Sohodojo: Shamrocks and Nanocorps - 'Small is Good' B-Webs to Bridge the Digital Divide

Sustainable, local governance... its Time is Now!

We are not alone in recognizing and addressing the crying need for creativity and innovation to transform our rural and urban neighborhoods in danger of being left on the 'wrong side' of the Digital Divide.

Right here in North Carolina, home of Sohodojo, and in near-by southern Virginia are three significant resources addressing 'sustainable community' and small business economic development issues and opportunities. Check out the following:

• Rick Smyre's Center for Communities of the Future is an evolving network of people and organizations throughout the U.S. and other countries that are working in collaboration to develop new concepts of governance, economic development, and education/learning for a fast-paced, interconnected, and increasingly complex society. One of the foundations of Rick's work is helping local communities build capacities for transformation. You will find a wealth of innovative ideas and experience-based reports to help you better understand how to guide your local community into a sustainable future.

• Read "Sustaining Civic Networks: A Blueprint for Community Use of Technology", a chapter in the on-line resource Pathways to Sustainability: The Age of Transformation edited by Andrew Cohill and Joseph Kruth. Dr. Cohill is, among other things, the head of the Blacksburg Electronic Village, the world-famous on-going experiment on the impact of wiring a small town to create an electronic foundation for governance, community action and small business development.

• Effective local governance and a proactive community are incomplete without collaborative private sector investment. That's where innovative venture capital comes into play. We have an active and growing relationship with the good folks at Sustainable Jobs Fund of Durham, North Carolina. David Kirkpatrick, Anne Claire Broughton and their partners have raised a $17-million investment fund which targets job creation and business development in urban and rural communities of the Eastern United States. You can find out more about this progressive venture fund in this profile reprinted from The Triangle Business Journal.

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Solutions to the Digital Divide are not 'rescue missions' to bring folks across the Gap. We need to build bridges.

BIG social problems don't always need BIG Government or BIG Business solutions.

Paradoxically, the bridge-builders may be found in the smallest places...