Rissler publishes research on community-centered digital infrastructure for refugee services

Grant Rissler, assistant professor of organizational studies and chair of the SPCS department of interdisciplinary and professional studies, published “Reimaging Information Architecture: Community-Centered and Collaborative Digital Infrastructure in Refugee Service Ecosystems” in Computers and Composition.

Abstract

Responding to how fragmented information architectures perpetuate communication barriers and hinder service delivery and cross-sector collaboration, we identified a need for a reimagined and centralized database to map services for newcomer refugee populations in the state of Virginia. Through a multi-institutional research consortium with resettlement agencies, migrant advocates, and education institutions, we secured funding to develop a “Resettlement Services for New Americans in Virginia” database and accompanying website that reimagines how information about refugee services is produced, organized, and accessed by centering community voices and knowledge in design. By collating disparate resources into one database and iterating based on community feedback, our initiative supports not just service delivery and stakeholder collaboration, but refugee integration outcomes.

In this paper, we describe our project and showcase how digital tools can transform communication across nonprofit, government, and grassroots organizations while centering community voices in design processes. Our work investigates how centralized digital infrastructure can reshape rhetorical and digital practices in service ecosystems and enhance collaborative knowledge sharing across boundaries.