Community informatics (CI), also known as
community networking,
electronic community networking,
community-based technologies,
community technology or
grassroots computing refers to an emerging field of investigation and practice concerned with information and communication technology (ICT) in relation to communities and their social, cultural, service development, economic and other dimensions. It is formally located as an academic discipline within a variety of academic faculties including
Information Science,
Information Systems,
Computer Science,
Planning,
Development Studies, and
Library Science among others and draws on insights on community development from a range of backgrounds and disciplines. It is a cross- or interdisciplinary approach interested in the utilization of ICTs for different forms of community action, as distinct from pure academic study or research about ICT effects.