Exploring the Future of the Digital Divide Through Ethnographic
Monty Solomon
by Matthew M. Mitchell
Abstract
This study examines leaders who work for social change in an
information society. Grounded in the notion that leadership and social
change are necessarily future oriented, this study attempts to learn
how those who lead the effort to ameliorate the digital divide in
Washington State perceive the optimistic, pessimistic, and most
probable futures. In this study, the digital divide is framed as a
social problem that is caused, in part, by inequities in the ability
to access and to use information communication technologies. Further-
more, this study is concerned that the digital divide impacts the
opportunities for participation in social and economic arrangements,
which may be a threat to social and economic justice.
Although the scope of the digital divide is global, this study narrows
its focus in three ways. First, the digital divide is explored only
within the context of Washington's sociocultural system. Second, only
the perspectives of those who lead efforts to bridge the digital
divide were sought. Third, only perceptions and cognitions of possible
future sociocultural systems were explored.
The method used in this study is called Ethnographic Futures Research
(EFR). EFR is a type of ethnography adapted for use in studying
perceptions of a culture's future. Thirteen individuals who lead
various efforts to bridge the digital divide in Washington State were
interviewed using the EFR method. In each interview, three possible
scenarios (optimistic, pessimistic, and most probable) of Washington
State's sociocultural system set in the year 2016 were elicited. The
interviewees then provided recommendations of what action is required
to render the optimistic scenario more probable by the year 2016. The
digital divide was discussed within the context of the future
sociocultural systems described in the three scenarios and the
recommendations.
The findings of this study include a) multiple definitions of the
digital divide; b) descriptions of the forces perceived to be driving
the digital divide; and, c) suggestions for future efforts to
ameliorate the digital divide. A general discovery made by this study
is that significant optimism exists that Washington State will build
and maintain a more just and equitable sociocultural system in the
future.