Community network is a term used broadly to indicate the use of networking technologies by, and for, a local community. Free-nets and civic networks indicate roughly the same range of projects and services, whereas community technology centers (CTCs) and telecentres generally indicate a physical facility to compensate for lack of access to information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Although there is no absolute agreement on the definition of the term, it is generally agreed that a community network is a computer-based system that is intended to help support geographical communities by supporting, augmenting, and extending already existing social networks.
Famous quotes containing the words community and/or network:
“Populism is folkish, patriotism is not. One can be a patriot and a cosmopolitan. But a populist is inevitably a nationalist of sorts. Patriotism, too, is less racist than is populism. A patriot will not exclude a person of another nationality from the community where they have lived side by side and whom he has known for many years, but a populist will always remain suspicious of someone who does not seem to belong to his tribe.”
—John Lukacs (b. 1924)
“Parents need all the help they can get. The strongest as well as the most fragile family requires a vital network of social supports.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)