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   The past decade has seen a rise in the availability of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) for developing smart societies and communities. However, the smart divide, characterized by inequalities in ICT infrastructures, software access, and individual capabilities, remains a significant barrier for rural communities. Limited empirical studies exist that explore what and how ICT infrastructures can be developed to bridge the smart divide. The paper aimed to address rural broadband access in the context of infrastructural dimensions of smart divide (i.e., smart infrastructural divide) in the United States, focusing on the wireless network infrastructure’s role in narrowing the gap. It examined the broadband specifications needed for smart applications like smart education and telehealth, emphasizing the importance of wireless network capabilities. While fixed broadband offers higher speeds, wireless networks can support many smart applications with decent flexibility and ease of access. To further understand the implications of wireless broadband to rural communities, we conducted a case study in Carbondale and Cairo, two rural towns in Southern Illinois, using on-site user-inspired speed testing. An Android application was developed to measure download/upload speeds and Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) for broadband quality. Results suggest both Carbondale and Cairo experienced below-average speeds with high variability among census blocks, which highlights the need for improved wireless network infrastructure. The paper culminated in the technological and policy recommendations to narrow down the smart infrastructural divide. 

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   While equity in climate adaptation is increasingly recognized, university-based research can inadvertently reinforce inequities. This paper examines a partnership between Homies Helping Homies, a South Philadelphia mutual aid organization, and university researchers to document climate impacts on low-income and marginalized communities. Inequities often arise when research fails to engage communities, overlooks relevant concerns, lacks trust, or misinterprets responses due to insufficient cultural understanding. Mutual aid organizations, inherently community-based, foster resilience and solidarity, addressing unmet needs while building collective trust. Anchored in Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), we adopt a reflexive, co-produced approach that foregrounds positionality, reciprocity, and shared decision-making. This approach transformed the researcher-community relationships, leveled hierarchies, and addressed the gaps in familiarity among researchers and other actors. By centering everyday experiences of heat, flooding, and resource scarcity, the collaboration revealed how local knowledge and trust networks shape risk perception and adaptive behavior. The case demonstrates how mutual aid organizations can serve as both community resilience infrastructure and methodological partners in producing usable, justice-oriented climate knowledge. We argue that embedding research within reciprocal, care-centered relationships enhances the legitimacy, ethics, and transformative potential of climate risk management, particularly in urban contexts marked by systemic inequity. 

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   Ahumada-Newhart, Veronica; Maya Hernandez, J.; Badillo-Urquiola, Karla (May 2021, ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '21))

   Digital technologies shape how individuals, communities, and soci- eties interact; yet they are far from equitable. This paper presents a framework that challenges the “one-view-fits-all” design approach to digital health tools. We explore systemic issues of power to eval- uate the multidimensional indicators of Latino health outcomes and how technology can support well-being. Our proposed frame- work enables designers to gain a better understanding of how marginalized communities use digital technologies to navigate unique challenges. As an innovative and possibly controversial approach to assets-based design, we stress the importance of in- dustry and academia self-reflection on their organization’s role in the marginalization of communities in addition to valuing the lived experiences of marginalized communities. Through this approach, designers may avoid amplifying structural and health inequities in marginalized communities. 

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5. A call for action: Conceptualizing assets-based inclusive design as a social movement to address systemic inequities. An assets-based inclusive design framework.

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5214196  

   Ahumada-Newhart, V; Hernandez, M.J; Badillo-Urquiola, K. (May 2021, CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts)

   null (Ed.)

   Digital technologies shape how individuals, communities, and soci- eties interact; yet they are far from equitable. This paper presents a framework that challenges the “one-view-fits-all” design approach to digital health tools. We explore systemic issues of power to eval- uate the multidimensional indicators of Latino health outcomes and how technology can support well-being. Our proposed frame- work enables designers to gain a better understanding of how marginalized communities use digital technologies to navigate unique challenges. As an innovative and possibly controversial approach to assets-based design, we stress the importance of in- dustry and academia self-reflection on their organization’s role in the marginalization of communities in addition to valuing the lived experiences of marginalized communities. Through this approach, designers may avoid amplifying structural and health inequities in marginalized communities. 

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