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Welcome > About CIMnet
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The solution offered in through CIMnet outlines the strengths of a Community Information Management Network (CIMnet) as a strategic alliance of communities and community-serving organizations working together to strengthen communities through partnership and information sharing and the effective use of information technology. The core guiding principle is that partnerships with a shared value in the strength of community interconnectedness provide the best and most promising path toward sustainable community development for the future. CIMnet offers communities:
- A Framework for building mutually beneficial partnerships;
- A Process for collaborative decision-making; and
- Common tools to create, store and manage community information more effectively.
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Effectively managing information is key to fostering community sustainability. The promise and potential of computer technology is that it will help people to better preserve, manage and simply access information. This technology could be used to develop community programs that would assist in the development of an environmentally strong, economically prosperous and socially equitable future for us all.
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| Today's communities are becoming increasingly proactive in developing their own solutions to emerging challenges and opportunities. Not surprisingly, many of them are using the "global village square", known as the Internet, to find and share community information. As a place where people from around the globe can instantly communicate, share ideas and gather information, the Internet has given life to Marshall McLuhan's vision of a "global village". |
| Effective community information management systems have two distinct, yet interrelated targets: communities and community-serving organizations. The relationship between the two is reciprocal. Community-serving organizations, like government and not-for-profit groups, have information and provide programming for communities. Community-serving organizations, on the other hand, require input from communities and access to community information to effectively serve communities. There are, however, many barriers to effective communications between the two targets. |
| Since computers and the Internet came into use, information is created and distributed more rapidly than in the past. As a result, many communities struggle to manage this information. Sustainable community development might be better reached if communities had an improved information management process and compatible tools to manage and share. This might help to reduce barriers to effective communication between communities.
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| As an alliance of communities and community-serving organizations, the CIM-Net partnership is not complete. There are a wide variety of community needs that are not being filled through the current membership and an array of interests not represented. CIM-Net has established itself, built a strategic organizational framework and created its business plan. It still needs to identify and foster partnerships with communities that can help bring the CIM-Net vision – communities with informed, empowered and engaged citizens – to fruition. |
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