Collaborative Research: Network Sovereignty: A Comparative Study of Local Network Initiatives in Rural, Low-income Communities

在农村、低收入、土著社区发展电信网络时，该项目将促进对地方所有权和文化重要性的理解。利用“网络主权”的概念作为分析框架，该项目调查了不同程度的网络所有权、设计参与和技术知识如何影响和赋予边缘化社区权力，并导致网络更具可用性和可持续性。通过参与关键基础设施研究和技术素养领域的研究，并利用强大的地方伙伴关系，该项目将建立一个模式，以了解如何最好地组织电信网络发展，以支持多样化的低收入农村社区。一个特别的贡献将是传达当地文化习俗对网络创新和采用的重要性，并描述这种过程的有利条件和长期影响。人们普遍认为，低收入的农村社区可以从与电信网络的整合中获得经济利益，但人们往往忽视了当地社区审议、所有权、设计和文化等问题对这一过程的重要性。当电信网络扩展到“最后一英里”社区时，这些社区的成员如何参与这一过程？网络设施的本地所有权和控制权有多重要？当地社区成员如何理解和理解他们的网络整合？他们希望从这样的技术发展中获得什么？社区如何以不同的方式解决这些问题？为了回答这些问题，研究人员采用了一种合作的民族志方法，并在三个不同的社区进行了实地调查和访谈，这些社区已经形成了当地的网络倡议。案例研究包括墨西哥瓦哈卡州的Rhizomatica，蒙大拿州布朗宁黑脚印第安人社区的Oki Communications，以及坦桑尼亚马拉地区的Serengeti宽带网络。研究人员将与社区组织合作，探讨这些地方网络倡议的出现和相对成功，并在项目结束时提供一个分析框架，以评价其他社区的此类倡议。该项目还包括一个研讨会，使社区合作伙伴能够相互讨论和分享最佳的本地网络实践。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will advance understanding of the importance of local ownership and culture when developing telecommunication networks in rural, low-income, indigenous communities. Using the concept of "network sovereignty" as an analytical framework, the project investigates how varying degrees of network ownership, design involvement, and technical knowledge can impact and empower marginalized communities and result in networks that are more useable and sustainable. By engaging with research in areas of critical infrastructure studies and technological literacy and by leveraging strong local partnerships, the project will build a model for understanding how telecommunication network development can best be organized to support diverse, low-income, rural communities. A particular contribution will be to convey the importance of local cultural practices to network innovation and adoption, and to describe the enabling conditions and long-term effects of such processes. There is common assumption that low-income, rural communities can benefit economically from their integration within telecommunication networks, but there is a tendency to neglect how important issues of local community deliberation, ownership, design, and culture are to such processes. When telecommunication networks are extended to "last mile" communities, how involved are members of these communities in such processes? How important is the local ownership and control of network facilities? How do local community members understand and make sense of their network integration? What do they hope to gain from such technological developments? And how have communities addressed these issues in different ways? To answer these questions researchers employ a collaborative ethnographic approach and conduct fieldwork and interviews in three diverse communities that have formed local network initiatives. Case studies include Rhizomatica in Oaxaca, Mexico, Oki Communications in the Blackfeet Indian community of Browning, Montana, and the Serengeti Broadband Network in the Mara region of Tanzania. Researchers will partner with community organizations to explore the emergence and relative success of these local network initiatives and, at the end of the project, will provide an analytical framework for evaluating such initiatives in other communities. The project also includes a workshop that enables community partners to discuss and share best local network practices with one another.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.