Susan;
I thought the following might be of interest to Vision 2020
participants. Since I don't have everyone's address in my "address book",
I'll let you send it back out to the others.
Pat's listserve project sounds like a great idea!
Joel Hamilton
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Subject: CCN Update #1: 1994 In Review, What We Plan for 1995
CCN Update #1: 1994 In Review, What We Plan for 1995
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In 1992, we started The Center for Civic Networking to put
information infrastructure to work within local communities - to
foster civic participation in governance, sustainable community
economic development, and delivery of non-profit and government
services. We feel it's now time to report on what we've been up
to, and tell you a little about what we plan for 1995.
In the future, we plan to issue CCN Updates on a regular basis.
If you'd like to receive future copies, send email to
majordomo@civic.net, containing the single line:
subscribe ccn-announcements
Contents:
* Cambridge, Massachusetts: A Civic Networking Testbed
* Helping Communities Develop Local Civic Networking Programs
* Networking Services for Civic Projects
* Helping Communities Build Local Information Infrastructure
* Helping to Frame Telecommunications Policy
Cambridge, Massachusetts: A Civic Networking Testbed
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Starting in 1992, we've been working on a collection of projects
within the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts. These projects
serve as testbeds for civic networking concepts, as demonstration
projects that can be replicated in other communities, and as
precursors to new, self-sustaining infrastructure supporting
civic life in Cambridge.
Cambridge is an ideal place to develop civic networking models.
It's a mid-sized city of 100,000 residents - neither too small to
present a challenge nor too large to allow manageable projects.
It's an urban community challenged by wide demographic diversity
- ranging from university students and high technology
professionals to blue-collar workers, a full range of ethnic
minorities, and a growing immigrant population from poorer
countries. Cambridge leads the world in the deployment of local
information infrastructure - allowing experimentation with
technological support for civic networking, and Cambridge is
blessed with an accessible and cooperative municipal government.
Finally, Cambridge is a central community within the Greater
Boston and New England regions, providing a basis for developing
models of regional civic networking.
CCN's approach in Cambridge has focused first on forming
relationships with key individuals and organizations within the
Cambridge community, second on working with others to catalyze
and support a program of city-wide civic dialogue, and is now
helping to catalyze and support specific civic projects emerging
from this dialogue.
CCN co-founded, and co-sponsors the Cambridge Civic Forum, a
series of ongoing meetings that bring together Cambridge
residents to discuss civic issues. Our co-sponsors are the
Cambridge Center for Adult Education, the Cambridge Multicultural
Arts Center, and the Sustainable Cambridge Coalition. Our own
Dr. John Altobello serves as day-to-day Program Director. At its
core, the Cambridge Civic Forum's goal is democracy building.
The Civic Forum provides non-partisan common ground, where
diverse individuals and groups from Cambridge's neighborhoods,
civic organizations, government departments, business and
institutional leaders, and others to learn from each other, hear
and be heard, share visions and concerns, engage in constructive
dialogue, develop mutual interests and partnerships, and enjoy
the richness of the community. The Forum provides opportunities
to think about and organize around issues raised by others within
the community. Since 1992, we've co-organized four quarterly
Cambridge Civic Forums. During 1995, along with our co-sponsors,
we plan to continue and expand the program.
In parallel with our work on the Cambridge Civic Forum, we've
been involved in a number of information infrastructure projects
that support civic dialogue and action. To date, this work has
focused on setting the stage for applying technology. We're now
beginning to put the technology to use within the context of
several specific projects that have emerged from our work on the
Civic Forum. Under the overall name of the Cambridge Civic
Network we:
- Initiated and led a project that placed public access
Internet terminals in the Cambridge Public Library.
Cambridge is now the first public library in the country to
have Mosaic and high-speed Internet access available as a
routine reference room service. In support of this project,
we won an award under Apple Computer's Apple Library of
Tomorrow Program, which provided the computers for this
project, for several libraries on Cape Cod, and several
machines we use internally. PSICable - a joint venture of
Continental Cablevision and PSI that provides the first
commercially available Internet-over-cable service in the
country - provided the Library a grant of network
connectivity. You can examine the Library's user interface
at
http://www.civic.net:2401/cambridge_civic_network/libcopy/loc
alhome.html
- Created an on-line server for distributing civic
information of interest to the Cambridge community. The
Cambridge Civic Network web page is accessible via the
Library URL given directly above - as are companion pages
containing general information about Cambridge (developed
by MIT) and City Government information (developed by
Cambridge's MIS department). The Cambridge Civic Network
is also available by gopher, at gopher.civic.net, port
2400, path: 1/bccambridge_civic_network
- Initiated a project to link together Cambridge's
Neighborhood Watch groups with each other and with the
Police Department's Community Oriented Policing office.
During 1995, we plan to continue, expand, and add to these
efforts. We also plan several new activities. Starting in early
1995:
- Launch the "Cambridge Town Crier," a daily civic newsletter
of announcements, event listings, calls for comment on public
issues, and other community oriented information. The Town
Crier will be distributed both electronically and in print
form. We are developing a variety of partnerships and
sponsorship arrangements that we hope will provide a
sustainable and replicable model for funding civic networking
at the community level.
- Begin several economic development projects to promote
Cambridge's arts and small business communities via network -
within Cambridge, and where appropriate, regionally,
nationally, and internationally.
- Assist Cambridge Civic organizations in obtaining and using
their own Internet access and we will be exploring ways to
develop additional public access Internet sites around
Cambridge.
- Developing models by which both the Cambridge Civic Forum and
the Cambridge Civic Network support City-led planning efforts
- notably the City's Growth Policy Planning process and
preparation of the annual "Comprehensive Plan" now required
by HUD as part of block grant submissions. Cambridge's City
Council formally recommended that the Cambridge Civic Forum
play a role in the Growth Planning process.
Helping Communities Develop Local Civic Networking Programs
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In addition to our work in Cambridge, we have engaged in several
activities designed to help communities around the country
develop their own civic networking programs:
- We operate Internet Web and Gophers servers that
disseminate information about Civic Networking. These can be
found at either http://www.civic.net:2401 and
gopher://gopher.civic.net:2400. Information on all of our
activities and projects is accessible on these servers.
- We are preparing documents that summarize our experiences in
Cambridge, sufficient to assist other communities in
replicating our Cambridge programs, without having to relearn
all of the lessons encountered during our prototype work. We
are currently beginning reports on our Cambridge Public
Library Internet project and the Cambridge Civic Forum.
These reports will be available on our Internet servers and
we are seeking support for publication and dissemination of
printed versions.
- In collaboration with the Institute for the Study of
Civic Values, we maintain the "Civic-Values" email list. To
subscribe, send email to majordomo@civic.net containing the
line: subscribe civic-values
- We manage the "Sustainable-Development" email list, a
primary focus for on-line discussion about developing
sustainable communities. This list is the first step toward
a "Sustainable Development Information Network," a
preliminary version of which is accessible through our
servers. To subscribe, send email to majordomo@civic.net
containing the line: subscribe sustainable-development
In January 1995, we plan to assemble an on-line Collegium for
practitioners engaged in local civic dialogue projects like the
Cambridge Civic Forum. There are an increasing number of such
projects around the country, but there is not, as yet, any
vehicle for grass-roots practitioners to compare notes, exchange
experiences, and collaborate for mutual support. We are pleased
that Ken Thomson will be assisting with this activity - Ken is a
CCN co-founder, Chairman of our Board of Directors, and a co-
author of "The Rebirth of Urban Democracy" (Brookings Institution
Press, 1993), the most definitive study to date of local civic
participation programs. Look for an invitation to participate
early in January, or send email to ccn@civic.net
Later in 1995, building on the Collegium, we plan a series of on-
line seminars and other programs to help communities in planning
and developing their own civic participation programs.
Networking Services for Civic Projects
----------------------------------------------
To support our servers and email lists, we've developed
relationships with several vendors of "industrial-strength"
computing services on who's facilities we run our on-line
services - insuring that we can maintain high quality, reliable
services on an ongoing basis. We have arranged a combination of
service donations and special pricing which we are also able to
make available to other civic organizations.
We currently subsidize servers and/or email lists for the
Institute for the Study of Civic Values, the Communitarian
Network. the National Community Development Association, and the
American Civic Forum.
On a consulting basis, we have been chosen by the Federal Trade
Commission to develop a gopher server, and by the Associated
Grantmakers of Massachusetts and the Merrimack River Initiative
to provide consulting in support of their own information network
development projects. Our Sustainable Development Information
Network project has been selected as the on-line information
dissemination vehicle by the international Consortium for
Information on Sustainable Development.
During 1995, we will continue and expand our capabilities to
deliver on-line information for ourselves and other
organizations. If your organization is looking for server space,
consulting support, or a partner in a government contract bid,
send email to mfidelman@civicnet.org
Helping Communities Build Local Information Infrastructure
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For a community to put information infrastructure to work, it is
first necessary to have localinformation infrastructure in the
first place. We are engaged in several activities to help
communities develop such local information infrastructure:
- CCN started and operates the Municipal Telecommunications
electronic mailing list, a forum for municipal
telecommunications officials involved in the planning of
local information infrastructure. To subscribe, send email
to majordomo@civic.net containing the line: subscribe muni-
telecom
- Miles Fidelman, our President and Director of Civic
Networking Services, maintains an active writing, speaking
and consulting schedule focusing on local information
infrastructure issues. His article, "Life in the Fast Lane:
A Municipal Roadmap for the Information Superhighway,"
provides advice on how cities and towns can plan their own
information infrastructure. The article, first published by
the Massachusetts Municipal Association, and reprinted by the
Oregon League of Cities, is available on our servers.
- In January, we plan to initiate several on-line services to
assist municipal network planners, with a particular focus on
negotiating for data services as part of cable television
franchise renewal. Look for an announcement in early January
or send email to ccn@civic.net
- Starting in February, we will be working with the Innovation
Groups, a non-profit organization serving city and county
governments, to provide a series of information
infrastructure workshops for local government officials.
- We are available to help library systems replicate the system
now running in Cambridge.
Helping to Frame Telecommunications Policy
------------------------------------------------------
Since our founding, CCN has been a key player in promoting
progressive telecommunications policy at the local, state and
national levels.
In 1993, CCN initiated its policy program with an invitational
conference, From Electronic Townhalls to Civic Networks:
Democratic Reform for the 21st Century. This was the first
conference to bring citizens, grassroots telecommunications
practitioners, and public interest organization together with the
Clinton Administration to discuss communication policy issues.
As an outgrowth of the conference, CCN initiated the NII_Agenda
email list, which has become a key on-line forum for discussing
telecommunications policy issues. To subscribe, send email to
majordomo@civic.net, containing the line: subscribe nii_agenda
Also as an outgrowth of that conference, CCN issued A Vision of
Change: A National Strategy for Civic Networking, the first
progressive communications policy agenda for the NII. A Vision
of Change was subsequently quoted in the White House's NII Agenda
for Action. This seminal paper is available for downloading from
our Civic Network gopher and web servers.
- CCN and the Center for Policy Alternatives Organized a
regional meeting in Madison, WI on state level
telecommunications policy. As part of this program, CCN
prepared a 25 page "Citizens NII Toolkit", that includes
35 benchmarks local activists can use to measure local
impact of the information highway. During 1995, CCN
plans a series of additional regional workshops.
- CCN and the Center for Policy Alternatives developed
model state telecommunications resolutions, which are
available on CCN's servers.
- CCN has been collaborating with the Census Bureau and the
Rand Corporation to analyze datafiles from the October
1993 Current Population Survey of home computer ownership
and individual use including electronic mail and bulletin
boards. Preliminary results were presented at a Rand
Corporation symposium on universal access to electronic
mail. Further analysis will proceed during 1995. Watch
our servers for on-line summaries of these analyses.
- Mr. Richard Civille, CCN's Executive Director and
Director of Policy Programs, maintains an active
speaking, writing, and consulting schedule focusing on
issues of telecommunications policy.
In Conclusion
-----------------
>From all of us at CCN, to all of you, we wish you a happy and
healthy holiday season, and look forward to working with you in
1995.
*****************************************************
for more information on any CCN activities, send email to
ccn@civicnet.org, or check our network servers:
gopher://gopher.civic.net:2400, http://www.civic.net:2401
CCN is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organizations, supported by grants,
and contracts, and individual contributions.
*****************************************************
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Miles R. Fidelman mfidelman@civicnet.org
President 91 Baldwin St. Charlestown MA 02129
Director of Civic Networking Systems 617-241-9205 fax: 617-241-5064
The Center for Civic Networking
Check out our Civic Network gopher and web servers:
at a unix prompt: gopher gopher.civic.net 2400
gopher URL: gopher://gopher.civic.net:2400/
web URL: http://www.civic.net:2401/
Information Infrastructure: Public Spaces for the 21st Century
Let's Start With: Internet Wall-Plugs Everywhere
Say It Often, Say It Loud: "I Want My Internet!"
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