A break in the cloud: the local sociotechnical affordances underlying global internet infrastructures

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How did an enterprising rural community establish Internet infrastructure that later attracted Google's flagship global data center in The Dalles, Oregon? Leveraging a sociotechnical affordance perspective and a descriptive case study approach, this article examines the policies and infrastructures leading to the organizational development of a publicly-owned Internet network - QLife Network - from 2002 to 2005 that directly created the local sociotechnical affordances for Google's first data center in the world. The conceptualization and implementation of QLife Network draw on three central mechanisms that structure and reflect local sociotechnical affordances: cultivating community dialogue, prioritizing public ownership, and harnessing institutional anchors. Broadly, this article contributes to calls for localized sociotechnical agency, especially in underserved rural areas, and creates analytical room for a more multivalent story of local power and community-led stakes in the global distribution of Internet infrastructure.