From: "鏑木 孝昭 " 
Newsgroups: tnn.interv-e
Subject: VCOM Newsletter no.6
Date: 01 Sep 1995 01:33:00 +0900
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-2022-jp

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VCOM Newsletter Vol.1 No.6  Sept 1, 1995
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VCOM (Information Community Building Project Using 
InterVnet) is a project carried out by a research group 
headed by Prof. Ikuyo Kaneko at Keio University SFC (Shonan 
Fujisawa Campus).  Here, by "information community" we are 
referring to a group of various kinds of people with a 
certain shared interest or concern about life and society 
who forms a "unit" spontaneously by sharing and exchanging 
information.  Two of the major activities of VCOM are (i) 
maintaining InterVnet and (ii) carrying out information 
community building "case projects." For details please see 
VCOM homepage or contact the Secretariat:

VCOM homepage: 
 http://www.suehiro.nakano.tokyo.jp/
VCOM reception E-mail address: 
  recpt@vcom.suehiro.nakano.tokyo.jp
VCOM Secretarial (Editorial Engineering Laboratory)
  morikawa@eel.suehiro.nakano.tokyo.jp
  1-4-7-202 Aobadai Meguro-ku Tokyo 153 Japan
  phone 03-3780-0800  fax 03-3780-0900

[1]  Three New Conference Rooms are Open in InterVnet
By the mid August, the following three new conference rooms 
(all in Japanese) in InterVnet (common to all PC networks 
connected to InterVnet)  have been started:
information on changing society
conference room on women's issues
discussions of NPO legislation
As VCOM case projects which are in the process of initiation
are to be activated in September and on, more conference 
rooms will be open.
[ 2 ]  Users' Conference Room in InterVnet
There have been a series of discussions in Users' Conference
Room in InterVnet regarding how to organize and to deal with
information posted in InterVnet.  Also, a discussion is 
going on in Users' Conference Room concerning how to share 
and utilize information posted in InterVnet in local 
communities around Kobe and neighboring quake hit areas.

[ 3 ] VCOM Case Project
An official announcement will be issued by the Steering 
Committee in the early Oct. on the list of information 
community building projects which are officially approved as
official VCOM case projects.  As of now, the following case 
projects are being carried out or being prepared.

A : Support Networks for Quake-Hit Areas
A-1 : Citizens' Medium to Exchange Information to Support 
the Victims of the Great Kobe-Awaji Earthquake
...We shall continue to offer InterVnet which is the only 
nationwide PC networks with a designated area for quake 
related information.
A-2 : Simulation Studies Concerning Connections of Various 
Networks in Case of Emergency
A-3 : Homepage to Introduce People and Events in Awaji 
Island

B : Networks for NGO/NPO
B-1 : Women's Online Media
Homepage connecting to various information about women's 
issues.  Offering information on women's issues and 
providing an online forum for discussing women's issues in 
InterVnet.  'Hot' information will be sent from Beijing and 
Huairou in China on the NGO Forum for the World Conference 
on Women.
B-2 : Connecting Grassroots BBSs to InterVnet
B-3 : Online Forum for Discussing Incorporation and Tax 
Exemption Legislation for NGO/NPO

C : Citizens' Voluntary Participations in Society
C-1 : Electric Guide Book for Global Citizens
Offering alternative information on eco-life, safe foods, 
recycling, human rights, world peace, education and so on, 
and proving an online forum to exchange information of these
topics.
C-2 : A Model Building for "Stay-Home" Employment for 
Handicapped Persons Using Internet
C-3 : JD Net
A nationwide network to exchange information on handicapped 
persons' daily life, employment opportunities and so on.
C-4 : International Forum
A nationwide network for foreign students and international 
communities in Japan.
C-5 : Information Network for Local Community
A model building for volunteer database, medical and other 
life information and disseminating information from the 
local
 government at City of Fujisawa where Keio University 
SFC is located.

[ 4 ] Topics
*Hot Information from Beijing and Huairou 
Two staff members of WOM case project and one member from 
VCOM system maintenance team (all female engineers) are 
visiting China to help build a network environment for 
participants of the NGO Forum of the World Conference on 
Women.  These three are working for APC group.  They are 
sending 'hot' information on the conference and on Chine by 
E-mail which is automatically posted in the homepage of WOM.
The URL of the homepage is http://www.suehiro.nakano.tokyo.jp/WOM/.
  Also, on Sept. 9th, there will be a real time, 
online communication connecting Beijing and Tokyo to discuss
the World Conference for Women. The Tokyo site will be at 
Crayon House Tokyo at Aoyama.  For more information, please 
send mail to steer@wom.suehiro.nakano.tokyo.jp.

*A book on InterVnet and VCOM was published
A book entitled "The Door for Co-Existence, to Be Opened by 
Volunteers," (in Japanese) was published by NHK Book.  A 
fair amount of pages were devoted to introduce InterVnet and
VCOM.

"How to Make the World a Better Place : A Guide to Doing 
Good" Was Published
This book published in July by Diamond Publisher is 
coauthored by Jeffrey Hollender and Group Kan, where Group 
Kan is a part of the group charring out VCOM case project 
for the Electric Guide for Global Citizens.  The content of 
the book will be posted in the WWW server and discussions 
are expected about the contents on InterVnet.

*A Book on Internet and the Information Society
A book by Seigo Matsuoka, Ikuyo Kaneko and Shin Yoshimura 
will soon be published by Diamond Publisher.  In this book 
the three will discuss freely on what the Internet and 
related technology might bring about in the Information 
Society.  Matsuoka, the president of Editorial Engineering 
Laboratory, is a well-known editor and researcher of 
Buddhism, Japanese traditional culture and information and 
is a member of Advisory Board of VCOM.  Yoshimura who is the
vice president of Internet Initiative Japan (the largest 
internet provider in Japan) is one of the pioneers of 
internet in Japan is generally regarded as a genius of 
internet.  He is a member of the Systems Advisory Meeting of
VCOM. Kaneko is the head of VCOM Steering Committee and is 
well-known for his work on information society, networking 
and volunteers.

[ 5 ] Thank You!
Many companies have provided InterVnet and VCOM with 
generous contributions in terms of computers and 
communication equipment and software so far.  The following 
three companies have joined the rank: Net Manage (software 
license), Silicon Graphics Japan (graphic workstations), 
Toshiba (laptop and desktop computers).  Many thanks to 
these companies.  Also many companies and a local government
have either signed a contract or committed to join VCOM by 
contributing funds for VCOM.  The list of these parcitipants
will be officially made public by October.