telecommuting centers or
telecenters). Instead of driving to work, people walk, bike, or are shuttled
to a neighborhood office facility which might provide phones with voice mail,
computers, copiers, faxes, as well as support for electronic mail and video
teleconferencing.
Distance Education
Working with the California Community College Chancellor's Office (which
represents all California community colleges), UCD is evaluating and testing
new technologies which can support telecollaboration and distance learning,
including video teleconferencing, multimedia, and instructional television as
well as other forms of electronic communication. The University project team
has also been assisting in the development of a Telecommunications Strategic
Plan for the California Community Colleges.
For more information about this joint University-State-City-Community
Colleges-K12 partnership project, please contact Vicki Suter at 916-752-0311
(electronic mail address is vnsuter@ucdavis.edu). Information can be found
about this and related projects on the World Wide Web at the following URLs:
Davis Community Network
http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us
Caltrans Research Contract
http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/DCN/Research
Transportation Research
http://www.engr.ucdavis.edu/~its/telecom/
Smart Communities
Out of the Davis Community Network project and other related Caltrans projects,
the notion of a "smart community" has formed. A working definition of a smart
community is:
A smart community is a community that has made a conscious effort to employ
information technology to transform a major portion of their region.
This transformation increases choice, convenience and control for people and
the community, and is supported by local participation and cooperation among
all major sectors of the community - government, industry, education and the
general public.
A Model for Transformative Technology Projects
By the nature of these projects, technology is applied as a transformative tool
across a broad cross-section of human activity (work, live, play, learn,
govern, and travel), rather than in a series of stand-alone pilots. Based on
experience with such broad-based projects, the UCD Project Team has developed a
model for planning, implementing and evaluating projects which are intended to
bring about fundamental, systemic changes. This model is represented in the
"Integrative Technology" graphic below.
Most technology projects focus on two aspects - Tools Development
(Applications) and Individuals/Users (Tasks and Projects). While projects do
need to focus such attention on the needs of individuals to accomplish their
work, and the development of a suite of software tools to carry out that work,
it is our contention that in order to diffuse the benefits of such software
development and pilot projects throughout a system, projects need to be
designed from the beginning with a broader perspective. All four aspects of
technology diffusion drivers - tools, individuals, technical infrastructures,
and institutional infrastructures - and most importantly, the linkages between
them, need to be addressed in the project design and implementation.
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