First project ideas

Sussex Online Vision Projects Partners Join in Resources

The first set of six project ideas - below - were included in the vision for Sussex Online circulated in March 1998. These proposals will be developed following the May 20 1998 event... but there have been some developments which are noted here. We expect other project proposals to develop from the May event. The aim is to facilitate collaboration between different individuals and organisations rather than set up Sussex Online as a new organisation. Audit Planning an audit of online initiatives in Sussex, which will then be developed as an online database and clickable map. This proposal could link with the UK Communities Online campaign, which aims to develop a map of projects for the UK. Community server Securing funds for a community server in association with Sussex Rural Community Council. Initial Internet Web pages and conferencing facilities will be provided by Partnerships Online; however, a dedicated system managed by SRCC will provide specialist services for rural projects and members of the network. Agreement has already been reached to use FirstClass conferencing facilities on Ruralnet. The first Sussex Online mailing lists have already ben established - see join in. Demonstration and training Developing demonstration and training events with both SRCC and Sussex Community Internet Project. This programme will build on the training sessions developed by Sussex Community Internet Project, and - among others - the demonstrations prepared for the Brighton Virtual Festival Course in community networking Planning a pilot of the course in community networking. This national course is being developed by David Wilcox with Northern College, Dundee. It will bring together content on community development, partnerships, project planning and relevent technologies. Network members will be able to identify key issues they feel should be covered, and apply to become early course participants. The outline of this course has now been validated by the Open University. Conferencing system Using a specialist FirstClass conferencing system, developed in association with the National Rural Enterprise Centre, to facilitate online discussion, learning and collaborative working. This will initially run on a Partnerships Online site, and then be transferred to the community server. These facilities will be available, through Partnerships Online, at Ruralnet. Learning initiatives Collaborating with Community Colleges and other National grid for Learning initiatives