Building a Digital Society Questions for Communication Researchers

Main Article Content

Catherine Middleton

Keywords

Digital Society

Abstract

This paper outlines three areas in which communication researchers can offer insights on the ongoing development of a digital society: infrastructure development, the role of mobile connectivity, and the need for better data through which to understand access to, and engagement in, digital society. The paper offers a discussion of digital society, then outlines a variety of research questions that can be explored to help shape digital society in citizen-centric ways. It concludes by noting the value of research as a means of introducing alternative perspectives to discourses about digital society.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract 43 | PDF Downloads 12

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2013. 'Internet Activity, Australia, June 2013 – Volume of Data Downloaded by Access Connection, for ISPs with More Than 1,000 Subscribers'. Accessed 5 November 2013. Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8153.0.
Australian Communications and Media Authority. 2011. 'Towards 2020–Future Spectrum Requirements for Mobile Broadband'.
Australian Government. 2013. 'Advancing Australia as a Digital Economy: An Update to the National Digital Economy Strategy'. Canberra: Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.
Cabinet Office. 2012. 'Government Digital Strategy'. United Kingdom.
Cisco. 2014. 'Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2013-2018'.
Cisco; International Telecommunication Union. 2013. 'Planning for Progress: Why National Broadband Plans Matter'. Geneva: International Telecommunication Union.
Industry Canada. 2009. 'Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians'. Accessed 18 February 2014. Available from: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/719.nsf/eng/home.
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. 2010. 'Realising The iN2015 Vision. Singapore: An Intelligent Nation, a Global City, Powered by Infocomm'. Singapore: IDA.
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. 2013. 'Fact Sheet: Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (July 2013)'. Accessed 11 August 2013. Available from: https://www.ida.gov.sg/~/media/Files/Infocomm%20Landscape/Infrastructure/Wired/NextGenNBNFACTSHEET.pdf.
International Telecommunication Union. 2013a. 'Measuring the Information Society'. Geneva: International Telecommunication Union.
International Telecommunication Union. 2013b. 'The World in 2013: ICT Facts and Figures'. Geneva: International Telecommunication Union.
Jackson, Steven J.; Edwards, Paul N.; Bowker, Geoffrey C.; Knobel, Cory P. 2007. 'Understanding Infrastructure: History, Heuristics and Cyberinfrastructure Policy'. First Monday 12 (6-4). http://dx.doi.org/10.5210/fm.v12i6.1904
Middleton, Catherine. 2013a. 'What About Wireless? An Investigation of Mobile Broadband in Fibre to the Home Environments'. Telecommunications Policy Research Conference; Arlington, VA.
Middleton, Catherine. 2013b. Beyond Broadband Access: What Do We Need to Measure, and How Do We Measure It? In Beyond Broadband: Developing Data-Based Information Policy Strategies, edited by Taylor, Richard D and Schejter, Amit M. New York: Fordham University Press. 9-22.
OECD. 2012. 'Fixed and Mobile Networks: Substitution, Complementarity and Convergence, OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 206'. Paris: OECD Publishing.
OECD. 2013. OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills. OECD Publishing.
Shepherd, Tamara; Taylor, Gregory; Middleton, Catherine. 2014. 'A Tale of Two Regulators: Telecom Policy Participation in Canada'. Journal of Information Policy 4: 1-22.
US Department of State. 2012. 'Digital Government: Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People'. Washington, DC.