Really new localism

Knowledge Politics' blog is back after an enforced layoff. The more observant among you will have noticed the change of setting.

Our absence has coincided with some interesting information society-related developments, in particular regarding the global/local relationship. Norwich put the final touches on its free wi-fi initiative, following a path set by some US cities and certainly showing the way forward for others in Britian. This comes weeks after an achievement gaining less recogition, when Sunderland was recognised nationally for its success in enhancing social inclusion through the application of information technology - including extra support for carers and disabled people. And recently we heard more about campaigns in some major cities (London included) for the creation of a new top-level domain for that city (i.e. a website might end in .london rather than .uk).

For me this all shows the importance of local political action in advancing the information society. Some of it is fantastic, like in Sunderland, while some of it might be relatively meaningless, like the London campaign. But overall it reveals that locality (and local government) will remain vital components of an information society.

What we are seeing are local solutions to national or global issues. This happens in many other policy areas, such as the environment, and there is no reason why it can't happen for the information society too. This is a theme we'd like to explore further in our work, and we're open to suggestions as to how we might do this.

RB