Austin has experienced a high-tech boom in the past ten to fifteen years that has transformed a university and state government town into one of the country\u2019s most dynamic technological environments.\u00a0 Leading the boom has been electronics manufacturing, primarily semiconductors.\u00a0 Firms such as IBM, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Motorola all have large semiconductor manufacturing plants in Austin, and IBM, Intel, and Motorola also have significant research and development (R&D) operations in the area.\u00a0 The Austin area\u2019s R&D capacity was greatly bolstered in the 1980s when two R&D consortia, the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) and Sematech, decided to locate there.\u00a0 MCC, which disbanded in 2000, was devoted to next-generation computer research. Sematech, which still exists, conducts research to improve semiconductor manufacturing technology.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
Dell Computers, founded in Austin in 1984, is a large presence in Central Texas, but its innovation has been in business practices rather than technology development.\u00a0 By creating a business model that minimizes inventory, Dell has grown to the world\u2019s second largest computer company.\u00a0 In terms of its impact on Austin, Dell has spawned so-called \u201cDellionaires\u201d\u2014people who have amassed large fortunes from skyrocketing stock options.\u00a0 Between the core of technology professionals attracted to Austin by large electronics firms or R&D consortia and Dellionaires, there has been ample talent and wealth in Austin to fuel a number of dot-com start-ups.\u00a0 And, very notably, wealth created by Dell and dot-com start-ups is beginning to be channeled into the community for social purposes.<\/p>\n\n
The city has benefited from the new wealth but it is also increasingly burdened by rapid growth.\u00a0 In Austin, the three issues that have dominated community and political debate in recent years are all related to growth: traffic congestion, environmental protection, and income inequality among citizens.\u00a0 In many communities, rapid growth brings environmental activists to the forefront, but Austin\u2019s concern with its environment predates the 1990s growth boom and is very much part of the city\u2019s political fabric.\u00a0 Issues of economic inequality have a long history as a central part of the city\u2019s political debate, without much resolution.\u00a0 However, growing technology-generated wealth, along with input from community activists, has resulted in innovative programs to improve technology access to low-income Austinites.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
Austin has been at the forefront in promoting access to the Internet for low-income people through Internet-based literacy programs and job training programs.\u00a0 City officials, in most cases prompted by community activists, have devoted energy and resources to using the Internet to reach out to citizens.\u00a0 This combination of activism and city leadership has resulted in community initiatives remarkable in their scale and scope.\u00a0 The level of Austin\u2019s activism in technology is owed mainly to its progressive government and engaged citizens, and less to the presence of technology firms in the region.\u00a0 However, Austin\u2019s high-tech community has recently begun to turn its attention to social equity issues in the city.<\/p>\n\n
Less attention has been paid to thinking of ways to use the Internet for delivery of public services, such as housing.\u00a0 Part of this is because Austin does not have a well-developed network of community development corporations that might be vehicles for delivering such services using the Internet.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
i.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b> The Austin Free-Net<\/b> <\/p>\n\n
The Austin Free-Net (AFN) is the city\u2019s most established public Internet access project and is an important node for related initiatives that have blossomed in Austin over the past six years.\u00a0 The AFN got its start in 1995 when city employees began creating a Web page for the City of Austin.\u00a0 It occurred to them that not all of Austin\u2019s citizens would have access to the information that they planned to put online, and this made public Internet access a priority.\u00a0 From the start, AFN\u2019s approach has been to provide a place for people to learn about the Internet, not just a site where computer terminals are publicly available. This was a departure from many public-access initiatives, which typically provided only computer access and free dial-up connections.<\/p>\n\n
Initially, one full-time city employee ran AFN.\u00a0 Over time, the city also provided a contract for AFN to maintain computers at libraries and community policing stations.\u00a0 However, the Free-Net by necessity has also raised funds within the community from local foundations or from companies such as Southwestern Bell, Time Warner Cable, Sematech, Excite, and Applied Materials.\u00a0 A 1996 grant from the forerunner of the U.S. Commerce Department\u2019s Technology Opportunities Program enabled the AFN to pursue a community network project in one of East Austin\u2019s poorest neighborhoods.\u00a0 The $250,000 grant, which covered about half the project\u2019s total cost, established the East Austin Community Network (EACN), connecting 11 places in the neighborhood, such as schools, libraries, job training centers, and public housing sites.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
[p]<\/p>\n\n\n
The other goal is for the EACN is to build \u201ccommunity competence.\u201d\u00a0 This means increasing the community\u2019s capacity for helping itself through the knowledge and skills learned through the Internet.\u00a0 Such increased competence could take the form of better jobs for people in East Austin or greater ease in finding places to live.\u00a0 Indeed, according to a federal evaluation of the EACN grant, increased self-esteem among community residents is cited as an important outcome.\u00a0 East Austinites who have become Internet users through AFN feel more in control of their ability to figure out what bureaucracies need from them.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
Much of AFN\u2019s early work involved establishing Internet presences at schools and libraries in Austin\u2019s low-income neighborhoods.\u00a0 State and national programs have relieved AFN of that obligation, enabling AFN to devote its efforts to helping nonprofits wire themselves in order to improve operating efficiencies.\u00a0 Where possible, AFN encourages nonprofits to make their Internet connections available to under-served people in their communities.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
As AFN approaches seven years of operation, it finds itself on a firmer funding base than it was during its infancy.\u00a0 It is also growing. AFN now boasts 34 sites throughout Austin, with 10 new sites on the drawing board.\u00a0 Demand in the community for Internet access has always been high and continues to grow, according to AFN Director Ana Sisnett. <\/p>\n\n
A new challenge that AFN faces is coordination.\u00a0 It is no longer the only Internet access initiative in Austin, and AFN must keep up with other programs so it can refer people appropriately. For example, AFN\u2019s introductory Internet courses are inadequate for people seeking high–tech jobs, so AFN refers such people to the Capital Area Training Foundation, which offers in-depth computer training.\u00a0 The success of the Free-Net, in combination with continued political pressure from Austin\u2019s technology activists, has led to the creation of additional access programs by city government.<\/p>\n\n
ii.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b> City Government Initiatives<\/b> <\/p>\n\n
Having funded the Free-Net mainly through in-kind contributions such as salaries and office space, the City of Austin has embarked on two grant programs to promote Internet access for Austin\u2019s low-income population.\u00a0 The city is also involved as a partner in a third project, funded by the state\u2019s Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF), whose objective is to provide Internet access to specific population groups.<\/p>\n\n
The first program is the Community Technology and Training Center (CTTC), until recently known as the Telecommunity Partnership Initiative.\u00a0 This initiative was conceived by the Austin Telecommunications Commission, a City Council-appointed citizens advisory panel that believed that the Internet could increase civic participation and that the city should play a role in encouraging this.\u00a0 As the initiative evolved, its focus shifted to job training, in part because of Austin\u2019s high demand for people with technology skills.<\/p>\n\n
In August 1998, the city awarded its first CTTC grant to the Capital Area Training Foundation (CATF), an arm of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.\u00a0 With the $200,000 grant, CATF began operating a computer and Internet training program in January 1999 using six classrooms and 120 computers in the evenings at a local high school.\u00a0 Some students take courses to upgrade job skills.\u00a0 Some own small businesses and want to learn how to design a Web page so they can use the Internet to advertise their business or sell a product.\u00a0 And others would like to start their own business and want to gain enough Internet skills to function in the New Economy.<\/p>\n\n
The CATF\u2019s executive director, John Fitzpatrick, says two things have surprised him about the job-training program he runs.\u00a0 First is the level of demand; classes are filled, and CATF is expanding its programs to other high schools. Fitzpatrick has also been struck by the \u201cesprit de corps\u201d of a typical CATF class.\u00a0 People talk about their Internet experiences after class and help each other troubleshoot computer problems they are having at home.<\/p>\n\n
The second City initiative, the Grant for Technology Opportunities Program (GTOP) is brand new.\u00a0 It was announced in February 2001, with applications for the $100,000 program due in March.\u00a0 GTOP is designed to fund organizations and citizens groups in Austin to:<\/p>\n\n
a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Increase points of public access to computers and information technology; <\/p>\n\n
b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Support information technology literacy, education, and training; <\/p>\n\n
c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Encourage information technology applications that support community and neighborhood planning and action;<\/p>\n\n
d)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Support access to information technologies and applications by community media groups.<\/p>\n\n
Distributed funding and community activism are the themes for GTOP.\u00a0 Where the Telecommunity Partnership Initiative directed all its funding to one organization, the goal of GTOP is to provide grants of $5,000 to $10,000 to a number of existing organizations in Austin that could benefit from bolstering their Internet capabilities.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
The third project is an effort among five entities\u2014Austin Community College, the City of Austin, Knowbility (a nonprofit that promotes Internet access to disabled people), St. Edward\u2019s University, and the University of Texas.\u00a0 This project has a two-year, $500,000 grant from the State\u2019s TIF fund to provide Internet access at five sites throughout the city.\u00a0 One site will serve the disabled and one will be aimed specifically at seniors, with the remaining sites in Austin\u2019s low-income area.\u00a0 Another part of the grant will fund community mapping, creating a database of community Internet access sites throughout Austin.\u00a0 Eventually, using GIS software, online maps of community Internet resources will be developed.\u00a0 This is similar to the initiative being carried out by Portland State University for the Portland area.\u00a0 With community access sites proliferating\u2014Austin\u2019s Parks and Recreation Department recently decided to provide public Internet access at parks throughout the city\u2014coordination is increasingly difficult.\u00a0 The mapping project will facilitate coordination simply by identifying where resources are.<\/p>\n\n
iii.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b> The Austin Learning Academy<\/b> <\/p>\n\n
While most technology initiatives in Austin have coincided with the growth of the Internet, the Austin Learning Academy (ALA) is a literacy program founded in 1988 that has transformed itself into a family-learning project that uses the Internet to promote informational literacy.\u00a0 The ALA grew out of the frustration of a small group of teachers with the educational bureaucracy of the Austin Independent School District.\u00a0 ALA founders decided to provide a place for after-school learning that would be less regimented than school and inclusive of the entire family.\u00a0 As one of the Academy\u2019s founders, Lodis Rhodes, puts it, the ALA promotes a \u201csocial learning\u201d model whereby learning occurs through rich interaction among students and teachers.\u00a0 Classrooms, Rhodes says, are among the worst places to learn; we learn more informally by working with others and observing situations.<\/p>\n\n
The ALA began using computers in its programs in 1996 as a literacy tool.\u00a0 As ALA executive director Toni Williams says, the Internet improves students\u2019 reading because they have to practice their reading just to use it.\u00a0 Because the Internet lets students go where their interests takes them, reading is fun for them, and they can read while surfing to sites they like. While there is no definitive evaluation of ALA\u2019s program yet, the Academy continues to experiment with ways to use the Internet to improve people\u2019s educational levels.<\/p>\n\n
One example is ALA\u2019s collaboration with the Children\u2019s Bookpress in San Francisco.\u00a0 Children at ALA communicate over the Internet with the author of a children\u2019s book and work with the author to develop an online book of their own. Similarly, for ALA\u2019s general education diploma program, adults develop a cyber yearbook, which requires them to practice a number of different computer skills.<\/p>\n\n
Toni Williams believes the 50 computers at the ALA\u2019s four sites attract people to its programs who otherwise would not be there.\u00a0 How much \u201ccommunity building\u201d has resulted is another question–both Williams and Rhodes say building community is a long-term process–but Williams believes the ALA has certainly helped the East Austin community.\u00a0 It serves about 400 students a year and gathers families together in news ways with a focus on education. But no one who has come through ALA has seized on the Internet as a tool for political action.\u00a0 That may be a consequence of the perception in East Austin that city leadership is still not attuned to their needs.<\/p>\n\n
As an organization, ALA continues to grow.\u00a0 It now has a $1 million annual budget, and the Dell Foundation is among those who have given it grants. The ALA also attracts national attention as a model to address gaps in technology access.\u00a0 When President Clinton focused on the digital divide at an event in East Palo Alto, Calif., last year, the ALA was one of five sites around the country online to participate in a chat with the president.\u00a0 At the state level, the ALA received visits from then-Governor Bush and his wife Laura.<\/p>\n\n
Economic growth has been rapid in Austin in recent years, fueled by computer and semiconductor firms (whose growth in part has been generated by the Internet) and dot-coms.\u00a0 Personal income in Austin rose an astonishing 14 percent in 1999 and unemployment stood at only 1.9 percent at the end of 2000.\u00a0 In a sense, the New Economy in Austin can be divided into \u201cold\u201d New Economy activities such as computer and semiconductor manufacturing and \u201cnew\u201d New Economy ones, such as software, multimedia, and Internet start-ups.\u00a0 Austin\u2019s business leaders see the region\u2019s economic future in the latter sectors, but the technological and financial resources that give this future its potential are in large measure the \u201cold\u201d New Economy companies.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
Wealth generated by Dell Computers is setting the table for the future.\u00a0 Dell\u2019s growth has helped provide capital for local venture capital firms such as Austin Ventures and Triton.\u00a0 Growing investment opportunities in technology companies have attracted additional venture capitalists from outside Central Texas. John Thornton of Austin Ventures, the city\u2019s most prominent venture capital firm, says, \u201cThe rate of change in activity in venture capital has been larger in Austin than probably anywhere else in the country.\u201d\u00a0 In 1996, venture capitalists invested $67 million in Austin; by 1999, investment had soared to $1.1 billion.<\/p>\n\n
Dell is by no means the only homegrown tech company that has spurred economic change in the city.\u00a0 Tivoli Systems, founded in 1989, develops systems management software that enables computers to link remotely regardless of software platform.\u00a0 Tivoli made its founders very rich in 1996 when IBM acquired the company for $743 million; today Tivoli employs 4,200 people worldwide, 1,600 in Austin.\u00a0 Vignette, a software company whose products enable companies to conduct business online, was established in 1995, had its initial public offering in 1998, and now has annual revenues of about $500 million.\u00a0 Finally, a number of local dot-coms have made a splash, although some of the more prominent, such as Garden.com and DrKoop.com, have been casualties of the dot-com shakeout.<\/p>\n\n
City government has also been preparing for a New Economy future in Austin with initiatives in multimedia and film.\u00a0 Austin bills itself as the \u201cLive Music Capital of the World,\u201d and city officials see the multimedia and film industries as sectors with economic growth potential that fit with Austin\u2019s artistic profile.<\/p>\n\n
i.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Austin Idea Network <\/b> <\/p>\n\n
The Austin Idea Network is a coalition of entrepreneurs and community leaders organized to engage high-tech executives in the Austin community by addressing \u201cquality of life\u201d issues facing Central Texas.\u00a0 Rapid growth is straining capacity throughout the area, with tight labor markets, crowded roads, limited and expensive housing. This is an area that takes great pride in its cultural and natural environment, and the fear is that high-tech riches will rob Austin of essential parts of its identity.\u00a0 This sense of identity is seen not just as a component of Austin\u2019s character, but also as an economic asset.\u00a0 In bringing the resources and talents of high-tech executives to bear on these issues, the Austin Idea Network issued a \u201cDeclaration of Interdependence\u201d proclaiming the high-tech community\u2019s intention to reach out to the Austin community to maintain Austin\u2019s status as a \u201ccool\u201d place to do business.<\/p>\n\n
The Idea Network had its origins in 1999 at Austin\u2019s 360 Summit, a gathering of the high-tech community that examined challenges facing the industry and sought to explore the industry\u2019s role in the Austin community.\u00a0 The summit became an annual event, and in 2000 summit attendees decided to set up an organization to help bring entrepreneurs\u2019 community enthusiasm to life.\u00a0 At the 2001 summit, the Idea Network announced four projects: promoting affordable housing, improving air quality and reducing traffic congestion, increasing access to technology, and strengthening educational resources in East Austin.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
The technology access project is called DigiKids and its objective is to improve educational achievement through home computer ownership for public school students in Austin\u2019s low-income neighborhoods.\u00a0 As a start, DigiKids will provide computers and training to teachers in a given grade level, followed by students at that grade level.\u00a0 The Capital Area Training Foundation will train both students and teachers at its centers, thereby expanding its mission, which has been devoted to job training for adults.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
The DigiKids project is in its formative stages, and funding remains unsettled.\u00a0 The Idea Network has calculated that to purchase computers for kids and teachers in one grade level in Austin public schools would cost between $10 and $15 million. For outside funding, the Idea Network will explore local and national foundations for funds, as well as wealthy individuals.\u00a0 Corporate sponsorship of classrooms or schools is another possibility.<\/p>\n\n
ii.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Austin Entrepreneurs Foundation <\/b> <\/p>\n\n
The Austin Entrepreneurs Foundation (AEF) was established in 1999 to bring the concept of \u201cequity philanthropy\u201d to Central Texas.\u00a0 Spearheaded by Bill Bock, CEO of a local software company called Dazel, the idea was to channel funds from successful entrepreneurs to social causes.\u00a0 Bock initially had the idea for something like AEF in 1997, when a friend from the Austin Community Foundation suggested that he set up a family foundation.\u00a0 Bock had accumulated significant personal wealth as chief operating officer at Tivoli Systems, as CEO after IBM acquired Tivoli, and as CEO of Dazel, a software company whose products ensure the reliable delivery of information over electronic networks.\u00a0 Upon being pitched the idea of a family foundation, it occurred to Bock that many other successful entrepreneurs in Austin might be interested in family foundations, and that they might do more good if they were organized in some fashion.<\/p>\n\n
At the same time, another Austin entrepreneur, Ingrid Vanderveldt, CEO of Dryken Technologies, was thinking of ways to help good causes.\u00a0 She asked her company\u2019s attorney to draw up the papers to give 1,000 shares of her company\u2019s stock to seven Austin nonprofits.\u00a0 The attorney, Paul Hurdlow, was aware of Bock\u2019s similar interests and suggested that the two meet.\u00a0 Because it was legally cumbersome and financially complex for nonprofits to manage gifts of equity shares, it was decided to establish the AEF to manage that process for start-up companies with philanthropic intentions.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
The AEF now has about 100 members\u2014a number that has contracted slightly as some dot-coms have shut their doors\u2014and it has gained significant capital through initial public offerings or acquisition activity by member companies. One was Bill Bock\u2019s Dazel, which was purchased by Hewlett-Packard in 1999, generating $120,000 for the AEF.\u00a0 Another member firm, Agere, was bought by Lucent, resulting in $150,000 for AEF.\u00a0 These funds have been directed to Austin charities identified by the companies themselves; the AEF does not manage its own grant making.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
The AEF\u2019s second function, which has grown in importance since the dot-com shakeout, is advising start-ups on how to manage their philanthropic impulses.\u00a0 The young founders of many start-ups simply lack information on philanthropic opportunities in the community; AEF executive director Paula Fracasso will help them identify opportunities.\u00a0 The AEF will also broker relationships between nonprofits and AEF member companies, for example by directing volunteers to causes that need them. <\/p>\n\n
iii.\u00a0\u00a0 The Digital Downtown <\/b> <\/p>\n\n
Austin\u2019s long-standing tradition of environmental activism has combined with its recent ire at growing traffic congestion to create a movement for a \u201cdigital downtown,\u201d\u00a0 a technology district that would be home to New Economy companies, residential space, and a vibrant social scene.\u00a0 An early impetus for this movement came in 1996 when the city asked a University of Texas professor to survey high-tech workers for their perspectives on Austin\u2019s livability.\u00a0 One striking finding was that many workers\u2014particularly those identified as working in multimedia\u2014said they would prefer to work downtown rather than in suburban Austin.\u00a0 At the same time, much of Austin\u2019s development was taking place to the west, an environmentally sensitive area that marks the beginning of the Texas Hill Country.\u00a0 Politically influential environmental activists were loudly arguing for limits to growth there.<\/p>\n\n
Momentum for developing a digital downtown accelerated with the election in 1996 of Mayor Kirk Watson.\u00a0 A proponent of \u201csmart growth\u201d\u2014packing business and residential development downtown\u2014Watson also wanted to be responsive to Austin\u2019s environmentalists in the community and on the City Council.\u00a0 This meant, among other things, convincing high-tech companies to abandon a traditional preference for sprawling corporate campuses that had led to the rapid development of northwest Austin.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
The digital downtown movement has scored a number of successes in Austin, in part because of $52 million in incentives that the city has offered to three large corporate construction projects downtown.\u00a0 In 1999, Computer Sciences Corporation decided to put its headquarters in Austin\u2019s warehouse district along Town Lake\u2019s north shore.\u00a0 The $161 million project will be home to 3,500 workers and be complete in 2002.\u00a0 The second large downtown corporate presence was slated to be a $124 million chip-design facility for Intel Corporation.\u00a0 The final project in the triad was to be Vignette Corporation\u2019s headquarters building, which in November 2000 received City Council approval for $25 million in incentives to build downtown.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
The dot-com downturn has knocked two legs out of this three-legged stool.\u00a0 Intel put its facility on hold in mid-construction, leaving a skeleton of a building in downtown Austin\u2014an eyesore that has irritated many citizens and public officials.\u00a0 Vignette, which employs 1,000 people in Austin and 2,500 worldwide, laid off about 15 percent of its workforce, prompting an indefinite delay indefinitely in construction of its new facility.<\/p>\n\n
The \u201cdigital downtown\u201d has not been oriented solely toward large companies.\u00a0 Small software and multimedia firms are increasingly locating downtown.\u00a0 The city also funds a business incubator designed to provide space and business services to multimedia entrepreneurs.\u00a0 This modest effort, funded at about $30,000 per year but matched with in-kind contributions from the University of Texas, has resulted in several business successes from incubator graduates.\u00a0 As an added stimulus, the city has turned over the former municipal airport to the film industry.\u00a0 The Austin Film Society will renovate old hangars to provide sound stages and offices for multimedia companies.\u00a0 The objective is to make Austin more desirable for both local and out-of-town filmmakers to shoot in Central Texas.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
An unavoidable lesson of Austin\u2019s digital downtown experience is the fragility of its dreams.\u00a0 Beyond the effect of the slowdown in the Internet economy on Intel and Vignette, the city\u2019s plans also relied on the building of a light rail system to ease automobile congestion downtown.\u00a0 Austin voters rejected a referendum to build light rail by a 2,000-vote margin in November 2000.\u00a0 For a variety of reasons, then, Austin\u2019s digital downtown may take longer than anticipated to come online.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
Austin is blessed with two indispensable elements when it comes to using the Internet for community purposes: ambition and resources.\u00a0 A tradition of community activism, a progressive city government, a core of skilled technology professionals, and riches from electronics and dot-com successes have combined to make Austin a place where the number of Internet-related undertakings is startling.\u00a0 With the Austin Free-Net at the center, other initiatives\u2014often unconnected to one another\u2014have fanned out, such as the Austin Learning Academy and the Capital Area Training Foundation.\u00a0 Help from all levels of government\u2014city, federal, and state\u2014and numerous volunteer efforts have exposed a lot of low-income people in Austin to the Internet, and the Austin Idea Network and the Austin Entrepreneurs Foundation hold the potential to bring enormous resources to this group.<\/p>\n\n
Austin\u2019s exploitation of the Internet has focused on access rather than content, a surprising finding in light of the city\u2019s substantial Internet resources.\u00a0 The CATF is mainly about increasing the supply of high-tech workers through computer and Internet literacy.\u00a0 The Austin Free-Net is one of the oldest and most expansive access projects among the five cities.\u00a0 DigiKids has access as its main goal, along with home-school communication between families and teachers.\u00a0 Access is a laudable goal in each case, but content creation is very much on the periphery.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
One reason for the comparative lack of emphasis on content in Austin is that infrastructure for community development there is not as well developed as in other places studied.\u00a0 There are relatively few community development corporations in Austin, and they do not appear to have a strong role in public debate.\u00a0 Cleveland\u2019s T2K and Portland\u2019s Bureau of Housing have partnered with community nonprofits to develop content for improved service delivery.\u00a0 This simply has not happened in Austin, due mainly to lack community infrastructure to reach into the low-income housing community.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
Still, Austin is not completely lacking in efforts to spur Internet content.\u00a0 The Austin Learning Academy\u2019s \u201cfamily learning model\u201d builds Internet competency in part through the creation of Web pages by ALA\u2019s clients.\u00a0 On the business side, the hoped-for \u201cdigital downtown\u201d looks to multimedia firms to create a vibrant central city economy.\u00a0 Austin\u2019s traditional electronics manufacturing high-tech base is diversifying into software development, suggesting that programs to develop multimedia firms hold real promise.\u00a0 Of course, much depends on capital availability.\u00a0 Although Austin has a core of homegrown venture capitalists, the dot-com downturn has dampened investment in Internet companies. <\/p>\n\n
Overall, Austin represents the huge potential and likely challenges in putting the Internet to work for community purposes.\u00a0 If social capital is thought to be broadly in decline in America, one would expect a city enjoying an Internet-driven boom and an influx of young people to demonstrate little interest in things that could even loosely be classified as social capital.\u00a0 Young people tend to be less civically engaged than older ones, and the flat-out mentality of the dot-com business culture leaves little time for anything other than work.\u00a0 However, with the Austin Idea Network and the Austin Entrepreneurs Foundation, the commitment to community building in Austin is notable.\u00a0 The objective that connects dot-com riches to Austin\u2019s east-side, low-income community is ambitious indeed.<\/p>\n\n
Even in the midst of plenty and with the commitment of high-tech entrepreneurs to community causes, profound cultural differences in Austin make realizing the city\u2019s ambitions a huge challenge.\u00a0 The divide between East Austin and the more prosperous west side has strong historical roots.\u00a0 This divide will not vanish because a coalition of high-tech executives issues a \u201cDeclaration of Interdependence.\u201d\u00a0 It is likely to take considerable effort to effect long-term change in Austin\u2019s low-income communities.\u00a0 Initiatives such as the Idea Network or the Austin Entrepreneurs Foundation are necessary but not sufficient for accomplishing the far-reaching goals articulated by the coalitions.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction Austin has experienced a high-tech boom in the past ten to fifteen years that has transformed a university and state government town into one of the country\u2019s most dynamic technological environments.\u00a0 Leading the boom has been electronics manufacturing, primarily semiconductors.\u00a0 Firms such as IBM, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Motorola all have large semiconductor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","prc_watchers":[],"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":[],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[526],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-97335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","formats-report","research-teams-internet"],"label":false,"post_parent":97463,"word_count":4640,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-3-austin\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[{"id":97463,"title":"Cities Online: Urban Development and the Internet","slug":"cities-online-urban-development-and-the-internet","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/cities-online-urban-development-and-the-internet\/","is_active":false},{"id":97472,"title":"Part 1: Introduction","slug":"part-1-introduction-16","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-1-introduction-16\/","is_active":false},{"id":97481,"title":"Part 2: Portland","slug":"part-2-portland","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-2-portland\/","is_active":false},{"id":97335,"title":"Part 3: Austin","slug":"part-3-austin","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-3-austin\/","is_active":true},{"id":97347,"title":"Part 4: Cleveland","slug":"part-4-cleveland","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-4-cleveland\/","is_active":false},{"id":97356,"title":"Part 5: Washington, D.C.","slug":"part-5-washington-d-c","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-5-washington-d-c\/","is_active":false},{"id":97367,"title":"Part 6: Nashville","slug":"part-6-nashville","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-6-nashville\/","is_active":false},{"id":97379,"title":"The Internet, Cities, and Social Capital","slug":"the-internet-cities-and-social-capital","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/the-internet-cities-and-social-capital\/","is_active":false},{"id":97385,"title":"Appendix A: Economic Profile of the Five Cities","slug":"appendix-a-economic-profile-of-the-five-cities","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/appendix-a-economic-profile-of-the-five-cities\/","is_active":false},{"id":97391,"title":"Appendix B","slug":"appendix-b-2-2","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/appendix-b-2-2\/","is_active":false}],"report_materials":"","report_pagination":{"current_post":{"id":97335,"title":"Part 3: Austin","slug":"part-3-austin","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-3-austin\/","is_active":true,"page_num":4},"next_post":{"id":97347,"title":"Part 4: Cleveland","slug":"part-4-cleveland","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-4-cleveland\/","is_active":false,"page_num":5},"previous_post":{"id":97481,"title":"Part 2: Portland","slug":"part-2-portland","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-2-portland\/","is_active":false,"page_num":3},"pagination_items":[{"id":97463,"title":"Cities Online: Urban Development and the Internet","slug":"cities-online-urban-development-and-the-internet","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/cities-online-urban-development-and-the-internet\/","is_active":false,"page_num":1},{"id":97472,"title":"Part 1: Introduction","slug":"part-1-introduction-16","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-1-introduction-16\/","is_active":false,"page_num":2},{"id":97481,"title":"Part 2: Portland","slug":"part-2-portland","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-2-portland\/","is_active":false,"page_num":3},{"id":97335,"title":"Part 3: Austin","slug":"part-3-austin","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-3-austin\/","is_active":true,"page_num":4},{"id":97347,"title":"Part 4: Cleveland","slug":"part-4-cleveland","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-4-cleveland\/","is_active":false,"page_num":5},{"id":97356,"title":"Part 5: Washington, D.C.","slug":"part-5-washington-d-c","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-5-washington-d-c\/","is_active":false,"page_num":6},{"id":97367,"title":"Part 6: Nashville","slug":"part-6-nashville","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/part-6-nashville\/","is_active":false,"page_num":7},{"id":97379,"title":"The Internet, Cities, and Social Capital","slug":"the-internet-cities-and-social-capital","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/the-internet-cities-and-social-capital\/","is_active":false,"page_num":8},{"id":97385,"title":"Appendix A: Economic Profile of the Five Cities","slug":"appendix-a-economic-profile-of-the-five-cities","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/appendix-a-economic-profile-of-the-five-cities\/","is_active":false,"page_num":9},{"id":97391,"title":"Appendix B","slug":"appendix-b-2-2","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2001\/11\/20\/appendix-b-2-2\/","is_active":false,"page_num":10}]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Cities Online: Urban Development and the Internet","parent_id":97463},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Part 3: Austin","description":"Introduction Austin has experienced a high-tech boom in the past ten to fifteen years that has transformed a university and state government town into one of the country\u2019s most dynamic…","og_title":"Part 3: Austin","og_description":"Introduction Austin has experienced a high-tech boom in the past ten to fifteen years that has transformed a university and state government town into one of the country\u2019s most dynamic…","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":[],"custom_schema":[],"og_image":0,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"No image blocks in content.","data":null},"prc-about-this-research":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add an \"About this research\" details block.","data":null},"prc-paragraph-count":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 57 paragraphs.","data":{"count":57}},"prc-internal-link":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add at least one internal link.","data":{"count":0}}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97335"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134083,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97335\/revisions\/134083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=97335"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=97335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}