Management of Broadband Technology and Innovation: Policy, Deployment, and Use

When one considers broadband, the Internet immediately springs to mind. However, broadband is impacting society in many ways. For instance, broadband networks can be used to deliver healthcare or community related services to individuals who don't have computers, have distance as an issue to contend with, or don't use the internet. Broadband can support better management of scarce energy resources with the advent of smart grids, enables improved teleworking capacity and opens up a world of new entertainment possibilities. Yet scholarly examinations of broadband technology have so far examined adoption, usage, or diffusion but missed exploring the capacity of broadband networks to enable new applications, the management aspects of funding and developing broadband-enabled services, or the policy environment in which such networks are developed. This book explores a wide range of issues associated with the deployment and use of broadband including its impacts on individuals, organizations, and society, and offers a generalist understanding of the technical aspects of broadband.

Management of Broadband Technology and Innovation offers insights on broadband from the perspectives of Information Systems, Management, Strategy, and Communications Policy scholars, drawing on research from these disciplines to inform diverse aspects of broadband deployment, policy, and use. Issues associated with a subject technical in nature, but now researched in many ways, are emphasised. This book explains various softer aspects of broadband deployment and use, focusing on the benefits of broadband rather than on details of the technology.

Dr. Jyoti Choudrie is a Reader of Information Systems in the Business School, University of Hertfordshire, UK and leads the research unit Systems, Management Research Unit (SyMRU). Prior to this she was Operations Director of the Brunel Broadband Research Center at Brunel University, UK.

Dr. Catherine Middleton holds a Canada Research Chair in Communication Technologies in the Information Society at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. Her research focuses on the development and use of new communication technologies, with specific interests in mobile devices and fixed and wireless broadband networks. Dr. Middleton is a member of the GRAND Networks of Centres of Excellence project, and is the Leader of the New Media Challenges and Opportunities research theme. She also leads the GRAND Digital Infrastructures project. Dr. Middleton teaches Innovation and Organization Theory in the MBA/MMSc program in the Ted Rogers School of Management, and teaches and supervises students in the Communication and Culture graduate program.