Community Communication Project (CCP)

  1. references

  2. introduction to CCP

  3. CWEIS definition

  4. It's the transcript of the first Chattanooga community network meeting

  5. On considering a Community Communication Workshop.

    6. introduction

    (By Philip Luckey)

    The "information highway" is a hot topic in the media, but how does it apply to Chattanooga?

    It's true that almost everything we hear today about the convergence of the media, or the information infrastructure, or that information highway, is either vague or an over-burdened analogy. We can see parallels in our history: the distribution of electricity in the 1800's and 1900's, the marketing of automobiles at the beginning of this century, and the push for television some fifty years ago. Each of these events were misunderstood at first, mainly because they represented such a divergent change from the status quo. And in a way, each of these milestones are comparable to today's hue and cry for "increased bandwidth:" simply put, things are getting more useful. Today, the primary target is not "electricity in every home," or "a car in every driveway," or even "a channel for everyone to watch"--these represent goals mostly met. Today's target is information.

    Our community is content-rich, but distribution-poor.

    We may have as many providers of information as we do types of information, just as any community; the diversity and the quantity of "where information comes from" and "what kind of information it is" are staggering. Think for a moment on the resources of the Chattanooga area: the arts, the educational community, the governments, the libraries, the health and fitness areas, the environmental concerns, the historical aspects, the civic ventures, the tourist attractions, the commercial interests, religious groups, communication media, special interests, and the financial community--to name just a few. Each organization moves along its separate path, intersecting with other paths from time to time. Currently, the creation of a new pathway of communication (say, if ABC Organization wants to keep in touch with XYZ Corporation) requires a road to be built from scratch, often at odds with other "cooperative" roads. As a result, many of our valuable community resources are trapped, with limited access. How can these resources communicate with each other and with the public?

    A new model for community communication must be developed:

    ...a model that is inclusive, accessible, comprehensive, practical, secure, efficient, and effective. This is more than just a laundry list of admirable qualities--these characteristics can serve as templates for tomorrow's picture of how our community works.


    Every area of our society touches on communication in one way or another,and by reaching a consensus on new ways to communicate, our community can learn to interact within itself. It's certainly appropriate that in order for Chattanooga to succeed in any model of communication, we must, in fact, communicate. The Community Communication Project, a local nonprofit grassroots initiative, proposes that we develop a vision now for how the people and the organizations of our region will work together in the future.

    This project is dedicated to building a spirit of cooperation

    between community organizations, institutions, businesses, governments, and individuals. It's through partnerships within the community that the goals of education, coordination, and implementation can be met. Since, like the automobile in 1904 or electricity in 1892, the subject is widely discussed but narrowly understood, the education of our neighbors is a major priority: finding ways to explain the potential of increased communication. Project-oriented coordination is a way to set objectives, set standards, and avoid the waste of resources. The Project is also interested in the implementation, where possible, of new approaches to community-based, community-focused communication.

    CWEIS definition

    (Excerpted from Request for Proposal from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting)

    Q: What exactly is a "community-wide education and information service?"

    A: The technical answer is that, in its most elementary form, a community-wide education and information service (CWEIS) includes information and communications services provided on a "host" computer to which several modems and telephone lines have been connected. CWEIS software supports basic functions like electronic mail and conferencing, information file management, and the execution of other special purpose programs, all under a simple menu-driven interface. Individuals in the community can connect to the host computer, using a personal computer or terminal connected to a telephone line through a modem, to access information stored on a host computer, and to send and receive electronic mail and participate in conferences. Host computers of different community-wide education and information services are interconnected through the Internet.

    The range of possibilities for a community-wide information service continues to grow as new networking and telecommunications technologies become widely available. These possibilities will soon include providing audio and video programming as well as textual information, and providing alternative media access systems for persons with disabilities. It is people, communicating, learning, sharing information. It is the local community, "online."

    The content answer is that a Community-wide Education and Information Service is where a school, the public library, city hall, the hospital, and a host of other community service organizations and services can provide information and a channel of communication to the public and to each other, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It can include forums for public discussion, community resource directories, a place to collaborate on community projects, a library reference desk, knowledge and expertise volunteered by citizens in the community, a path to specialized resources on distant networks, a public information kiosk and a convenient way to conduct an endless variety of transactions with local government. It is people, communicating, learning, sharing information. It is the local community, "online."

    It is an organization created by volunteers in the local community who act as individuals or representatives of local organizations and institutions. The organizational answer is that, in most cases, a community-wide education and information service is an organization created by volunteers in the local community who act as individuals or representatives of local organizations and institutions. Some form non-profit corporations, others remain informal associations. The key to a CWEIS organization is inclusion. Typically a governance structure is established with a board of directors and/or advisors, a council of representatives from different education and public service sectors, and from different geographic areas served. While a small core of paid staff is essential to coordinate activity, most work gets done by several working committees of volunteers focused on areas like user services and training, recruitment of volunteer information providers and service managers, publicity, funding, administration, policies and procedures, and technical services.