LA COSTRUZIONE PARTECIPATA DI INFRASTRUTTURE ICT. UNA OCCASIONE PER LO SVILUPPO LOCALE

ICT diffusion in the territorial systems (measured in terms of infrastructures and spread of use among local - social and economic actors) is considered as an essential precondition in order to design effective and sustainable strategies for local development and economic growth. Objectives, indicators and strategies have been defined at both European and national level, in order to support an adequate level of ICT diffusion. The paper aims to investigate institutional and social mechanisms that can enhance the achievement of these objectives. For this purpose, a number of local experiences of development of wireless infrastructures have been analyzed. They are carried out in three different Piedmont geographical areas characterized by a considerable digital divide. These experiences have been successful under manifold perspectives (infrastructural, social and economic) and point out that participative and cooperative organizational settings may be a crucial strength in these processes. These settings were built on the basis of the participatory nature of technology itself (Wi-Fi) and supported the starting-up and strengthening of social practices. These have resulted crucial to activate and add values to local development resources. Thus, the results of the analysis can be considered effective in terms of comprehension of the links between ICT and local development and of the mechanisms for optimizing the employment of resources available for infrastructuring. They can also result a useful reference in designing policies in this field.