After September 11th: how organisations used the internet in recovery - the conflicting effects of communications and community in Lower Manhattan

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i-Studio 5 seminars, series two. Seminar 1: 26 November 2002

David Berman, Columbia University

With the stunning loss of telecommunications and physical space following the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, affected organisations and affiliated parties turned to the internet as a primary avenue for the exchange of information. Paramount to the internet's central role were three overarching factors: the social acceptance of the internet as a channel for information exchanges, the inherent legitimacy of an organisation's web page as a destination for information, and the ability of the internet to maintain functional integrity in the face of limited communication options.

Broadly defined, five dominating foci of exchange emerged around personnel safety, office relocation, resource availability, solvency, and re-establishing contacts. This seminar presents how organisations employed the internet in the aftermath of September 11th and why the internet emerged and excelled over competing options.

September 11th offered an unprecedented use and reliance on internet communication that stated an implicit, if not explicit, declaration of trust in the use of home pages, email and virtual environments to exchange information and solicit needs. As innovation in internet communication continues and organisations are forced to rethink physical concentration, the findings of this work challenge the traditional literature on organisational forms that emphasise hierarchical structures and physical proximity as the standard by which organisations operate.