ABSTRACT
I. Introduction............................................................................................................ 522 A. Telework ......................................................................................................... 524
B. Community network research issues ............................................................. 527 1. Digital place design........................................................................................ 528
II. Methodology........................................................................................................... 529 A. Phase i: survey of telecommuters .................................................................. 529 B. Phase ii: in-depth qualitative interviews........................................................ 529 C. Phase iii: community design studios.............................................................. 530
III. Findings .................................................................................................................. 531 A. Individual factors influencing telework......................................................... 531
IV. Discussion............................................................................................................... 538 A. Home work environment: telecommuting and beyond ............................... 538 B. Community environment: a service-driven approach .................................. 539
V. Research directions ................................................................................................ 540 VI. Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 541 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... 541 References........................................................................................................................ 542
This chapter examines how digital technologies are affecting work and community, with a special emphasis on how these technologies are enacted across individual, organizational, and community levels. The specific areas of interest are virtual forms of telework and community technology applications as have been pursued in the state of Minnesota. Three waves of data collection activities were conducted: a survey of teleworkers in public and private organizations, a series of follow-on indepth interviews with telecommuters and colleagues from these organizations, and focus groups with community leaders on broader planning challenges to integrated community technology services. Findings from these waves revealed the extent to which the success of virtual activities depends on the surrounding activities by local organizational and community networks. In terms of individual teleworking, the survey results found that teleworkers had positive perceptions of their personal productivity, but that they also realized how success was dependent on supportive organizational actions. Follow-up interviewers confirmed this perception, as teleworkers, coworkers, and their managers all noted the need to undertake actions (such as regular face-to-face meetings) that attend to social networking and knowledge-sharing limitations of teleworking. Further, the community focus group findings highlighted the extent to which community success with technology deployment is in significant part due to the extent to which community participants collaborate to develop ‘‘action-oriented’’ forums for deployment. These results provide confirmation that virtual activities do not occur in isolation, but rather should be seen as part of a broader knowledge sharing and building enterprise occurring in organizations and communities.
