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Information Renaissance is a nonprofit corporation that
promotes the use of the Internet to support the public interest.
Our goals, as discussed below, are
access,
empowerment
and inclusion:
using technology to enable people to participate more
fully in their communities and in the democratic process. We do
this by:
Access
Over the last decade the Internet has moved from a technological
curiosity to an essential feature of modern life. Individual access
to the net has exploded during this period, and initial disparities
in terms of age, sex and racial groupings have diminished, if not
disappeared. Concurrently the Internet is becoming an essential
means of accessing information and resources and a key route to
government services. This makes it inadmissible to shut any groups
out of access to this resource. Not only is simple access to the
Internet critical, but also questions of disability access, user
interfaces, language, and presentations that are accessible to users
with different levels of sophistication must be addressed.
Second, as the technology has moved forward, the definition of
basic access has begun to change. Although a majority of households
now have dialup access to the Internet, many content providers are
developing components that require broadband access for adequate
service delivery, but broadband access is much less uniformly
distributed than dialup.
Info Ren believes that the traditional model of
telecommunications access bears re-examination in light of the
dramatic service improvements and cost reductions available with
fiber infrastructure. Indeed, it is unclear if the incumbent service
providers are capable of deploying needed new infrastructure or if
basic network transport should be provided through a public utility,
with service providers layering individual services on top of this
common core.
Empowerment
We have spoken of access in terms of technology and information,
but access without empowerment and inclusion is meaningless. One
type of empowerment comes with the ability to take elements of the
technology and build them into larger systems. This involves a
transition from being a user of the technology to becoming a provider
of services that use technology. Similarly, there is an important
difference between using the network to access information and
services and using the network (and other resources) to synthesize
acquired information into knowledge that can be applied for effective
action. To this end Info Ren seeks to identify systems that can be
placed in the hands of individual users or groups of users and to
help groups create resources they can control, develop and maintain.
Other types of empowerment are heavily related to inclusion, as
discussed below - being able to take part in policy discussions,
and, importantly, having the information needed to take part as a
more equal partner in a policy discussion. The Briefing Books we
use as a part of online dialogues and the background material we
advocate for rulemakings reflect this goal.
Inclusion
The Internet is a two-way street. Although most commercial sites
on the net use network interactivity primary for the selection of
goods and services that they are selling, the possibilities of the
net are much richer. Info Ren encourages the development of
resources that allow a much broader range of individuals and groups
of individuals to compete in the marketplace of online services.
And we seek mechanisms that render existing services to more inclusive
audiences.
A particular application of this philosophy is in the area of
electronic government. Info Ren has worked for a number of
years to encourage governments to expand their electronic presence
beyond online services, such as drivers' licenses, electronic permits
or tax filing, to online participation in government. We see the
Internet as a means of generalizing the concept of a public hearing
or a public comment process. This generalization would allow more
people to take part in governmental policy-making and can enrich
the level of public discussion on these issues.
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