Community networking:Shaping a “new society”

Artur Serra Barcelona Community Network

http://www.xarxabcn.netartur@ac.upc.es

Global CN2000Barcelona, Nov 2-4, 2000

1. New technologies, new economy,...and new society

1980s. The high technology... 1990s. The new economy..... 2000s. How about “the new society”?

Information society as a “new society”

We are talking about Information Society...not Information State

The Welfare State model: The European invention.– Taking money from corporate world and putting in

hands of public Administrations to serve social needs.

New model: the Information Society model – Leadership of new societal organizations, more than in

the Administration– Establishing alliances and getting funding from

corporate and State for fueling this societal organizations, that will serve societal needs

Community networking is a genuineexpression of such information society

Freenets, community technology centers, telecentros, …

Expressions of the use of Internet and IT for our societies.

First goal: put computers in hand of people, giving access, information, training…to people.

Community networking is about community, first of all.

A new kind of societal movement of the last decades. – Societies that promote the use of information

technology by our communities.– Associations that organize people for new goals, new

values and in a different way. Like in the new economy, the ISP provided a model for a

new kind of business. Community networking are a new kind of societies

2.CNs and the Silicon Valley: different innovation models

The model of innovation of the Valley:– Electronics+campus+industrial park– Good point: innovation drives, IT innovation– Weak point: useful for designing chips and companies,

not information societies– Producing: Digital Divide

The model of CNs– Information Society Technologies can drive– research universities, schools,communities(including

companies).Taking the new societies in all its complexity. CN as Citilabs

CN model: “Innovation is for everyone”?

“Internet is for everyone” 1999 ISTF Innovation can be an everyone’s job in the

digital era?– We need more complex models of innovation:

The old one: Science-Industry (Silicon Valley) is not enough

The new one: Technology-Society (CNs) can be a good one

CNs and “Digital Cities”

Community means everyone, not only the City Hall

The so called “Digital Cities” model in EU is fine for Information State, not for Information Society.

In an Internet world, citizens organizations can create local services by themselves. From services to citizens to citizens services.

New society means more freedom for society, less paternalism, more cooperation, networking

The big problem in Europeis not the social digital divide produce by companies (We don’t really have Silicon Valleys)

The big problem is the burden of public burocracies producing a “digital lag”, an

“innovation lag”

What does happen in Latinamerica, Africa, Asia….?

We don’t know, simply don’t know.

Global CN2000 is a first initiative to put in contact community networking associations and individuals from all over the world.

Let’s try it¡