Liza Hopkins
Much time and money has been committed by governments, private business and
the third sector over the last five years in establishing opportunities for
underserved populations to gain access to new forms of information and communication
technologies, in an effort to overcome the so-called ‘digital divide’.
This paper traces the efforts which have been made to establish a networked
community at a single high rise public housing estate in inner Melbourne, Australia,
and considers some of the potential opportunities for and barriers to ensuring
the continuity of the network, which is large, complex, costly and potentially
fragile, into the future.