Use of Digital Signage in a Distressed Community: An Example of Community Informatics

ABSTRACT

Community informatics is emerging as the framework for systematically approaching information systems from a “community” perspective. We discuss how a particular form of information technology, digital signage, was used to solve some of the problems faced by a city and a non-profit association in a distressed community. An analysis of this implementation shows that a community informatics perspective is essential to designing and implementing information and communication technologies systems for communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Community informatics
• digital signage
• information and communication technologies
• interview
• questionnaire
• social inclusion

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank the Vice President for Outreach, and College of Business, Auburn University, for providing the funding to conduct this research and purchase the desired equipment.

Notes on contributors

Jiahe Song

Jiahe Song is a Doctoral Student and Research Teaching Assistant in the Department of Aviation and Supply Chain Management at Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business. Her current research interests include organizational dynamic capabilities, health information technology, use and impact of social media, CI, and ethical decision making. Her research appeared in International Journal of Information Management and leading conference proceedings. She is a member of Association for Information Systems and Decision Science Institute. She holds an MS in Information Systems and a Bachelor in Information Systems.

Chetan S. Sankar

Chetan S. Sankar is the Harbert College of Business Advisory Council Professor of MIS and director of Geospatial Research and Applications Center (GRAC) at Auburn University. He has received over three million dollars from several National Science Foundation grants to develop exceptional instructional materials that bring real-world issues into classrooms. He has won awards for research and teaching excellence from Society for Information Management, National Engineering Education Delivery System (NEEDS), Decision Sciences Institute, American Society for Engineering Education, American Society for Mechanical Engineering, International Network for Engineering Education & Research, Computer World, Campus Technology, and the Project Management Institute. He was editor-in-chief of the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education and is managing editor of the Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research.

Paramjit Kahai

Paramjit Kahai is currently principal in The Kahai Group, LLC, a GIS firm he started in Auburn, AL. He also serves as Assistant Director of the Geospatial Research and Applications Center at Auburn University, and teaches as an adjunct. He earned a PhD in MIS from Auburn in 1994, and was a faculty member until 2007, teaching technical and managerial classes, and publishing over twenty refereed articles. As an entrepreneur, he has worked with multiple SMBs as “virtual CIO,” and provided academic and IT consulting to organizations and universities in the United States and India.

David Mixson

David Mixson directs Auburn University’s Economic Development Administration University Center and is a Certified Innovation Engineering Blackbelt. Through the Innovation Engineering Program, he assists businesses and organizations improve innovation, marketing, and business growth. David is a Professional Certified Marketer and a certified Landing Page Optimization specialist. He holds a BS in Management and an MBA from Auburn University and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute. David is vice president of the Educational Association of University Centers and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma. His previous experience includes service as Marketing Manager for the Alabama Technology Network for the Alabama affiliate of NASA’s Southeast Technology Transfer Center.