{"id":726,"date":"2026-07-14T14:18:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T13:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/?page_id=726"},"modified":"2026-07-14T14:18:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T13:18:46","slug":"grassroots-initiated-networked-communities-a-viable-method-of-overcoming-multiple-digital-inequalities-within-communities-of-locality","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/grassroots-initiated-networked-communities-a-viable-method-of-overcoming-multiple-digital-inequalities-within-communities-of-locality\/","title":{"rendered":"Grassroots initiated networked communities: a viable method of overcoming multiple digital inequalities within communities of locality?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mark Gaved
This event took place on Monday 19 April 2004 at 12:30<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The UK government seeks to overcome the ‘digital divide’, and offering “internet access for all who want it” by 2005. It is unlikely, however, that this will be achieved through government funded interventions focussing primarily on achieving physical access to the internet. My research considers that a possible solution may be found in the emerging phenomenon of grassroots initiated networked communities. These are communities of locality that have developed their own internet and\/or intranet infrastructure with minimal external support.

The first year of research was chiefly concerned with investigating issues surrounding the digital divide, technology adoption and sustainability. The initial findings will be presented, and the second year research introduced. In my second year I will be focussing on social software; considering whether web based collaborative tools can support the sustained development of networked communities.

Download PowerPoint Presentation (1Mb ZIP file)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the webcast replay >><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Maven<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Maven of the Month<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We are also inviting top experts in AI and Knowledge Technologies to discuss major socio-technological topics with an audience that comprises both members of the Knowledge Media Institute, as well as the wider staff at The Open University. Differently from our seminar series, these events follow a Q&A format.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark GavedThis event took place on Monday 19 April 2004 at 12:30 The UK government seeks to overcome the ‘digital divide’, and offering “internet access for all who want it” by 2005. It is unlikely, however, that this will be achieved through government funded interventions focussing primarily on achieving physical access to the internet. My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"unity_related_person":[],"unity_sdg":[],"unity_research_theme":[],"unity_strategic_priority":[],"unity_enabler":[],"unity_general_category":[],"unity_stem_unit":[],"unity_related_project":[],"unity_related_archived_project":[],"unity_related_event":[],"class_list":["post-726","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":727,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/726\/revisions\/727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"unity_related_person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_related_person?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"unity_sdg","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_sdg?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"unity_research_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_research_theme?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"unity_strategic_priority","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_strategic_priority?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"unity_enabler","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_enabler?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"unity_general_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_general_category?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"unity_stem_unit","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_stem_unit?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"unity_related_project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_related_project?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"unity_related_archived_project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_related_archived_project?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"unity_related_event","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/knowledge-media-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_related_event?post=726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}