TAC Meeting Report - November 13, 2006

The committee met from 7:30 PM to 9 PM at the Board’s district office. Attending were:

1. Virtual World Technology & Landing Lights Park Demo –The chair demonstrated the model of Landing Lights Park that has been created in secondlife.com and explained that residents can now design and save their park designs. After the recent “It’s My Park Day” community cleanup at Landing Lights Park, several local residents, including members of the North Queens Homeowners Association, met at Vaughn College to see the new design tool in action and discuss the future of the park. For more on this see http://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov/page/LLP/.

2. The .nyc TLD – (Other Top Level Domains are .com, .gov, .org) The chair indicated that the Board’s 2001 Internet Empowerment Resolution, calling for the issuance of the .nyc TLD, has sprouted new wings. The ICANN, the organization that issues TLDs, will be accepting proposals in 2007. In preparation, a nonprofit is being formed to lead the city’s effort. See the TAC’s page on this at http://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov/page/dotNYC/.

3. Network Neutrality – In 2005 the FCC gave the giant telecoms like AT&T and Verizon the right to discriminate (they probably use a different term) in providing Internet service. There’s a movement to reverse this action with several bills introduced in congress. Those seeking a reversal say the old Internet provided a level playing field and opportunities for small business to create new services. The chair said he would develop some background information and a resolution for the committee to consider at next month’s meeting, and, if approved, for the board to consider in December. See the material on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality.

4. CITI - CB 3 voted in June to incorporate map information into our meetings and accepted the offer from MAS’s CITI program to involve local youth as interns in that regard. I.S. 227 has been visited and it seems Internet access is available. Student interns have been selected. CITI has been having difficulty connecting with the proper I.S. 227 staff to finalize arrangements. Hopefullt all will be resolved by next month.

5. Citizen Government - Citizen Government - The newest phenomena in journalism is "citizen journalism," wherein readers participate in selecting and contributing the paper's content. "Citizen Government," at least in the USA, would seem redundant. But the question as to where the community boards sit in the realm of government - as governors or the governed - remains unclear. Are the boards an arm or government or the government an arm of the boards? The committee discussed the board’s role that results from the 311 system and the district staff’s changed role with regard to complaints. The chair mentioned that the Campaign for Community-Based Planning, of which the board is an endorser, is developing legislation that will strengthen the board’s planning capabilities. (Funds for planning and a changed process for creating the city’s Master Plan are amongst its provisions.) We discussed this question in the context of access to government information, services, and the governance process. What information and features would the public like to see added to the website? How do we encourage public access?

6. CB 3's Website Update – Usage of the board’s website continues to grow. From January 1, 2006 through November 10, 2006 the site had the following visits and visitors:

Visits ¹	78,073
Unique Visitors (i.e., different people)	20,950
Visitors Who Visited Once	17,139
Visitors Who Visited More Than Once	3,811

¹ A visit is a series of actions that begins when someone connects to our website and views their first page from the server. A visit ends when the visitor leaves the site or remains idle beyond the idle-time limit (currently 30 minutes).

The Website Content committee will meet soon to consider improvements to the process through which the website is provided with board information.

7. Audio Services – No progress has been made on audio services, but it remains on the committee’s agenda, with Richard and the chair expressing an interest in assuring that it moves forward. We will be working with the assistance of community member Eugene Atkins, pursuing the technical skills necessary to record and make board meetings available via the board’s website. When it’s developed the skills, the committee will present them to the board for inclusion in its community outreach effort.