Neighborhood associations will probably flourish as people discover the ability to address common concerns like crime, public services, and property transactions (and gossip!). Ultimately, local governments may be the most impacted by an increase in grassroots associations. Finally, the most pressing task in promoting grassroots democracy is to diffuse Internet technology. The major barriers lie less in public policy or economics than in simply teaching people how to use the technology.
Predictor: Klein, Hans
Prediction, in context:Hans K. Klein, the New England director for Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and the leader of the Policy Track at INET ’95, made the following statement in a research presentation at INET ’95, the Internet Society’s 1995 International Networking Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, June 27-30. At the time, he was completing a Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s program in Technology, Management, and Policy. Klein says: ”New associations are … likely to appear. At the very local level the Internet’s impact should be quite powerful; neighborhood associations will probably flourish as people discover the ability to address common concerns like crime, public services, and property transactions (and gossip!). Ultimately, local governments may be the most impacted by an increase in grassroots associations. Finally, the most pressing task in promoting grassroots democracy is to diffuse Internet technology. The major barriers lie less in public policy or economics than in simply teaching people how to use the technology. As individuals and community centers learn about the technology and then begin applying it in their activities, a broad array of creative uses can be expected to appear.”
Date of prediction: June 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Virtual Communities
Name of publication: ISOC INET '95 (conference)
Title, headline, chapter name: Grassroots Democracy and the Internet: The Telecommunications Policy Roundtable – Northeast USA
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.isoc.org/HMP/PAPER/164/txt/paper.txt
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney