The National Center for Small Communities (NCSC) Offers Guide to help small communities get Online

The National Center for Small Communities (NCSC) is offering a new toolkit to help small communities establish more competitive positions in the knowledge economy through aggressive information technology adoption strategies. Following in the footsteps of NCSC’s first (1999) Internet guide, Getting Online 2.0: a small-town guide to creating 21st-century communities moves small communities further along the information-technology path by providing updated and more in-depth information and resources.

The guide helps small community leaders to:

* promote public access to computers and the Internet;

* foster e-commerce among local businesses and non-profits;

* assess and aggregate demand for high-speed telecommunications services;

* collaborate with high-speed providers;

* acquire computer hardware and software;

* protect security and privacy;

* launch effective local government Web sites;

* and much more.

Included in the 74-page book’s appendices is a summary of the CSPP Readiness Guide, a self-assessment tool that helps communities determine their telecommunications readiness status and provides ideas for reaching higher levels of connectivity.

Getting Online 2.0 was developed with support from the AOL Time Warner Foundation. The new guidebook is available in single copies ($14.95/NCSC members; $19.95/non-members) and in discounted, bulk quantities for use at conferences, training seminars and meetings. The minimum bulk discount order is 80 books, for $120 total ($1.50 per guidebook).

For additional information and ordering instructions, visit the NCSC website at http://www.natat.org/ncsc/NewResources.htm.

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Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2003. Information in this issue of SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.