InCommunity - one key topic that emerged was...

...what I would call "the role of technology in strengthening (awakening?) civic responsibility"... It was kicked off by Brian O’Connell in the context of a civic society; picked up again by John Eger on smart communities; questioned by Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid in terms of the more local and less global "rapports" (what about the local neighborhood, the family?); and it was turned “upside down” by Howard Rheingold, who has for long defended the power of technology in engaging (as in “mobil-izing") a society, through examples such as the 2000 political turmoil in the Philippines that brought down Estrada - after a public concentration in downtown Manila organized through text messaging. Talking to Dr. McCalla, he was confiding to me that he would like to have “the best of InCommunity” in a format yet to be discussed. I propose that one of the themes to be included is this, which is core to the concept of smart communities and which has been the object of tension among academics and community practitioners: how is the use of technology by communities affecting their civic engagement? Their social responsibility? Their political participation? Are smart communities necessarily more civically engaged? What does this engagment mean, at a time when other poles of action - beyond the ‘government’ - are emerging? There were many references to the recent elections, as well as to international situations like the current “shift to the left” in South America. But that will be the topic of another blog entry, solely on the mind-blowing presentation by Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid (United Nations Senior Economic Affairs Officer for Mexico and the Caribbean). Note on readings: Brian O’Connell’s latest book is Fifty Years In Public Causes: Stories From A Road Less Traveled (Civil Society). Howard Rheingold’s latest is “Multitudes Inteligentes” but the context of his interview is most related to his very popular “ Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution”. John Eger has written numerous articles on in journals such as Intermedia and Business Journal – if I would have to recommend one I would go for “Governments love it the public hates it” (Intermedia, Dec. 31, 2003) on the 2003 reinstatement of Federal Communications Commission limits on media ownership.