How an Environment Network turned into a Community Network
by Chris Studman
Green beginnings
Coventry and Warwickshire Network (CWN) began life in the summer of 1995
as a project conceived by a group of environmentalists to network 'green'
news and events in Coventry. A public demonstration, supported by BT and
a computer company, on a Saturday in the main local shopping centre attracted
a lot of attention. Alas, for the environmentalists however, the interest
was in the Internet and its networking capabilities rather than in the green
content on display. The Coventry Environment Network quickly metamorphosed
into the The Coventry Community Network.
A team of half a dozen net enthusiasts then began to learn the whys and
wherefores of web publishing and put together a series of ad hoc pages about
the City - local museums, MPs, sport, heritage etc.
Even this modest level of activity was enough to bring a personal visit
from a chief officer of the local council. He was extremely enthusiastic
and promised support of some kind. This inspired us to continue the development
of the site. Increasing the volume of material, improving its graphic design
and expanding our contacts.
However after several months no support came from the council who had by
now begun to plan their own web site. The CWN continued to piggyback on
the commercial web facilities of Ecosaurus, a local community computing
company.
By November 1995, the site was beginning to receive significant numbers
of email messages from around the world with a wide range of requests. A
Guestbook was set up for these messages and very quickly we were getting
feedback that visitors were making contact with others, particulary former
school contemporaries through the guestbook.
Around this time Ecosaurus began work on a local European funded project
to give Internet access to community organisations in the less favoured
areas of the city. Participants in this project were given accredited training
jointly by the University of Warwick and Ecosaurus. The final part of this
training involved each organisation producing web pages that would form
part of the CWN web site.
Expansion
Early in 1996 it became apparent that it was difficult to contain the Network
boundaries and it was flowing out into the surrounding towns of Warwickshire.
The site was therefore renamed to reflect this as The Coventry and Warwickshire
Network.
The site has continued to grow during 1996 until it has almost 200 pages.
It is still compiled by a small team of 3 - 6 volunteers mostly working
from home emailing pages into a central point for uploading.
By autumn 1996 the CWN web site had reached access figures of over 10,000
total accesses per month. Guestbook entries are still very buoyant, and
the amount of material for putting on the site is rapidly ourstripping our
capacity both in terms of html time and web space.
Just to keep existing pages up to date now takes the equivalent of a half
time person. To expand the site with new information would take more.
Options for the future
It has become clear now that a careful examination of the future resourcing
of the site is needed. There are no immediate signs of any significant funding.
Options include:
a) continue as we can utilising the resources of Ecosaurus and the small
band of volunteers on an 'as and when' basis
b) sell advertising on the site to local companies etc to at least part
fund a staff person
c) seek external funding
d) leave the site to wither on the vine, and gradually get more and more
out of date
e) shut down the site
As of January 97 no definite conclusion has been reached by those involved
other than ruling out d) and e). We will probably proceed with some combination
of the first three.
There are lots of developments now appearing rapidly on the horizon that
excite us. Ecosaurus (and hence CWN) now has its own servers and permanent
connection to the Net. This connection is a 10MB link that will allow us
to experiment with the latest technologies such as sound and video - prospects
for wider participation?
We have now been approached to join in the large Euro funded RegioNet telematics
project in Coventry and Warwickshire. Our large amount of existing local
content has presumably been the attraction - whether there will be any funding
attached is still to be seen.
Our next big challenge will be Public Access Points. There is some potential
funding for small scale pilots.
Key points
- CWN receives no significant funding, so far only 100 pounds has been
raised from modest advertising - this has contributed to web space costs
- There are no staff employed to adminster the site. All web paging
preparation is done by volunteers.
- Our basic premise has always been to give our services free to any
community / voluntary organisations, and to subsidise this work by charging
businesses. So far the former has greatly outpaced the latter!
- We edit / view all material before it goes on the site. So far we
have only had to make significant changes to one piece that we considered
might give legal problems.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Network is at http://www.ecosaurus.co.uk/coventry,
and will be moving to http://www.coventry.org.uk
early in 1997.
Chris Studman chris@ecosaurus.co.uk
January 3 1997
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