Relevant Events 1997

June:

  • Virtual CivicNet
    • Held online, May 22 - June 30, 1997
    • 350 individuals from countries around the world gathered to share their community networking stories and collaborate on civic and community networking strategies for the future. Participants included entrepreneurs, community network organizers, journalists, public officials, artists, teachers, consultants, researchers, funders, librarians, investors, and enthusiasts who regard themselves as front-line innovators and catalysts.
  • Global Knowledge 97: Knowledge for Development in the Information Age
    • Held June 22-25, 1997 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • 3 core themes:
      1. understanding the role of knowledge and information in economic and social development, and the profound changes in the development process wrought by new technologies;
      2. sharing strategies, experiences and tools in harnessing knowledge for development;
      3. building new partnerships that empower the poor with information and knowledge, foster international dialogue on development, and strengthen the knowledge and information resources of developing countries.

July:

  • ECN '97: First European Community Networks Conference
    • Held July 3-5, 1997 in Palazzo delle Stelline, Milan, Italy
    • Community networks are developing at different regions, cities and villages of the European Union as a voluntary, grassroots movement which purpose is giving to the citizen, especially the less favored one, the opportunity to participate actively in the building of the Information Society. This movement is based in the best civic traditions of creativity, solidarity and cultural diversity of each of the European Union's countries, regions and cities. American and Canadians paved the way years ago.
  • Community Information Networks '97: from Concepts to Reality
    • Held July 7-8, 1997 at the Stephenson Hall, University of Sheffield, UK
    • The development and growth of electronic information networks in general and the Internet in particular has provided increased opportunities for the provision and access to information. This conference will examine the development of community information networks (CINs) from Concept into Reality. The conference will have speakers with a wide range of backgrounds from the local, regional and national scenes in the UK, and also from Europe and the USA.

August:

  • Telecommunities Canada Conference 1997
    • Held August 15-18, 1997 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
    • This is the fourth annual TC'97 Conference. This year's theme is 'Partnerships'. Attendees could include: anyone interested in learning more about community nets and those who have experiences to share, people involved in Community Access Program, (CAP), sites, and any other organization/individual interested in exploring the opportunities a community net offers.
  • CNI New Learning Communities Conference
    • Held August 22, 1997 in Washington, DC.
    • The conference is intended for faculty, librarians, technologists, instructional designers, and others interested in collaborative teaching and learning that includes the use of information resources on the Internet.

September:

  • ECSCW '97
    • The 5th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work
    • Held September 7-11, 1997  in Lancaster, UK
    • The conference provides an international forum for research activities from various technical and social disciplines.  This year the Conference received 111 submission of very high quality from which the 24 papers making up the technical programme were selected. The technical programme will be complemented by demonstrations and posters showing some of the most exciting and novel aspects of CSCW.
  • 1997 Fourth International Workshop on Community Networking
    • Held September 11-12, 1997 in Atlanta, Georgia
    • Sponsored by IEEE, this workshop brings together representatives, practitioners and technical experts from Service Providers, Network Providers, Equipment Manufacturers and the Research Community to a forum on four key topics of networked services to the home and community: Home Platform, Middleware & Network Technology, Electronic Commerce Services, Near-term versus Advanced Applications.
  • European Symposium on Democracy and Multimedia Networks (Parthenay III)
    • Held September 25-27, 1997 in Parthenay, France
    • Issue: Citizenship and democracy are linked to the development of communication systems: If citizens fail to appropriate communication technology for themselves, the gap between those who have information and those who have no access to it is bound to widen, thereby raising the issue of power and collective projects: Do we wish to leave information in the hands of a privileged few or do we wish to share it?
    • Objectives: obtain a better knowledge of existing social practices in New Iinformation Technologies; compare lessons drawn, evaluate practices, and determine the issues; induce the emergence of a social demand; present proposals for public policy orientation; lay the foundations for a European civic network.

October:

  • Net Worth, Net Work: Technology and Values for a Digital Age
    • CPSR Conference held October 4-5, 1997 in Berkeley, California.
    • Panels on: Technologies of Responsible Business; Access to All - Bringing home the Benefits of the Computer Revolution; Just Rewards: Workers and Producers in the Digital Age; Show me the Money: the new Digital Economics
    • Workshops on: Community Networking "How-to"; Legal Issues (Copyright and Privacy); Using the Net for Social Activism, etc.
  • Action Without Borders '97
    • Held October 18-25, 1997 around the world
    • A global week of action and ideas, during which people around the world will work together on a variety of community, volunteering and educational projects
  • RuralTeleCon '97: Making Technology Work for Communities
    • Held October 20-21, 1997 in Aspen, Colorado
    • A two-day program consisting of:
      • keynote on technology's impact on rural development
      • national panel on the impact of '96 Telecomm Act
      • breakout panels on current issues - grassroots and policy
      • poster sessions featuring 50 grassroots technology practitioners
      • open sessions structured by conference participants
      • plenty of free time for networking with colleagues and peers
      • a WWW record of conference proceedings

November:

  • WebNet 97
    • World Conference of the WWW, Internet, and Intranet
    • Held October 31-November 5, 1997 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • Example topics: Collaborative Learning and Work; Distance Education; Future Issues in Web Technology; Social and Cultural Issues; The Web as Discussion Forum; etc