| Community-based organizations (CBOs) across the United States use information technologies (IT) to analyze diverse problems occurring in their social and physical environment in areas such as housing, economic development, and crime prevention. They expect that resulting IT-based analyses will enhance their service delivery, community outreach, advocacy, or mobilization activities. This study examines the relationships between IT and community-based decision making processes, focusing on their collective impacts on community development.;Information technologies, characterized by their reliance of digital data and their capacity to sustain complex electronic networks have potential to serve as decision support systems. In this study, IT are defined as text-based communications technologies, spatial mapping and analysis technologies, and interactive display and presentation technologies.;There is little research-based evidence regarding the impacts of IT adoption and use by CBOs. Therefore, this study investigates the use of IT among four CBOs in two cities, Boston and Chicago. The study examines IT's role in decision-making; IT's impacts on participatory processes; and the extent to which IT enable and sustain organizational leadership. The study uses open-ended interviews with key staff members, technology consultants, and community leaders at each case study site as the primary data source, supported by on-site observations and archival research. Information is analyzed using qualitative data analysis techniques.;The study finds that IT play a significant role in the development of a CBO's knowledge base about its constituents. IT assist CBOs in re-framing problems and influencing negotiations; support CBO's efforts to develop participatory processes that are relevant to community needs; and enhance CBO's capacity to work in partnerships and create strategic alliances with government and the private sector.;The study's findings explain why certain CBOs developed the ability to harness the power of information technologies while transcending their shortcomings. A unifying theme, empowerment (the process and outcome of critical reflective practice) links organizations that developed this capacity. The study's conclusions suggest that IT can play a prominent role in supporting critical reflective practice because of their capacity to integrate formal, technical data with everyday life experiences and concerns of citizens. |
