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.