Subject: Ottawa Funding

From: Dan Eddleman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 93 11:36:57 EST

Forwarded message:
>From [email-masked]  Thu Apr  1 10:28:12 1993
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 93 10:28:40 EST
From: [email-masked] (Christopher P. Tully)
Message-Id: <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: ottawa funding

1.8.4.1  INTRODUCTION

Communications is at the heart of building a nation and making it
strong... We must use communications to help break down the barriers
and build the bridges to greater understanding and cooperation...
Although innovations in broadcast programming (and publishing) are
laudable, they are unlikely to bring breakthroughs in interpersonal
communications and understanding.  It is time to look outside these
domains, towards the great advances made in computers and computer
networking technology which have taken place in recent years, to find
new means of making progress.

from "The Changing Face of Broadcasting: Research Proposals for New
Broadcast Services". Communications Research Centre, Department of
Communications Technical Note No. CRC-TN-92-002, 26 February 1992, pp
18-19.

Success in our generation will depend upon the degree to which we shape
the information technologies in accordance with human values.

     Dizard

1.8.4.1.1  THE CONTEXT OF PUBLIC ACCESS COMMUNITY NETWORKS

Every development in communication technology creates opportunities to
redefine the shape and scale of human relationships and social
organization. The convergence of telephone and computer network
technologies now creates the opportunity to develop a national network
of affordable, public access, community-based, electronic information
services (FreeNets) that meet the information needs and expectations of
an ever increasing proportion of Canadians.

Previous technologies have encouraged community organizations to
develop unilateral, "monologue" strategies for communicating with the
public.  Technological developments now make it possible for these
organizations to communicate with the public on a common stage.
FreeNet encourages bilateral,  "dialogue" strategies by offering the
public and its organizations free and equal access to a common and
convenient medium of communication.

The heart of a FreeNet is a central computer network dedicated to
storing and retrieving thousands of files of community relevant
information, and to relaying thousands of electronic messages each day
among community members and organizations.  Yet the soul of a FreeNet
lies in the people who use it and who are free to create as many uses
for it as their imagination will allow.

It has become expensive and inefficient for each community agency
trying to develop and to maintain its own single- offering,
computer-based information service.  Now each can now share a single,
cost-effective, interactive and sophisticated computer facility.  A
FreeNet permits each organization to have its own dedicated space on
the central network, and to determine autonomously how it is used.  The
network is accessed by a common telephone number, much like 911, and
provides "one stop shopping" for all those seeking community
information.

Because a FreeNet is run by the community and for the community, it
helps to encourage and to revitalize community involvement.  It creates
a partnership, a shared responsibility between the community and
existing social institutions for developing and providing timely
information.  Many people are recognizing that traditional ways of
sustaining a community are no longer working well.  They are beginning
to accept the idea that greater voluntary donations of time and energy
are required if their community is to be maintained.  The information
offered on a FreeNet is provided as a voluntary effort by private
citizens and community agencies.  A FreeNet thus offers new
opportunities for citizens to become more involved in their community,
and for groups, institutions and governments to become more visible and
accessible.

A FreeNet alters the scale and nature of the relationships that people
have with the services provided in the community.  For example, in
Cleveland, Ohio and Peoria, Illinois where free, public access to local
FreeNets has been established, thousands of people of all ages and
walks of life have convenient access -- from home computers or from
terminals located in schools, libraries and community centres -- to
hundreds of information services.  Citizens can access public officials
at all levels of government. They can select and obtain information on
screen, disk or printer  about health, day care, welfare and other
social programs.  They can read an up-to-date calendar of community
events, including meetings and minutes of boards, committees and
voluntary organizations.  They can read and write comments in special
interest groups discussing hundreds of matters ranging from waste
disposal to modern dance.  They can explore a wide range of business,
economic and legal topics,  scan the catalogues of university and
public libraries, consider a wide array of educational opportunities
publicized on FreeNet by community schools, colleges and universities.

Linking school computers to FreeNet provides a cost-effective
opportunity for school boards to add the vast learning potential of
distance communication to their pedagogical mix.  This is especially
useful to the increasing number of citizens who must work during school
hours but who desire interaction with teachers.  The FreeNet can also
serve as a forum of opinion exchange among teachers, students, parents,
administrators, and boards without encountering the difficulties of
scheduling and attending large meetings.  Students and others who use a
FreeNet soon learn skills necessary to become information literate as
well as computer literate, to find information quickly and to assess
its quality and completeness.  A FreeNet can thus make significant
contributions to functional literacy in the coming century.

Because of its superior information exchange capabilities, a FreeNet
has additional advantages for individuals and groups who for many
reasons may be information disadvantaged.  For example, the physically
challenged, the elderly and minority ethnic groups can develop and
access their own information about their special needs, releasing what
they choose as part of the general community information flow.  Members
of such groups who have transportation difficulties find a FreeNet
especially useful because all the information and communication
facilities are available via their home telephone, available to them
without discrimination on an equal basis with everyone.

A FreeNet allows fast communication among community organizations as
well as citizens, so it can serve as a vital medium for the
coordination of organizational activities.  Even mid-sized communities
now have hundreds of organizations attempting to serve a wide range of
community needs.  Too often the agencies find it difficult to
communicate with each other and to keep abreast of their respective
activities.  As a result, service duplication can easily occur while
large gaps in services can frequently go undetected and unfilled.  A
FreeNet allows each organization to maintain up-to-date information
about its own services and staff.  The collective information base can
be easily accessed by all, and needed services found and provided in an
efficient way.

A FreeNet promotes openness.  As society becomes increasingly complex
and opaque to the general public, frustration is often expressed as
distrust for politicians and social institutions.  Because a FreeNet is
designed both to provide prepackaged information and to encourage
public and private exchanges among citizens and social institutions,
community computing is a vehicle by which institutions can be better
understood and comprehended by the public.  The institutions, in turn,
can better respond to the public questions and issues in the
community.  A FreeNet, for example, permits elected representatives at
the municipal, regional, provincial and federal levels a direct method
of interacting with constituents.  It provides a communication channel
through which elective representatives both listen and talk to the
electorate about their individual concerns and the issues of the day.
The polling and voting features of a FreeNet allow elected
representatives and citizens to collect information about the nature
and strength of public opinion an matters of the day.  A FreeNet thus
accelerates and diversifies the information exchanges that are critical
to an open and democratic society.

The philosophy of a FreeNet differs significantly from that of
commercial information services: it operates as a non-profit public
information utility offering free access to community information
provided by citizens, for citizens.  As a result, a FreeNet does not
compete with commercial information services; on the contrary, it can
create a larger market for them.  Many people develop a taste for
computer information services by making use of a FreeNet without
charge.  Others purchase or upgrade their home computing facilities or
phone connections to make FreeNet more accessible.  Still others
suggest improvements to FreeNet to make it more useful and usable.
Such reactions expand the market for potential commercial ventures.

Indeed, a FreeNet can be as useful to local businesses as it can be to
the rest of the community. FreeNet links among businesses and local
government agencies, for example, can increase the efficiency and
reduce the cost of developing and learning new bylaws and regulations.
Cultural, sports and tourist businesses can benefit from better public
access to information about their offerings, especially in a national
FreeNet network where remote access can help people in other
communities plan their holidays. And as demonstrated in American
FreeNets, questions from citizens on topics such as car repair, home
renovation, legal or financial issues can be answered by volunteer
experts from the business community with the almost certain effect of
increasing their clientele.

1.8.4.1.2  THE VISION OF A NATIONAL PROGRAM

FreeNets should not stand alone.  We envision that before the end of
this decade, scores of communities across Canada will have a FreeNet
facility.  All will be linked together, providing a national network of
community information services and improving on the FreeNet network now
being developed in the United States.

A national network of FreeNets can provide the infrastructure for a
community-of-communities, and a mechanism by which institutions with a
mandate to provide information uniformly across a province, a region or
the country can to do so economically and efficiently.  The network of
FreeNets would provide a useful vehicle to permit national roundtable
discussions on the key issues of the day.  People from St. Johns to
Victoria, for example, can find out first hand what others are saying
about topics of national importance simply by selecting the appropriate
computer-menu item on their local FreeNet facility.  A networked
community of electronic communities will focus and enrich the debate on
the distinctions between the public and private information spheres and
other telecommunication policy issues.

1.8.4.2.1  WHAT IS THE NATIONAL CAPITAL FREENET?

The National Capital FreeNet (NCF) is the first community telecomputing
facility of its kind in Canada.  It is based on a service philosophy
and organizational model developed by the National Telecomputing
Association in the United States from experiences with several FreeNet
projects in that country beginning with the original FreeNet in
Cleveland, Ohio in 1986.  The nonprofit NTA has sought to standardize
FreeNets and to coordinate their development.  It offers a software
package, FreePort, as the main engine for a FreeNet which can run on
any of several mid-sized computers using the UNIX operating system.
FreePort is relatively portable and generic; it allows considerable
customization to suit different community needs, while retaining
standard commands that encourage users to try different FreeNet
facilities.  Parts of FreePort were licensed from the University of
Toronto.

The NCF was registered as a Canadian nonprofit corporation in July
1992.  As stated in its Charter, the purpose of the NCF is to provide
citizens of the National Capital Region of Ontario and Qubec with free
computer access to community information in both official languages.
Three major services will be provided:
- A "community bulletin board" service will provide event calendars,
  social service and health information, bylaws and regulations, and
  any other material offered in the public interest by citizens or
  agencies of the community.
- An "electronic conferencig" facility will support interactive
  communications between and among information providers and the
  public:
- A "electronic mail" (e-mail) service will provide both public and
  private two-way communication among citizens, community agencies and
public officials.

Polling and voting services will also be supported.

1.8.4.2.2  HISTORY OF THE NCF DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

In November 1991 a group of faculty and staff at Carleton University
met for the first time to discuss the possibility of offering the
National Capital Region a much-expanded version of Carleton's INFO
service.  INFO was established as a means of providing information
about the university and its activities free of charge to anyone in the
community with access to a personal computer and modem.  By dialing
564-5600 and typing INFO, users can obtain information about exam
schedules, gym hours, student phone numbers, sources of financial
assistance and a dozens of other menu topics.  Users multiplied.  So
did the information provided.  Several organizations off campus began
requesting space on INFO to provide their own information to the
public.  And our group began thinking about the exciting potential of a
community information service.

All members of our group have extensive experience developing,
operating and researching computer information and communication
systems.  The experiences have taught us similar lessons about
requirements for the next generation of public computer information and
communication services.  The congeries of separate information systems
must be consolidated into a large and standardized public information
utility.  The information provided should be gathered by the community
for the community according to community needs.  It should be available
to anyone free of charge by dialing a single local number.  Access
should be available at public institutions (libraries, schools,
hospitals, government buildings, etc.) for those who do not have access
from their work or home.  There should be one simple programme to
learn, and one standard information format.  The programme should allow
for two-way and multi-way communication among information providers and
users in addition to "electronic pamphlets." Capital and operating
costs should be kept low.  We found that the FreeNet philosophy and
FreePort software best matched these requirements.  So we became the
National Capital FreeNet Organizing Committee.

In February 1992 we approached President Robin Farquhar of Carleton
University for permission to begin the NCF using Carleton's computing
facilities.  He enthusiastically supported the idea.  We then invited
key members of community organizations to a FreeNet information meeting
in late-March, hoping they would become involved in the project.  Their
response was overwhelming.  Representatives from over 50 community
organizations agreed to attend.  By word of mouth alone that number
quickly doubled.  An additional meeting for the latter group was held
in mid-April.  Since then, Organizing Committee members have been
invited to speak at over a dozen additional meetings of community and
government groups.  All have shown great interest in the idea of a
FreeNet and a pressing need for FreeNet facilities.  By early July, our
mailing list of organization representatives exceeded 200.

In response to the enthusiastic reception of developing a National
Capital FreeNet, the Organizing Committee registered with the National
Telecomputing Association (USA), and purchased a copy of the FreePort
software.  It is now up and running at Carleton University on an
experimental basis.1  In addition, we began work on the creation of a
national organization to assist and coordinate the development of
FreeNets across the country: the Canadian Community Communication
Network.

1.8.4.2.3  OBJECTIVES OF THE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

The primary objective of the NCF demonstration project is to establish
a self-sustaining, public access community information service that can
be a model for future FreeNets across the country.  To meet this
objective:
  -   FreePort software must be modified and augmented for the Canadian
      context (e.g., French language character support, bilingual menus
      and commands);
  -   Standards of information provision must be created;
  -   Registration procedures and ethical standards for users
      mustbe devised;
  -   Training materials for information providers and users
      must be developed, including simple manuals, video materials and
      small group workshops;
  -   Publicity and fundraising campaigns must be undertaken;
  -   Regular evaluations of the organization and use of the NCF
      must be done.

In meeting these objectives, the NCF will provide a living laboratory
for field tests of advanced communication technologies, applications
and ideas.  Communication research will be a central component of the
NCF demonstration project, coordinated by a standing committee of the
Board.  All aspects of the project will be open to research within the
constraints of privacy protection and normal ethical guidelines.  NCF
activities and research will jointly contribute to the major
deliverable of the demonstration project: a "Community FreeNet Kit"
containing software, organization and training manuals and videos,
systems administration and maintenance advice, daily operational hints,
publicity and fundraising tips, auditing and evaluation procedures, and
the Canadian Community Communication Network membership.  The Kit will
be designed to bring any community in Canada "on line" as quickly and
efficiently as possible.  We anticipate that by the year 2000 at least
100 FreeNets will be operating across the country.

1.8.4.3  APPROACH AND METHOD

The development of the National Capital FreeNet is no small
undertaking; it requires the coordinated efforts of a dedicated staff
and hundreds of volunteers.  Four major tasks must be accomplished:
-   The computer system, software, communication equipment
    and phone lines must be installed, updated and maintained for
    24-hour access;
-   Hundreds of voluntary information providers working on
    behalf of community organizations must be registered and trained to
    develop their public information bases in a standardized format;
-   Thousands of citizens must be registered and trained to use
    the NCF and encouraged to contribute opinions, questions or
    information in NCF public forums, special interest groups, and
    electronic mail;
-   Funding must be secured to develop and to sustain the NCF as
    a free-access community information service.

We anticipate it will take three years to accomplish these tasks and to
establish the NCF as a self-sustaining, mature community information
service.  We are thus planning for a three-year demonstration project,
divided in two phases.

1.8.4.3.1  THE PREPARATORY PHASE

People will use a FreeNet if the information benefits they obtain from
it exceed their costs in time and effort.  A FreeNet is designed to be
as reliable, easy and convenient to use as possible, yet the ultimate
success of any FreeNet depends on the usefulness of the information it
contains.   Accordingly, some critical mass of useful information must
be available on the NCF before the bulk of first-time users login so
they will have good reasons to return.  We thus expect that development
of the NCF will occur in two phases.  During the preparatory phase,
rules of NCF use will be established, and the community organizations
will be encouraged to enter information relevant to their activities.
In addition, a few enthusiastic volunteers will be asked to plan and to
moderate a series of FreeNet public conferences on topics of popular
concern (e.g., public education, the environment, city planning, safety
and security).  Others will be asked to develop sample opinion polls,
to begin "ask the experts" columns, to write model comments for the
conferences, and to provide any other information that users would find
beneficial.

Not all activity of the preparatory phase will concern information
provision.  The organizations and individuals providing information can
immediately communicate on the NCF among themselves, and thus can
coordinate their information and services.

1.8.4.3.2  THE PARTICIPATORY PHASE

In view of previous experiences at other FreeNet sites, we estimate
that the preparatory stage will last about one year.  When the Board
believes that enough information is available to sustain general
community involvement, the NCF will be opened to the entire community.
This will begin the participatory phase, which we plan to last two
years

We expect that in the beginning of the participatory phase, citizens
who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about computer communication
will be among the first to use the NCF.  Such individuals can provide
invaluable support for the nascent service by adding information to it
and by encouraging others to become involved.  They will be encouraged
to do so.

Special efforts, however,  must be made to encourage other citizens
with insufficient computer experience or equipment to participate fully
in the NCF.  The NCF Board will all be challenged to provide an
effective outreach programme to encourage the involvement of
individuals and groups who are curious but shy about the service.  Such
individuals may include the elderly, persons on social assistance,
immigrants and refugees.  It will be especially important to
demonstrate that the NCF is not a passive medium, and is more than
merely "pamphlets on screens."  As part of the outreach, therefore,
citizens will be shown how to send comments and questions to each other
and to the individuals in organizations who provide the information
they read.  They will also be shown how to use the medium to encourage
replies.  In these ways we hope the NCF can give voice to the silent
majority.

In order to increase public access to equipment necessary for use of
the NCF, the Board will work with local libraries, community centres,
schools, churches and similar institutions to provide at least one
public computer terminal in each.  By the end of the demonstration
project we hope that the majority of citizens who want to use the NCF
will spend no more than 10 minutes reaching a point of access.

Community organizations will, of course, continue to add and update
public information during this participatory phase.  As well, the
FreePort software will likely be updated and augmented by programmes
that provide more user-requested services.  It is possible, for
example, that users will request the ability to post classified ads or
to post their resums for perusal by potential employers.  The NCF is
not intended to provide or to compete with commercial services.  At the
same time, the NCF is "user driven" and will attempt to provide
whatever nonprofit information services can meet community needs.

1.8.4.3.3  NCF USERS

National Capital FreeNet users will be of three general kinds:
- Guests will be allowed reading access to all public information at
  any time without registering as an NCF participant;
- Participants will registered users of the NCF, and will
  additionally be allowed writing access to electronic mail,
  conference, polling and voting facilities;
- Providers will have all facilities of participants plus
  capabilities of creating FreeNet menus for the addition and
  organization of "pamphlet" information.

Registration is required of participants and providers to ensure that
they abide by regulations governing proper and ethical use of the NCF.
These regulations will be posted as a separate menu item on the first
screen of the NCF.  Registered users who violate the regulations will
be immediately barred from future use of the system.  The FreePort
software automatically attaches the name of a participant or provider
to any information he or she releases to the public, except for
anonymous voting and opinion polling responses.  This encourages
responsible use of the system, and discourages the posting of
questionable materials.

Anyone can register free of charge, and no charges are levied for NCF
use.  However, because no FreeNet can operate without some funding, it
is possible that users will be invited -- in the spirit of TVO, PBS and
National Public Radio -- to contribute money voluntarily for NCF
support.  Requests for voluntary contributions have been moderately
successful on American FreeNets, and account for up to 25% of their
sustaining funds.

Unfortunately, a small minority of FreeNet participants are likely to
overuse the system, either by  monopolizing an incoming phone line all
day, or by storing or posting thousands of pages of personal or useless
information.  To prevent this practice, some limits will be placed on
session connect time and on accumulated disk space.

1.8.4.3.4  SALARIED PERSONNEL

Judging from the experiences of older FreeNets in the United States, we
project the NCF will attract over 500 information providers and 20,000
subscribers by the end of the demonstration period.  To reach these
projections growth must be managed carefully and, again from the
American experience, this can only be done with a small complement of
paid employees.  Daily operations of the National Capital FreeNet will
be conducted by a small group of paid staff including a project
administrator, a systems administrator and five part- time personnel:
two subscription and operation assistants, a writer/trainer, a
researcher and an accountant.

1.8.4..4.1  YEAR 1: PLANNING AND PREPARATION

Apr-Jun 1992  -Registration of National Capital FreeNet with National
	       Telecomputing Association (USA)
	      -FreePort software installed at Carleton University
	      -First information meetings with potential information
	       providers
	      -Beginning of information needs assessment

Jul-Sep      -Incorporation initiated, Board of Directors and standing
	      committees selected
	     -Demonstration project funding proposal completed and
	      submitted
	     -Identification of information providers in community
	      organizations
	     -Development of information provider manuals in French &
	      English

Oct-Dec      -Workshops conducted for information providers
	     -Installation of 20 modems and phone lines with associated
	      hardware, and 5 gigabyte hard disk space for first NCF
	      traffic
	     -Preparation and uploading of first bilingual menus and
	      information bases from community organizations

Jan-Mar 1993 -Development of user regulations and registration
	      procedures
	     -NCF offered to selected community organizations and
	      members for preliminary trials
	     -Development of computer-mediated conferences, news
	      groups, discussion groups, and polling/voting items
	     -Evaluation of usage begun

Apr-Jun      -Registration materials and participation manuals written
	      and duplicated
	     -Needs assessment and evaluation research analysed
	     -Modification of software, manuals and workshops from user
	      feedback
	     -Second round of information provider solicitations
	     -Workshops conducted for new information providers
	     -Preparation and uploading of new info bases
	     -Preparation of first interim report of the demonstration
	      project

1.8.4.4.2  YEAR 2: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Jul-Sep 1993 -FreeNet promotional campaign begun
	     -FreeNet officially launched as community service
	     -Evaluation research continued
	     -Organizing conference of Canadian Community
	      Communication Network

Oct-Dec      -Monitoring and facilitation of computer-mediated
	      conferences, news groups, discussion groups, and
	      polling/voting facilities
	     -Solicitation of suggestions for additional user
	      services
	     -Solicitation of additional information providers

Jan-Mar 1994 -Additional modems, phone lines, disks and software
	      installed as needed
	     -Addition of new information services per user suggestions
	     -Planning for community funding campaign

Apr-Jun      -Planning for community subscription drive
	     -Preparation of second interim report of the demonstration
	      project

1.8.4.4.3  YEAR 3: TRANSITION TO SELF-SUSTAINING SYSTEM

Jul-Sep 1994 -Community subscription drive launched
	     -Planning for self-sustaining system begun
	     -Evaluation continued
	     -Development of Canadian Community Computing
	      Network linkages

Oct-Dec      -Campaign for sustainable funding launched
	     -Solicitation of suggestions for additional user services
	     -Solicitation of additional information providers

Jan-Mar1995  -Hardware and software upgraded as needed
	     -Addition of new information services per user suggestions
	     -Preparation of Community FreeNet Kit

Apr-Jun      -Distribution of Community FreeNet Kit to new CCCN members
	     -Preparation of final report of the demonstration
	      project

1.8.4.5 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The National Capital FreeNet is the responsibility of its eight-member
Board of Directors.  Four standing committees work under the Board's
direction and advise it on matters related to the operation of NCF:

-   The "Ways and Means Committee" seeks funds to develop and maintain
    the NCF, and advises on appropriate regulations governing FreeNet
    use;
-   The "Hardware and Software Committee" advises on equipment and
    programme installation and maintenance;
-   The "Community Relations Committee" solicits and encourages
    community involvement in the provision of information and in the
    use of the NCF;
-   The "Systems Design and Research Committee" determines and
    evaluates information needs, user activities, and standards of
    information format, computer-user dialogues, training manuals and
    workshops.

Members of the Board and of the standing committees are volunteers
drawn from a wide range of community organizations including regional
government, local public libraries, community social service and health
centres, OCTranspo, and the Department of Communications.  General
meetings are held about once each month but most committee business is
conducted via FreeNet.

A "Project Steering Committee", reporting to the Board, is responsible
for meeting the demonstration project objectives of the NCF as set by
the Board of Directors.  The Steering Committee is comprised of the
chairs of the standing committees.

Daily operations of the NCF are the joint responsibility of the paid
staff.
-   the "Project Administrator" is responsible to the Steering
    Committee for managing the NCF office, developing funding and
    publicity campaigns, and maintaining good public relations;
-   the "Systems Administrator" is responsible to the Project
    Administrator for the daily operation and maintenance of the
    FreeNet computer system and communication hardware, and for
    software development and modifications;
-   the "Subscription and Operation Assistants" are responsible
    to the Project Administrator  for processing subscription
    applications, creating and updating user and provider accounts,
    sending subscription renewal reminders and other matters related to
    system access;
-   the "Writer/Trainer" is responsible to the Project
    Administrator for developing all manuals and training materials,
    conducting training workshops, and answering questions about
    FreeNet use;
-   the "Researcher" is responsible to the Project
    Administrator for monitoring use of the FreeNet,  and for designing
    and conducting relevant user surveys and evaluation research;
-   the "Accountant" is responsible to the Project
    Administrator for maintaining proper financial records of the NCF.

The diagram below summarizes the organizational structure of the
National Capital FreeNet.

			    Board of Directors
			    |               |
			    |               |
	     Standing Committees          Project Steering
	     Ways and Means               Committee
	     Hardware and Software          |
	     Community Relations          Project Administrator
	     Systems Design and             |
	     Research                     Office Staff:
					  System Administrator
					  Subscription Assistants
					  Writer/Trainer
					  Researcher
					  Accountant

1.8.4.6.1  EXPENSES

Below is a preliminary estimate of expenses for developing and
sustaining the National Capital FreeNet.  As noted previously, the
demonstration project runs for the years 1992-3, 1993-4 and 1994-5.  A
budget for the first proposed Rself-sustainingS year, 1995-6, is also
shown for comparison.

			 1992-3    1993-4    1994-5    1995-6
Communication
hardware                $50,000   $35,000   $25,000   $25,000
phone lines             $25,000   $30,000   $35,000   $40,000
maintenance              $6,000    $7,000    $8,000    $9,000
software                 $2,000    $3,000    $4,000    $4,000

Personnel (including benefits)
office administration
(1 person year)         $45,000   $47,000   $49,000   $51,000
systems administration
(1 person year)         $45,000   $47,000   $49,000   $51,000
subscription and clerical
(1.5 person year)       $40,000   $42,000   $44,000   $46,000
writing and workshops
(0.5 person year)       $20,000   $21,000   $22,000   $23,000
research
(0.5 person year)       $20,000   $21,000   $22,000   $23,000
accounting
(0.25 person year)      $10,000   $10,500   $11,000   $11,500

Promotion
advertising              $3,000    $6,000    $9,000    $9,000
user manual
production               $3,000    $4,000    $5,000    $6,000
workshop expenses        $2,000    $2,000    $2,000    $2,000
travel                   $1,000    $2,000    $2,000    $2,000

Office expenses
rent                    $12,000   $13,000   $14,000   $15,000
equipment                $3,000    $3,000    $3,000    $3,000
communication            $2,000    $2,000    $2,000    $2,000
duplicating              $1,000    $1,000    $1,000    $1,000
contingency              $3,000    $3,000    $3,000    $3,000

Totals                 $293,000  $299,500  $310,000  $326,500

1.8.4.6.2  INCOME

We expect that many of the costs for the demonstration project will be
shared by interested agencies.  For example, Carleton University has
generously offered the use of its unix computing network as the
National Capital FreeNet platform for the first two years of the
demonstration project, considerably reducing startup equipment costs.
Carleton has also sustained the cost of the FreePort software and its
installation.  Members of the organizing committee have shared the
costs to date of NCF incorporation, office, travel and meeting
expenses.  We estimate these dollar and in-kind donations will total
about $30,000 in the 1992-3 year, and about $20,000 in the 1993-4 year
of the demonstration project.

It is likely that remaining funds needed to sustain the National
Capital FreeNet will be solicited from a variety of government and
community sources.  Because a successful FreeNet can greatly enhance
attempts by all levels of government to become more accessible and
responsive to their constituents, it is in their interest to aid in
development and adoption of the model through the NCF demonstration
project.  We thus plan to approach Federal, Provincial and local
government agencies for partial funding of the demonstration project.
Because a widely-used FreeNet can significantly reduce the duplication
and mailing costs normally incurred in reaching their constituents, it
is to the advantage of community organizations to share some of the
costs of the medium.  We thus plan to approach community organizations
for voluntary donations proportional to the amount of information they
provide.

Finally, registered NCF participants and other supportive citizens may
also be asked for voluntary contributions.  How much?  If the NCF can
obtain an average of only $10 per subscriber per year, then the 20,000
subscribers projected by the end of the demonstration project would be
able to contribute over 60% of the budgeted costs for the first post-
demonstration year of operation (1995-6).  Funding strategies and
decisions will, of course, be made by the National Capital FreeNet
Board of Directors in consultation with the Ways and Means Committee.