Knowledge Production and Use in Community-Based Organizations: Examining the Impacts and Influence of Information Technologies

Laxmi Ramasubramanian

I. CONTEXT

In April 1995, the American Family Mutual Insurance Company in Milwaukee settled a discrimination case by agreeing to invest $14.5 million in central Milwaukee. The plaintiffs in the case, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had argued that the company was underserving the predominantly African American community residing in MilwaukeeÕs north side. While the case never went to trial, the plaintiffs and their attorneys had gathered a significant volume of statistics and analyses to support their claims. Through this settlement, the community will receive financial compensation through programs which will subsidize interest rates for home purchases and home improvements. The settlement will also provide for financing cost assistance, emergency home repair assistance, and home ownership counseling in addition to providing financial relief for individual victims of discrimination.
Part of the compelling evidence that made the case against the insurance company successful was the display of geographic maps of the area such as maps that showed the number and spatial distribution of insurance policies sold in the city over a five year period. While the company had argued that it had sold many policies to homeowners in majority African American zip codes, the analysis demonstrated that the company's best policies were clustered in largely white census tracts. Mapping the analyses based on census tracts revealed information that was not evident in analyses based on zip codes since zip codes tend to be so large that they mask differences between predominantly white and black neighborhoods (Ramasubramanian, 1995).
The NAACP v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company example demonstrates that having access to relevant information plays a vital role in identifying the issues and placing them within a problem solving framework. Second, it demonstrates that information plays a significant role in making comparisons and analysis of trends possible which in this case were required to establish the case for discriminatory behavior against the insurance company. Third, it demonstrates the power and potential of spatial analysis and maps by forcing all parties involved in the debate to address the reality and the gravity of the situation. Finally, this example demonstrates that computer-based information technologies are useful and perhaps integral for spatial mapping and analysis, storing large volumes of data, and for looking at different types of data such as demographic information and financial information simultaneously.
The NAACP v. American Family case is by no means an unique example. Over the past five years, the use of computer-based information technologies to support socio-political arguments has become increasingly popular. It is anticipated that analyses developed using computer-based information technologies will have profound implications for people everywhere because many users believe that they can be used skillfully to identify issues, make comparisons, analyze trends, facilitate policy analysis, make service delivery more efficient, and foster community participation.

II. STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND RESEARCH GOALS

The use of information technology and resulting analyses promises many benefits to individuals and communities in our society (e.g., Naisbitt, 1994; Negroponte, 1995). Potential users believe that technology and data acquisition are important assets to increase individual and organizational effectiveness. While many individuals, groups, and organizations appear to be eager to use information technology, our understanding of the role that computer-based information technologies play in facilitating problem solving and decision making is limited because we are still unclear about what happens once an individual or group learns about a situation or understands an issue using analyses developed using computer-based information technologies. For example, in the NAACP v. American Family case, several questions remain unanswered. At the individual level, we do not know much about the residents most affected by the discriminatory practices. Did they initiate this inquiry? If they did, how did they begin the process of analysis ? Do they feel more in control of their lives now more than before? At the organizational level, the example also does not tell us how and why the community groups bringing the complaint against the insurance company used information-based analysis? Why did they use maps in particular? Did they ask the questions and analyze the problem themselves or did they leave the analysis to consultants or technicians outside the organization? And finally, at the societal level, a larger question remains unanswered, -- What implications do information-based analyses have for long term systemic change in Milwaukee's north side?
At the same time, it seems obvious that information technologies and the decisions made using them are going to affect the lives of many people in our cities and communities who have not directly been involved in creating these technologies (Sclove, 1995). Information technology and analyses derived using them are likely to directly and indirectly influence many policy and planning decisions which in turn may have positive or negative consequences for the community and the general public. What particular implications will these decisions have on people with limited financial and technical resources who live in our central cities? The research agenda I propose suggests taking a closer look at community-based organizations using or planning to use information technologies for answers to these questions.

III. RATIONALE FOR STUDY

Why should we look at community-based organizations in order to understand the impacts of information technology use on our cities and communities? Two major reasons have been critical in determining this focus. First, community-based organizations in many cities have taken over the major responsibility of serving city dwellers with limited incomes or other special needs, addressing diverse tasks such as service provision, advocacy, technical assistance provision, and education. As we attempt to understand how spatial technologies affect spatial interactions in cities and how these changes affect different geographically or socially defined urban population groups (two of the main themes of the conference), it may be beneficial to look at these themes within the context in which these interactions are mostly likely to occur.
Second, there is some evidence which suggests that small groups such as community-based organizations are likely to invest in these technologies as they seek creative ways to gain control over decision-making processes about issues that affect them (Ramasubramanian, 1995). Looking at community-based organizations, therefore, allows us to explore some institutional and organizational issues as we discuss "changing conditions of access and improving urban access conditions for disadvantaged populations", a sub-theme of the conference.

IV. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH

Information technology, its development and its use, is a relatively new phenomenon. At present, the only point that everyone seems to agree about is the fact information technology use is spreading rapidly in the developed and developing world (e.g., Naisbitt, 1994; Negroponte, 1995). Corporations and governments are creating information-based economies and global approaches to management while analysts continue to make contradictory predictions. Some industry analysts, for example, predict that the emerging information technologies will create new jobs, while others warn that they will cost people their jobs. Similarly individuals and organizations who advocate for the use of information technologies argue that their use will foster global communication while their opponents insist that information technology and its use will foster the development of tribal enclaves.
Information technology offers potential for great public benefit in the areas of education, health care, business, commerce, and environmental management, and community. Recognizing its potential, governments, corporations, and communities are investing heavily in these technologies. However, as exemplified in the NAACP v. American Family Insurance company case example, it is likely that information will become the centerpiece of the "Civil Rights" debate in this decade as corporations continue to use racial and economic demographics to locate and provide services (King, 1994).
The research agenda being proposed will address the linkages between information technology use and community development. Researchers and academics have long argued that information is a complex source of power (e.g., Forester, 1988). At the same time, Gaventa (1993) argues that information is as much an asset as land, labor, or capital in an information society. He proposes that production and control of knowledge maintains the balance of power between powerful corporate interests and powerless individual citizens in a society that is becoming increasing technocratic, relying on expertise of scientists to transcend politics. According to him, a knowledge system that subordinates common sense also subordinates common people. Will our information-based society supported by sophisticated technologies put information in the hands of citizens and community groups, thereby contributing to their self development and empowerment? Or will it subordinate common sense, further alienating ordinary people from decision making spheres?
This research will inform and educate architects, planners, environment-behavior researchers, and policy makers about the role that information technology applications can play in making decisions that will ultimately affect our physical and the social environment. This research is significant and valuable because it will fill gaps in our understanding of the complex issues surrounding the adoption and use of information technologies, discuss the role of information technologies in developing and sustaining community control of data, information, and knowledge, and assist community advocates in making assessments about the appropriateness and usefulness of technology-based analyses for community-based planning and decision making. Finally, this research will contribute to the emerging debate around the appropriate domains of knowledge production and knowledge use.

V. A COMMENT ON ACCESS AND EMPOWERMENT

Access has multiple interpretations. Some of us talk about access in specific terms for example, access to technology or access to data. Further, access is also discussed in the context of opportunity (e.g., access to jobs, educational resources, social services etc.). This researcher proposes that full and equal access is possible only when the following four components are available to individuals and organizations. They are: Most initiatives to increase access provide the technology, some work on developing data standardization measures, and data sharing mechanisms. Still fewer initiatives provide access to technology, and data, while putting some rudimentary skills in the hands of end users. However, very few initiatives address what this researcher believes to be the most important barrier to access -- the lack of a critical world view which enables end users to think about ways they can use information technology and computer-mediated communications in day-to-day problem solving and decision making (Ramasubramanian, 1995a).
An example will illustrate the benefits of having this critical world view. The Repairers of the Breach is a non-profit advocacy organization in Milwaukee that works with the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless. This organization runs on a shoestring budget and, until recently has been staffed by volunteers. Since 1992, this organization has been concerned about the displacement of low income people and people of color in the neighborhoods of central Milwaukee. In order to confirm what they have documented through anecdotal evidence, members of this organization, with technical support from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have begun to monitor displacement and gentrification trends by looking at city data about home ownership, property transactions, and demographic shifts. Building on work done in late 1993, and early 1994, the organization has developed an innovative research agenda.
This organization intends to use GIS to facilitate community-based research and analysis in order to: create a comprehensive, computer-based, socio-economic profile of the areas they serve in Milwaukee; customize this profile to include qualitative data and information of particular relevance to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless; and develop the skills of neighborhood residents to gather, analyze and use data and information about their neighborhood in their every day problem solving and decision making (Ramasubramanian, 1995).
Members of this organization currently have a sophisticated understanding about the use of spatial mapping and analysis and other information technology concepts. Their efforts provide a glimpse of how a group of people who are typically considered disenfranchised can use the potential of information technology. The fact that the members of this organization aspire to establish a community-based information network and a community computing center to serve their constituency is one indicator of individual and organizational empowerment. As we think about access and how accessibility in the city is impacted or influenced by information technology, it may be useful to ask the following questions.

1. How do community-based organizations use data and information to make decisions about shaping their physical and/or social environment? What role (direct and/or indirect) do analyses derived using information technologies play in: a) defining or redefining the problem that needs resolution; b) determining the line or lines of action that need to be taken; and c) in developing policies and programs.

2. To what extent and under what conditions can the use of information technologies and analyses derived using them enable community-based organizations take on a position of leadership regarding an issue/s concerning the physical and/or social environment?

3. How do individuals participating in a community-based decision making process about the physical and/or social environment define and describe empowerment? What contributes to those feelings? To what extent can those feelings be attributed directly or indirectly to the use of information technology and analyses derived using them?

Biography

Laxmi Ramasubramanian is an architect and a city planner. She has a Bachelors and a Masters degree in Architecture from her home country, India, and a Masters degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her research interests center around community development and empowerment in general, and information technology applications in neighborhood and community environments in particular. She believes that her strength lies in placing the theory and practice of information technology use within the context of solving real world problems.
Laxmi's dissertation research looks at information technology use among community-based organizations and examines its impacts and influence on participatory decision making and ultimately on individual and community empowerment. Laxmi has received a doctoral dissertation grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and has recently returned from attending the NCGIA 1996 International Young Scholars Summer Institute in Geographic Information held at Berlin.

References

Forester, J. 1988. Planning in the face of power. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Gaventa, J. 1993. The powerful, the powerless, and the experts: Knowledge struggles in an information age. In P. Park, M. Brydon-Miller, B. Hall, & T. Jackson (Eds.). Voices of Change: Participatory Research in the United States and Canada. Westport, CT.: Bergin & Garvey.

King, M. H. 1994. Proceedings of The New Technologies Workshop. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT Community Fellows Program.

Naisbitt, J. 1994. Global Paradox: The bigger the world economy, the more powerful its smallest players. New York, NY.: Avon Books.

Negroponte, N. 1995. Being digital. New York, NY.: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Ramasubramanian, L. 1995. Building communities: GIS and participatory decision making. Journal of Urban Technology, Vol. 3, 1. pp. 67-79.

Ramasubramanian, L. 1995a. Computer-Mediated Communications in Milwaukee. Unpublished report. Prepared for Milwaukee Associates in Urban Development. Available from the author.

Sclove, R. 1995. The Impacts of Technology on Communities and Communities on Technology. Proceedings of The New Technologies Workshop. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT Community Fellows Program.

Laxmi Ramasubramanian
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
School of Architecture and Urban Planning
P.O. Box 413
Milwaukee, WI 53201
Phone: 414-229-4014
FAX: 414-229-6976
email: laxmi@csd.uwm.edu