Designed for work, but not from here

Abstract

While workers in an urban environment typically enjoy full speed, always available, broadband access, those in rural and remote environments do not necessarily have access to the same level of service. In this paper we describe insights from a qualitative study examining the benefits and continued challenges of using networked technologies for work purposes in rural and remote communities. Our findings indicate that work in these areas increasingly depends on networked technology to support in-situ and geographically distributed work practices, and to ameliorate health and safety issues, but that participants experience significant challenges in obtaining signal access and stability. We discuss implications for design and future research that arise from our findings.