My research focuses on community adoption of technology. We’re studying areas of the world where technology hasn’t been widely adopted—primarily emerging economies, but also low-income communities in the developed world. In 2006, my work will take me to Chicago, Native American reservations, and communities in China, South Africa, and India. We’re interested in learning what it is that people in communities that have not yet adopted technologies need, and how technology can help them to meet those needs. What can technology offer that is of value to them? What could make a difference in their lives? By answering these questions, we can help to ensure that Intel builds technology and supports a technology ecosystem that is relevant to the way people really live.

Our research is being done in collaboration with Intel Research Berkeley, which is conducting related research as part of the TIER* [Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions] project. TIER is focused on installing technology infrastructure in emerging regions of the world. Our research is exploring what people would use the infrastructure for, in low-infrastructure, low-income communities anywhere in the world.

One neighborhood we’re studying is North Lawndale, a low-income community on the west side of Chicago. North Lawndale is getting a world class wireless network installed at no cost to the community, through a grant to the Center for Neighborhood Technology* [CNT], using open source mesh software supported by the Open Society Institute.* In order to make use of the network, community residents must have a computer and some form of Wi-Fi capability.

I’ve been working closely with CNT, talking with residents to learn what they understand about the new wireless technology that’s available to them. I’ve been talking to community activists, residents who have adopted the technology, and people who have no plans to adopt it.

For residents who are already using the wireless network, the primary reason is to have Internet connectivity so their children will have access to educational resources. Other people told me that convenience was a big factor in adopting the technology. For instance, I spoke with a disabled veteran who is using the technology to deal with the VA and other agencies.

Many residents of North Lawndale don’t think of their streets as safe, and they view the new technology as a way to enable them to stay safely inside. However, virtually everyone we talked with also thought that the new wireless network would ultimately make their neighborhood a better, safer place to live, because it would bring economic development to the neighborhood and would give kids who really didn’t have a chance of getting jobs access to educational materials and job skills training. They also felt that with online activities accessible, the kids who had been on the streets causing trouble would now have a reason to stay inside that made sense to them. Perhaps more importantly, the people of North Lawndale do not experience their community as a collection of those things it lacks. Rather, they think of the community as a vibrant area with considerable interest. We are working to ensure that the “face” of this network respects that vision and gives community residents an experience that reflects the community as they see it.

That’s one portion of our domestic research into community adoption. In terms of emerging regions, one community we’re focusing on is Huangbaiyu, China. This is a model community that was established in conjunction with the government, as part of an effort to raise the standard of living in rural China. Huangbaiyu will be a model village for this effort. It’s a joint development project between China and the US. and it’s partially funded by Intel

As part of the research effort, Intel is paying an anthropology student from UC Berkeley to live in Huangbaiyu for a year and report on her findings to us. So far, we’ve learned that people in Huangbaiyu believe that having a computer might help them, but they aren’t quite sure how. There’s a need to educate the community’s residents about what the computer could do that would really make a difference for their lives. For example, we’ve found that many families in Huangbaiyu have a family business. As an outsider, it’s easy to see how technology might help a family business to generate more income. For example, in the hills around Huangbaiyu, there are many pear trees and hazelnut trees, but nobody collects the pears or nuts to sell, because within the village there’s no market for them. Everyone in the village can gather them, and the village stores charge very little money for them.

But if the villagers could gather the pears and hazelnuts and transport them to a city where they could be sold, that could increase their income. But finding someone with a truck is a huge issue, and I don’t think the residents are aware that they probably could use a computer to do that. They could also use the computer to find the best markets for their products.

While this example shows the potential benefits of computing to low-income communities, we found two barriers to technology adoption. One is that most people in the communities we’re studying don’t understand technology because they haven’t had much exposure to it. The great science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke wrote that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” To people who haven’t been exposed to technology—especially to an invisible wireless network—it could seem like something that cannot be understood, and that could make them hesitant to adopt it.

An even more serious barrier to technology adoption is a lack of trust. If you don’t understand a technology, then whether or not you adopt it may depend on whether you believe that it’s in your best interest. In both North Lawndale and Huangbaiyu, many residents were skeptical that adopting technology was in their best interests. They mistrust the people who are bringing technology to their community because they are outsiders, not locals. Experience has taught them to be distrustful of outsiders. The technology community must address this issue of trust if we are to succeed in our efforts to bring technology to new communities and improve their standard of living.

Richard Beckwith is a Research Psychologist with Intel’s People and Practices Research group. Prior to joining Intel, Beckwith was a Research Faculty member at Northwestern University, focusing on research in support of technology design. Before that, he was a Research Scientist at Princeton University. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental and Educational Psychology from Columbia University.

Beckwith has taught courses in qualitative methods, language acquisition, and theories of human development as well as conducted various seminars. His recent research on the topic of what must be done in order to enable ubiquitous computing was presented at Pervasive Computing 2005.