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Track: Local/State Government, Cadastral, Land Records
Eric Heikkila
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0042
Telephone: 213-743-2002
Fax: 213-743-2476
E-mail: heikkila@usc.edu
Tara Clapp
Information Footpaths: Grassroots Technology for Local Economic Development
In the new information economy, information technologies will assume even more importance as they become a baseline for economic participation. Not surprisingly, groups who are currently less well off have much lower rates of access to technology. There is a concern that a lack of access to new technologies may exacerbate economic and political inequities in the future. Ensuring accessibility to new information infrastructure and technologies is the focus of major local, regional, and national efforts. These efforts are necessary and commendable. However, to tap the potential of information technologies for local economic and social development, these technologies must be reoriented to local needs and interests. In this paper we introduce the concept of the information footpath and describe the history of our development of an information footpath for South Central Los Angeles. An information footpath is place-oriented, offers a detailed level of information, has a user-friendly interface, and is
supported by a geographic information system. We argue that the information footpath concept offers the integration of accessibility and usefulness necessary for local economic development.
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