RCM: An open architecture to build a community

Abstract

Milan Civic Network (RCM) is a community network developed with owned, windows based, software that supports the construction of highly interactive environments. It introduces basic multimedia functionalities according to the real hardware and software capability of current Italian personal computers users. Its open architecture let its members communicate with many different protocols, including the World Wide Web. These choices, that have made RCM the biggest Italian community network with more than 3500 active users in a year and a half, have been adopted also by other initiatives in Italy, some of them already operational.