Ian & Stuart's Australian Mac: Not for Sale/Another.not.for.sale (Australia).iso/fade into you/being there/Rants/sf_freenet_info

Text File | 1994-04-16 | 18KB | 413 lines

Last Revision: 7/6/93
Submitted By: G. Eisman

Proposal: A City-wide Information Network for San Francisco

Abstract: SFSUnet is the computer conferencing system at San
Francisco State University. It provides a means of communicating
between members of the University community and agencies and
individuals throughout the nine county region surrounding the Bay.
The main focus of development of SFSUnet in the past few years has
been to extend electronic connections from the University to
non-profit and government agencies whose primary function includes
working with the problems of homelessness. The success of this
initial project is evidenced by the number of ongoing, meaningful
communications posted to the network by the participating agencies.
Discussions of legislative action and community response, committee
meeting plans and minutes, resource and employment opportunities for
homeless clients, internships for university students, and much more
are regularly conducted on SFSUnet. It is now time to expand the
services of the network to engulf a larger community. This document
outlines the principles, goals, plans and projected costs for the
anticipated expansion.

Principles: Plans for the expansion of SFSUnet are based on a set of
principles that underscore the mission of San Francisco State
University within its community. SFSU prides itself on its commitment
to serving a broad population in the Bay Area. It is this commitment
which informs the principles underlying the construction of a
City-wide Information Network (CIN).

I.(Education) SFSUnet is committed to supporting the educational role
of the University.

    The primary function of the University is the education of its
students. A CIN for San Francisco can serve many purposes, and it is
envisioned that there will be a broad range of information services
provided by the network.   However,   those services that promote
the education of the user community will receive highest priority.
SFSUnet is committed to learning, teaching, and studying the
effective uses of this medium, in particular in developing the
communication skills among faculty, students, and community users
necessary for the information age.


II. (Democracy) SFSUnet is committed to supporting the diverse
population represented by the students of the University.

    Electronic information services must be provided in a a way that
is usable, informative, and relevant to the concerns of the diverse
populations which inhabit the Bay Area. Special efforts must be made
to bring into the electronic community previously under represented
groups. If the information network is to become the central
clearinghouse for community concerns, if the "electronic town hall"
brings forth the reality of teledemocracy, then those groups who
formerly were not privy to the computer revolution must be brought
into the loop. They must be given voice.

III.(Service) SFSUnet is committed to action-involvement in the
community.

    Information services can provide a forum for discussion or a
means for research and study. But beyond the identification and
analysis of community concerns lies the more important function of
active participation in solutions. SFSUnet hopes to serve as a
liaison between the University and the community that will place
students and faculty in participatory roles in addressing problems
that confront our community.

Goals: The long range goal of SFSUnet is the development of a
City-wide Information Network that reaches every corner of the
community and provides information and educational services on demand
to any inhabitant of the greater Bay Area. Given that the population
of the region is greater than 8 million and growing, this is a
daunting task. However, this enterprise will not be undertaken by the
University alone; there are and will be a growing number of
information providers that will utilize a variety of technologies
(cable television, satellite transmission, fiber optic telephone
networks, etc.) to deliver services to the home. SFSUnet will define
its niche within the public information systems. Guided by its
educational mission, the University will provide services that will
be unique in the electronic community.


I. (Entire University) All faculty, administration, and students will
have direct personal access to the information network. In addition
they will be provided with access to the computer conferencing system
supervised by SFSUnet.

The University has already begun several projects aimed at increasing
computer communication access and skills within its faculty and
student communities. Computer and Communication Services (CC&S) has
launched the Named Accounts Project to provide individual email
accounts to any matriculating student upon request. CC&S has also
initiated the Communication Infrastructure Initiative (CII) to
directly connect faculty offices to the campus network. Next year,
working in conjunction with the University Library and Audio/Visual
Services, one of its primary projects will be a faculty
computer-communication literacy program that will focus on training
faculty on the use of these tools. On a smaller scale, SFSUnet
initiated a project with 101 OnLine to provide computer terminal
access in homes of students and other community groups which
previously had none. These projects will be expanded upon in the
coming users. The goal for SFSUnet is to train all interested faculty
and students in the use of the computer conferencing system available
on the campus computing host. SFSUnet will also be committed to
finding faculty or students to serve as moderators of the variety of
discussions that will appear on the system.


II. (Equal Community Participation) The goal for SFSUnet will be to
include membership from the community external to the University in
equal proportion to internal participants.


The population at the University is approximately 20,000 students and
faculty. This goal calls for an equal number of community
participants. Members from the community will include students and
faculty of community colleges and K-12 schools throughout the Bay,
members of local government offices, libraries, theatres and museums,
personnel of non-profit organizations, employees of selected local
businesses, and others whose interests directly coincide with the
activities on the network.


III. (Evenly Distributed Population) Participants from the community
will reflect the demographic diversity of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The students enrolled at SFSU reflect the diverse populations of San
Francisco. By employing students representing a variety of
ethnicities, SFSUnet will seek to include community participation
that reflects this diversity. The discussions and information
services on the system will reflect
the needs of these communities.

IV. (Educational Content) The information services provided on the
CIN will reflect the educational needs of the community it serves.
The system will provide pointers to educational opportunities in the
Bay Area for participants who wish to study in depth the topics that
are presented on the system. Eventually, the system will provide
direct electronic courses to end users.

One of the primary ways in which the system will be unique is its
focus on education. Tools for investigating educational opportunities
at community colleges and universities and for performing searches at
local libraries will be provided. In addition, the system will
include information on museum displays, public lectures,
performances, presentations, conferences, cultural events, etc. In
time, as electronically delivered courseware becomes available, the
system will provide courses directly to users' homes.  Emphasis will
be placed on services that maximize interactivity, e.g. on forums
that promote the free expression of ideas.


V. (Service Content) The CIN will provide a service for matching
needs of the community with skills of students at the University.

A second emphasis for the system will be to serve as a matchmaker
between community based organizations and students seeking volunteer,
internship, and employment opportunities.


VI. (Research Content) The CIN will provide a means for communicating
research needs of community and government agencies to faculty and
student researchers.


The goal will be to develop linkages that lead to applied research
opportunities that serve the community. University programs (such as
PRI) will be enlisted to participate in the system.

VII. (Forum Content) The CIN will include public forums on current
issues of concern to San Francisco Bay Area residents. There will
also be private forums for select groups.

SFSUnet will host electronic conferences on issues of public concern.
University faculty will be enlisted to monitor conference
discussions. The system will provide an "electronic town hall" with
the aim of including local elective representatives. Private forums
will be created for groups that have developed a relationship with
the University, for example, local teacher organizations, or local
agencies working with homelessness.

VIII. (Other Information Content) The CIN will include information on
health, civic and social services that are of general interest.


IX. (Ease of Access and Use) The CIN will be developed so as to be
easily accessible from homes, schools, and public areas such as
libraries. User interfaces will be developed to provide ease of use.

SFSUnet will work with local schools and libraries to provide simple
access to the system. Dial-up services will be expanded to
accommodate load. The service will be provided 24 hours/day with
minimal downtime for system upgrades. Computer Science students at
the University will be hired to develop the user interface.

Plans: An electronic information system is composed of three main
components- information providers, host computers, and end users.
Plans for the development of the system will proceed on three
parallel fronts corresponding to these areas. In addition, SFSUnet
will enlist the services of the Urban Institute as an advisory
council  which will oversee the progress of the project, review
planned changes in direction, and assist in seeking external funding.
The plans herein cover the first two years of operation. In each
area, plans call for phasing in services and users. In the initial
plans, the phases correspond to six month intervals in the following
calendar:
    Phase I - Initial service      (0 - 6 months)
    Phase II - First expansion (6 -12 months)
    Phase III - Major growth   (12 - 18 months)
    Phase IV - Continued growth (18 - 24 months)
    Phase V - Preparation for second growth spurt (24 - 30
months)


I.(Information Services) SFSUnet will identify a collection of
information services to be targeted for inclusion in the system.
Agreement will be sought with information providers to become part of
the CIN.

Several information services have been identified already. These and
others will be phased in according to the following plan.

Phase I - Initial services (SF State)
    a) SFSU on-line library catalog access
    b) SF State activities (Creative Arts, Science, Sports,
Lectures)
    c) SF State faculty (research interests, office hours,
telephone directory, abstracts)
    d) SF State advising services and class schedules
    e) SF State Extended Education information
    f) SF State student internship resources
    g) Public Forums on homelessness, public education in
California and the State budget
    h) Volunteer opportunities at local agencies

Phase II - Expansion of library and educational information services
    a) SF Public Library access
    b) Community College library access
    c) Community College course offerings and schedules
    d) Exploratorium information and schedule of events
    e) Additional forums on pertinent issues to the Bay Area such
as AIDS prevention
    f) SF State research program linkages

Phase III - Major growth in information services
    a) Civic information services

    b) Cultural events, lectures and performances
    c) Health and social service provider information
    d) Electronic town hall

Phase IV - Continued growth
    a) Linkages to regional, state and national services
    b) Multilingual information services
    c) Additional computerized tools

Phase V - Preparation for second expansion
    a) visual information services
    b) direct education



II.(Hosts) The CIN will be a distributed system: i.e., there will be
several "host" computer platforms that will be networked over a wide
area. The number of hosts in the system will increase as the system
grows.

Phase I - Initial service
The SFSU VAX 6420 computer will serve as the initial host of the
system. Currently, the VAX runs software that can support the initial
offering. A Gopher server on the VAX allows user access to the SF
Library catalog.


Phase II - First expansion

Agreements will be sought with the SF Public Library, the local
Community Colleges, and local museums such as the Exploratorium to
become part of the system. Reciprocal arrangements will be made so
that local users at the different sites can have access to the public
information services at other sites.

Phase III - Major growth

Expansion in information services and user base will require new host
computers to be housed at SFSU campus.


Phase IV - Continued growth

Major developments in software (interface, advanced tools, etc.) will
be required to offer expanded services.

Phase V - Preparation for second growth spurt

It is anticipated that in the time period projected, major
advancements in information service technology will be available in
the region. It is likely that the computer network will share
resources with cable television, satellite transmission, and
telephone services. The CIN will be adapted to these new
technologies.

III.(Users) There will be several types of CIN accounts. Personal
accounts will provide individual disk space and full access for
privileged users. Limited named accounts will provide mailbox space
and access to read/only and conference services, but limited access
to other functions. Anonymous accounts will provide access to
read/only services.


Phase I - Initial service
Initial accounts on the VAX computer have and will continue to be
generated for SFSU students and faculty, as well as community based
organizations who have participated in the homelessness project.
These accounts are full, personal accounts and provide full access.

Phase II - First expansion

Each of the information service providers which are to be added in
Phase II will have a number of users on their own host computers who
will need access to services on the SFSU hosts. Personal, and limited
named accounts will be provided for a selected set of these users,
but most will require only anonymous accounts or other limited access
to the SFSU system. Reciprocally, some SFSU users will need
privileged access to outside hosts, but again most will need only
limited access. Access from remote sites will be a critical concern
during this phase.


Phase III - Major growth

In this phase there will be a major increase in the number of
personal accounts available on the system. It is envisioned that SFSU
student accounts will grow to be universal. An equal number of
community accounts will be generated. Ubiquitous access from around
the Bay Area will the goal during this and the subsequent phase.

Phase IV - Continued growth

Continued linear growth along the lines of Phase III is envisioned
here.

Phase V - Preparation for second growth spurt

Access to the system from other information technologies is
envisioned for this phase. Access from home television sets or
telephones must be prepared for.


IV. (Advisory Council)  As a program under the auspices of the Urban
Institute, SFSUnet plans to enlist the services of the Institute as
an Advisory Council which will guide the development and direction of
SFSUnet and assist with finding external support.


Costs: The CIN project will involve three levels of costs. First
there will be base-line costs to support Executive Committee and
staff costs of SFSUnet for initiating and directing the project.
Second, there will be expansion costs that will be require capital
investment in hardware, software, and network infrastructure  for the
growth of the system envisioned in Phases II-V. Finally, there will
be operational costs to support the expanded system. These are
summarized on the following page.




Estimated Size and Expenses  of CIN Project

           Initial    Phase1    Phase2    Phase3    Phase4    Phase5
months            0-6    6-12    12-18    18-24    24-30    30-36
Accounts    500    2500    10000    15000    20000    30000
MaxLogins    32    32    128    196    256    320
Phonelines    2    8    32    48    64    80
Disk(sys)(MB)    1000    2000    3000    4000    5000    6000
Disk(info)    100    1000    2000    3000    4000    5000
Disk(user)    400    2000    8000    12000    16000    20000
Disk(total)    1500    5000    13000    19000    25000    31000
Disk MB/sec
Operator WS            1    1    1    1
file servers (320)    1    1    1
file servers (550H)    0    0    1    2    2    2
disk drives    2    6    13    19    25    31
backup devices        1    1    1    2    2
telnet servers        1    1    1    2    2
telnet i/o cards        1    2    3    4    4
modem racks        1    1    2    2    2
modem i/o cards        16    32    48    64    80
compute servers            1    1    1    2
UPS KVAH
                 Year I        Year II        Year III
Hard/Software*        $40000        $180000        $100000

Personnel(Sal.& Ben.)
Proj. Director        $33100        $41400        $55200
Admin/Clerical Staff    $41400        $69000        $82800
Training Staff        $6000        $30000         $40000
Technical Staff        $8000        $20000        $25000

Total Pers.Costs    $88500        $160400        $203000

Supplies&Services    $4500        $20000        $30000

Total Costs            $133000        $360400        $333000

Revenues        $38505        ?        ?

                ($54495)
Balance (H/S)        ($40000)        *preliminary estimate