Next generation community networking: Futures for digital cities

Abstract

Based in the results of the EPITELIO project (1996-98), an European founded research project on Telematics against Social Exclusion, this paper describes the possibilities of a new generation of community networking. The world is becoming digital and urban. For the first time, a global network society (M.Castells) is emerging. In parallel, an increasing gap between the connected populations and the unconnected ones are deepening. Next generation community networking is a possible solution for bridging such gap. As the Internet is now a convergent information infrastructure technology, community networking can works as a kind of convergent information society technology. Digital cities and community networks organizations can work together towards this new social platform of the digital era.