Name of company or organization: Community School Networks, Inc. Contact Person: Name Gary Markovits Title President Address 3 Neptune Road, Suite A24, City/State/ZIP code Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 Telephone # (914) 462-0206 Duration of support by this sponsor for this project (start/end dates) 6/95 - 10/96 Sponsor expectations Development of Web software for collaboration and communication, to be used primarily by teachers and students with very little experience with computers. Consulting and help in implementing and using the latest Web technologies. Specific objectives To develop Web programs for collaboration and communication, including a program for Web-based discussion groups, and a program for collaborative authoring of Web documents. Also, to develop a suite of reusable software objects that can be used to more easily create new Web software as required. Relevance to the Center's target industry Web technologies are having the greatest impact of any area of computing, and this is particularly true for Internet access providers, and for education, the two main focusses for CSNet. High-end Web services require high-performance computers and networks and Web software expertise. Plan of approach NPAC is developing the collaboration and communication software based on basic design specifications provided by CSNet, recommendations from NPAC researchers, and feedback from users. Software is developed and tested on NPAC Web servers and then implemented for use on the CSNet Web server. Purpose of any planned travel One day a week, NPAC researcher travel to CSNet offices to work with CSNet staff. Industry involvement CSNet collaborates with other commercial Internet access providers, including MHVNet in Poughkeepsie, and Netcom, to extend the range of Internet access for their customers. Technical innovation The software makes use of state-of-the-art technologies for Web programming. Steps to commercialization The software is already being used in a commercial setting. Progress to date Preliminary versions of software for discussion groups and for shared document editing have been developed and are in use. Current work is on extending and improving these applications, enhancing the database features, and on making the software design more modular so that software modules can be easily reused for other applications. Impact to date The Web software developed by NPAC has helped CSNet to attract more customers and some important contracts, in particular a contract with the New York State Department of Education to provide collaborative Web software for the New York state schools involved in the Goals 2000 and Constellation projects for the advancement of K-12 education.