Themes:
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Networking Communities

[Theme Questions]
[Essays]
[Articles and Reports]
[News Stories]
[Online Resources]

Please send in your submissions.

The primary theme for Monday, May 11 and Tuesday, May 12, 1998.

Communities of all kinds are using the Internet in exciting ways to address "real world" goals and concerns. Please share your "best of" lessons and stories of using communication technologies for socially and economically beneficial purposes.

The "Networking Communities" theme examines access and use of the Internet from a more local or group perspective. Please send your questions in via our comment form.

1. Is your neighborhood, school, town, state, or country, one of the most "wired" places on earth? Please share your insight into what has made your area's effort a success. What notable efforts have extended Internet or e-mail access to a broader population? Who is still not connected and using information and communications technologies? Overall, what impact are social and economic "gaps" in connectivity having?



2. Local content, online community interaction, and life-long learning are increasingly important reasons for broad access to the Internet. What models for sustained content development and interaction are emerging? Which community-wide efforts are models we should we learn from? Who is involved and what kinds of partnerships are required for success?



3. Sustaining resources present a significant challenge for public interest or community online efforts. What can we learn from the first generation of community-oriented Internet efforts? Since 1994, the U.S. Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) has issued around $100 million in grants based on $1.8 billion dollars in requests. Scores of foundations, corporations, and other governments, have given grants to help "wire" the world. What lessons about "networking communities" can we learn from these and other funding programs? How should the projects be evaluated?



4. With developments like digital broadcasting, high-speed home Internet connections, electronic commerce, and "virtual" communities, the information and communications environment of individuals and communities will change. What social and economic goals or concerns should be on the table for discussion as the telecommunications, media, and the computer industry converge? Who should be responsible for pursuing these goals or addressing various policy concerns?

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Essays

Essays on this theme are available in the E-Mail for All Archive.

• International Community Networking Guide - David Wilcox.
• Telecommunications for Learning - Helen Birenbaum.
• When Pigs Fly - Nathalie Goss.
• Expert Systems to Online Community - Esther Dyson.
• Telecommunity and Universal Service - Stuart Heady.
• Participatory Research - Mary Emery.
• Student Press - Laurie Becklund.
• Lessons from TIIAP Projects - Steve Downs.

Comments & Notes

• Networking Community Host Note Steven Clift.
• Networking Community General Comments 1.
• Networking Community General Comments 2.
• Networking Community General Comments 3.

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Articles and Reports

Links to articles and reports will be added throughout the event.

• Please use the submission form to nominate the best reports and articles.
• Learning the Ropes: A New Telecommunications Era in Rural America - By Vicki M. Hobbs.
• Community Networks: Bibliography and Resource Guide - Extensive links to reports and articles from Kim Gregson.
• Articles about communities online - From UK Communities Online.
• The Net Result - Social Inclusion in the Information Society Report of the National Working Party on Social Inclusion (INSINC), IBM UK.
• Down-to-earth: Community based IT initiatives and social inclusion - IBM UK.
• Making Online Forums Work for Community Networks - David R. Woolley.
• Networks for People: TIIAP at Work - Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program, U.S. Department of Commerce.
• Lessons Learned from TIIAP - Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program, U.S. Department of Commerce.
• Taub Urban Research Center - Spatial Analysis of the Internet in U.S. Cities and States; and How Telecommunications is Transforming Urban Spaces.

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News Stories

Links to recent news stories.

• To help us find more recent stories, use the submission form.
• New Survey: Generation Gap Online - Wired News.

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Online Resources

We won't recreate the wheel. Visit these "best of" sites for extensive information and background on this theme.

• Community Connector - Community Networks and Community Information Systems - From the University of Michigan.
• Non-profit CNs submissions: AzTeC (AZ), MAIN (NC), The Columbia Freenet (WA).
• States Inventory Project - states.org - State-by-state analysis.
• Telecommunications & Cities - From Taub Urban Research Center.
• Economic TeleDevelopment Forum - Community development focus.
• Resources from The Center for Civic Networking - Strong municipal focus.
• Neighborhood Networks - Public housing access effort from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• Rural resources: Affordable Access, Rural Online, Applied Rural Telecommunications, RuralTelcon 98 Conference.
• CN Associations: Association For Community Networking (US), Australian Community Networking Association, Civic Networks in Europe from EPITELIO, European Alliance for Community Networking, European Association for Community Networking, Telecommunities Canada, UK Communities Online - Others? Send them in.
• Neighborhoods Online, Community Development Learning Laboratory, CommunityNetworks - Broadband Local Networks.
• Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program of the NTIA.
• Global Banngam Challenge - Europe-based effort focused on the benefits to citizens and communities rendered by information technology.
• Some interesting efforts: Smart Valley, Connect NC and Universal Service in North Carolina, Access for All (NY), European Digital Cities, Community Voice Mail, a program of the Community Technology Institute.
• President's Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters (Official) and Benton Foundation Site.
• Bellanet - Global Development Connections.

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